questions about development

[Ryoko]

I have a few questions that the books I have don't answer.

1: When do they start talking? mine is 6wks and making lots of different sounds.

1. When do they start crawling?.

1. When is it safe to start giving them tummy time? he can hold his head up for about five seconds now.

1. When do youstart potty training?.

1. Weening is 4+months isn't it?.

it obviously varies a great deal between children and you do things when they are ready not by a set time table but roughly...

talking,first words around a year

crawling, from about six months

tummy time, i think you could start now, just not for very long and keeping an eye in case of distress

potty training, usually from about two years, but huge variation on this one, basically when they are ready

weaning, guidelines were 4 months, then six, they might have changed again, big debating point this one! I did my three at about 4 months but this would be totally unacceptable for some parents, again depends if you feel child is ready.

Google baby milestones and you'll get loads of info.

You could have a look at some of the specific topics on mumsnet. There's one on weaning and one on potty training for instance.

You can ask all of these things at the regular check-up points. Otherwise, trust your judgement because 'instinct' is a lot stronger than you might think. Babies develop at different speeds....

• Talking. Should be able to manange simply 'ma ma' sounds around 1 year and work up from there. Some don't get connected speech until well past 2, others are a lot earlier. Only be concerned if you've got a totally silent child.
• Crawling. I've seen babies crawl at six/nine months but my son (and myself my mother tells me) never crawled and progressed straight from 'sitting' to 'standing holding on' to 'walking'.
• Tummy time. Agree with the above
• Potty training. So variable because bladder control and ability to communicate is key. Keep a potty handy from when they start walking and pop them on it from time to time so that they get the idea what's supposed to happen. Girls (sweeping generalisation) seem to be more clued up than boys!
• I started weaning at 4+months because that was the advice in 2000 and, like sockonmyhead, everything went totally fine for me too. Today the official advice is six months but some people start earlier and others later.