As you get to know your baby, you will expect to see her growing, reaching physical milestones and beginning to talk during the coming months and years. Most babies develop on target, while occasionally meeting milestones a bit earlier or later than their peers. In some cases, however, babies may have developmental issues that are important to identify, address and treat.
Failure to Thrive
When a baby fails to gain weight, he may be classified as failing to thrive. Babies with failure to thrive have slowed physical and emotional development. When a medical problem is causing the slowdown or cessation in weight gain, it is referred to as "organic failure to thrive." When the issue is associated with a non-medical cause, the correct term is "non-organic failure to thrive," or NOFTT. Most of the time, NOFTT is partly caused by psychological, economic or social problems within the family. The mother or other primary caregiver may suffer from alcohol dependency, depression or a stress disorder. Symptoms of failure to thrive, besides inadequate weight gain, include excessive sleepiness, irritability, delays in other types of development and a lack of social behavior, such as smiling. Treatment is important for future success, according to the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital. Approximately half of children diagnosed with failure to thrive have developmental problems that plague them throughout childhood and into adulthood.
Hearing Problems and Speech Delays
Identifying a hearing problem in a small baby can be difficult for parents, because every baby develops on his own schedule and may talk earlier or later than other children. Watch your baby closely throughout his infancy and toddlerhood to make sure he does not have hearing or communication problems, recommends Kids Health. Some signs of a baby not hearing well include a lack of cooing and babbling sounds and not reacting to sounds around him. By the time your baby is 15 months old, he should be able to say at least one word, such as "mama," "dada" or "ball."
Not all speech issues are related to hearing. Other causes of a speech delay can be an anatomical problem, such as trouble in using the tongue and lips to create sounds. If you are concerned that your baby has a hearing or speech problem, your pediatrician can refer you to a speech-language pathologist for diagnosis and treatment.
Physical Development Delays
Although every baby develops on her own timetable, most babies reach certain milestones by certain ages. If your baby was premature, she may meet her milestones at a later age with no developmental delays, says BabyCenter. If your baby is two months old, she should be able to hold her head up when you lift her from her crib, and should not feel stiff or floppy when you pick her up. By four months, she should be able to support her own head well, and should grab for objects. When she is six months, she should be sitting with assistance, and by eight months should sit well on her own. A 12-month-old should be able to crawl, and an 18-month-old should be able to walk. If you are worried that your baby is not meeting her milestones at an appropriate age, consult with her pediatrician at her next well-visit.
