General information about child development

Development is the gaining of skills in all aspects your child's life. There are different areas of development:

- Movement skills (gross motor)

- Hand skills (fine motor)

- Visual skills (response to what they can see)

- Speech, language and hearing

- Social skills, emotions and behaviour

You may be concerned about your child's development in just one of these areas, more than one, or all of these areas.

All children are different and develop at different rates, so there is a range of ages when they learn these skills.

However, there are certain ages by which most children will have developed a certain skill. These are called developmental milestones. If your child has not met their milestone, it may be of concern and it is important to seek advice. Please see the individual sections for more information.

- Newborn examination within 72 hours of birth

- Six to eight weeks physical check (usually with the GP)

- Six to eights weeks health and development review (usually with the health visitor) 

- Nine to twelve months development review (usually with the health visitor)

- 2 to 2.5 years developmental review (usually with the health visitor)

Further information on your child's developmental milestones and routine reviews can be viewed by here.

50 things to do - 50 exciting, open-ended ideas for play for children aged 0 to 4.
 

Discover your favourites together here!

Start for Life - download Hounslow's Baby Start for Life Development Guide 

- You are concerned about the way your child moves, acts, learns, speaks or plays

- Seek advice urgently if you think that your child has lost skills that they once had (sometimes called regression)

-Start for Life, download Hounslow's Start for Life Development Guide for babies 

This guide provides information on a baby’s development milestones and what to
expect as they grow. It also explains what you can do as a parent to help your little one reach them.

- Health visitor

- Early learning teacher in your child's nursery or your child's childminder

- GP

You may be referred to different members of the multi-disciplinary child development team depending on what your concern is:

- Community Paediatrician, a doctor who specialises in the health and development of children

- Physiotherapist, a therapist who supports with physical movement skills

- Occupational therapist, a therapist who supports with skills required for daily activities for living along with hand skills (fine motor)

- Speech & Language therapist (SALT), a therapist who supports with speech, language, communication, understanding and safe swallow

- Dietitian, a qualified health professional, who as well as providing general health advice, can also work with people with special dietary needs due to health conditions such as coeliac disease

- Psychologist, a qualified individual who is able to support aspects of your child's learning and behaviour

- Children & Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), services that support children and young people with their emotional and behavioural wellbeing

- Children's social services can provide additional support for families who have needs beyond healthcare and education needs

- Local education services, such as Portage (a home visiting educational service) to support pre-school children requiring additional support with their developmental skills)

- Start for Life -​​​download the Baby Start for Life Development Guide