Your opinion: Rethinkinking the meaning of milestones.

4Speedy · June 2010

DS had his 15 month appointment yesterday and I left there thinking he was missing his milestones. The pedi wanted to know if he pointed to objects, if he knew 3 body parts, if he had any words, etc. That's a big fat NO to all of it.

After reading a post on 12-24, I'm wondering if he's hitting the milestones, but I'm missing it. Someone said their 12 month old has 12-15 words, including "nar-nar" that means "eat." My son makes a particular sound when he wants to eat, too, but I wouldn't count it as a word. Should I be counting this? My son also says "yayyyyyyy" when he claps, but I don't count that as a word, either (someone in the poll did.)

Also, my son doesn't point, per se, but if I ask "where is Flashy?" he will walk over and place his hand on our dog. He also sometimes does a vague wave in the direction of something. As far as letting his needs be known, instead of pointing to what he wants, he will take our hands and lead us to whatever it is that he wants and stand in front of it. From a communication standpoint, can all this be considered to meet the same purpose as pointing?

Finally, as far as naming body parts, I don't think we've ever really worked on those with him. But DS does differentiate and identify objects. I can say "get your truck, get your car, get your motorcycle, etc." and he will pick up the correct toy. Developmentally, does that meet the same criteria as pointing to nose, eyes. ears, etc?

How much leeway to you give when considering if a milestone is met?

lazysusan · June 2010

I find milestones tend to be inflated around here

my kids hit things about average, but I always question things when I read that type of post. Sounds like your DC is on the right track and hitting milestones. No child communicates in exactly the same way especially when starting out. So young, there is a lot of leeway in milestones. He has words, he knows receptively the names for things, and he's starting to let his wants and needs known. Sounds like he's doing great!

JOEBunny · June 2010

I never point. I was taught it was rude growing up and very seldom do it, except maybe when giving directions. Neither of my kids are big pointers. I feel the same way about the words. DS is almost 15 months and has only a few words. Uh-Oh, Mama, Dadda and that is about it that I understand. My DD had more words at 11 months. I am not concerned. He seems to have good understanding, like at the grocery, he spotted a goldfish display 50 feet away and made it known he wanted some Goldfish. He also select one thing out of several if I name it. We don't do body parts either. I read to the kids, but since I have DD, we read to her level, not to DSs and not a lot of books for 4 year olds spend much time on "where is your belly button" I think some of the test are outdated or geared toward kids in a "school" setting. Sit my DS on the front step and tell him to go find and acorn in the front yard and he is on it.

jettagurl · June 2010

I took the twins to the dr yesterday - and it seems they are in the 'gray area' as well. They had me fill out this questionnaire for 9 mos, and some of the things on there are walking around furniture using just one hand (so walking normal similar to with a handrail), drinking out of a cup (!), and giving me toys when I ask for them, or following simple commands (put it down, get the keys, lie down, etc).

UM no. They do none of those things....but when the NP questioned me on stuff, apparently walking around furniture with two hands (side stepping) is fine, holding their own bottle counts as "drink from a cup", and "come here" when I'm a foot away with my hand out stretched is sufficient as well.

So, yes, I think it's all interpretation. She said we could start 1st steps, it was up to me. I just am not interested at this point. They are ONLY 9 mos old, both crawling, feeding with pincher grip, passing toys hand-to-hand, etc. I think they are normal babies. Sometimes it's best to just ease up....they are babies.

CubbyMama · June 2010

Ditto lazysusan! This stuff is SO dependent on interpretation. MIL has always talked about how her kids hit milestones so early, etc. but then when K was a baby and babbled something random at, like, 5 months old, MIL declared that she had said, "I see a bird" or something equally impossible...and I realized that she just has a much looser interpretation of what "counts" as words than I do! People on here are so quick to count, list, and compare all of their babies' accomplishments that I think they're a bit overzealous sometimes, and then those who aren't so eager to count every little thing as a milestone are left wondering if there's something wrong b/c their 10 month old isn't feeding himself with chopsticks and writing his name in cursive.

What you described about your LO sounds like an issue of interpretation, and I bet if you called your pedi back and explained these things (or brought them up at the next visit) they'd agree that those things definitely "count."

Heidisean · June 2010

As a therapist that evaluates all these milestones....body parts are body parts and not objects in the environment. We also score that he/she can identify objects in the environment at this age. Words are not double consonant vowel sounds of mama, dada or baba. If your child says mom, dad, hi, bye, up, ball, etc. they are words. Yeah and uh-oh or not considered words but exclamatory expressions and are 11-13 month skills. No is also an 11-13 month skill. Using gestures of waving is a 9 month skill and pointing to things out of reach that your child wants is a 11-13 month skill and is for joint attention as "Auntie" explained. If your child reaches or drags you to something it is NOT the same as pointing. That is one red flag on our M-CHAT (modified checklist for autism) that we look for. If your child does not point this does not mean he/she has autism it is just one red flag. At 15 months you can have EI evaluate your child and start services to show you how to try and elicit these developmental milestones from your child. EI is also there for the family to explain to the family what milestones your child should have at different months in his life. Let me know if you have any questions. I have been in EI for over 11 years now:)

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