This archive report was first published on 26 June 2020.
Monitoring Your Child's Growth: A Parent's Guide ¶
As a parent, it's natural to want to ensure your child is growing and developing at a healthy pace. From the moment your baby is born, you'll be monitoring their growth and celebrating each milestone. But what if your child isn't growing well? How can you ensure they reach their full potential?
According to Dr. Susan Wamithi, a developmental paediatrician at Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi, the brain controls all areas of a child's development. Brain development begins in the womb and continues into young adulthood, with the brain doubling its volume in the first year of life.
Everyday positive experiences support healthy brain development, and regular visits to a well-child clinic allow for developmental motor milestone checks. This is where parents' concerns can be addressed and referrals made in case of any abnormality.
There are three main areas of development to monitor: physical, social-emotional, and language. Gross motor skills, such as sitting, crawling, and walking, develop sequentially from the head to the feet. Fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination develop over time, with red flags including differences in muscle tone and inability to grasp objects.
Social-emotional development is evident in newborns, with a baby ready to interact and innately preferring human faces. Responding to a baby's needs from the first week of life helps them learn to trust and love their caregivers. A social smile emerges at two months, laughing out loud at four months, and responding to their name at ten months.
Language development begins with a newborn baby recognising their parents' voice at birth. Screening for hearing should be done within the first month of life, and language development has three categories: speech, receptive language, and expressive language. Babies begin to coo at two months, babble at six months, and speak their first words at 12 months.
Red flags in communication include regression, not pointing or responding, and no words at 18 months. If a child regresses on acquired milestones, seek help from a doctor. Creating nurturing environments for the child through positive parent-child interactions helps support healthy brain development.
As a parent, you know your child better than anyone else. If you have concerns about your child's growth or development, don't hesitate to seek help. The monitoring of these stages of your child's development is important, and any red flags can be well addressed during the developmental clinics offered at the Aga Khan University Hospital Nairobi.
