Child Development
Child Development Stages & Early Years Development
Children will meet milestones throughout their early years and childhood, in areas of life such as speaking, acting, moving, learning and playing. Whilst every child is different and develops at their own pace, these child development stages will give you an idea of when you should see different behaviours. If you have any concerns, simply visit your paediatrician and they will be able to put your mind at ease or assist your child in reaching key childhood development stages if they need it. We are introducing five of the main early years development stages, along with introducing some early development toys that can help you to encourage your child to progress to the next stage in a fun and healthy way!
0-6 Months - Lots of Growing!
- By the end of this very busy period your baby will likely be smiling and recognising your voice
- Baby will also start to sit unaided and show emotions when you play
- ‘Survival’ behaviours will develop, such as the Moro Reflex, then disappear closer to the 6 month child development mark
- Some survival behaviours remain into the next childhood development phase, such as a dislike of having mouths and noses covered
This early years development stage is all about encouraging learning through play, which our Bamboo Wash Mitts are ideal for, doubling as a practical and fun development toy. It also keeps baby more comfortable during wash-time and bath-time, as you can avoid covering their mouths and noses.
6-12 Months - Start Weaning!
- At around the 6 month childhood development mark you’re ready to start weaning!
- Baby’s pincer grip develops, so they start picking up food and eating more independently.
- Reaching for things with a sweeping motion also begins at this child development stage as well as grasping at spoons during meal times.
- There’s lots of banging, dropping and throwing as they adjust to this new movement!
- Baby will indicate their wants through gestures and pointing, as well as starting to combine syllables into word-like sounds closer to 12 months.
Meal and sensory play times are about to get a whole lot messier at the 6-12 month child development stage, which is where our Bib & Tray Kit comes in. As your baby begins their sweeping movements, the tray stops food being deliberately swept or dropped off the highchair to the floor. Less clean up time, less outfit changes, it’s a win-win!
12-18 Months - Learning!
- More independence and strength at the 12-18 month child development stage.
- They will begin to master drinking from an open cup and also deliberately making marks with pencils and paints.
- With this sense of independence it’s common for baby to start getting fussy about food, so using your baby’s senses to explore new foods and textures is really important.
- Meal-times and snacking become more frequent throughout the day to keep up their energy levels in this key early development stage.
- Imitation also really starts to kick in, so pretend play and incorporating more developmental toys will be great for your child’s development.
At this age, having the right child development toys and products on hand will really help. Our Bib & Tray Kit will still have all of the meal-time benefits, as well as encouraging more sensory play, arts, crafts and sensory eating exploration to help minimise fussy eating. With the increase in imitation, our Wash Mitts will also help to encourage pretend play, a key part of childhood development.
18-24 Months - Walking, Running & Playing
- As your baby reaches the 18 to 24 month child development stage, walking, running and playing will have taken on a new energy and stepped up a gear!
- Make believe and pretend play are now even more so central themes, with play still being insular rather than seeking others out to play with.
- Language processes also develop around this early years development stage and you’ll likely begin to hear short sentences and new words.
- With this significant child development milestone, temper tantrums as a result of frustration will begin to occur.
At this point in the early child development journey, you’ll likely find that your toddler just won’t sit still, so our Long Length Coverall Bib is perfect to use as a painting apron or for feeding to take the stress out of messier play and mealtimes with an energetic toddler!
24-36 Months - Really Growing Up!
- At this early child development stage, painting becomes more expressive and creative, as well as your little one being able to master using scissors and smaller art materials.
- They will express a wider range of emotions and begin to explain to you how they feel through simple words and behaviours
- They will be learning all the time from what’s going on around them, which is why witnessing positive behaviours is vital at this point in their childhood development.
- Modelling of behaviour is also the case at the dinner table, so eating together and making healthy choices will really help to support this stage of their development.
To help them express their creativity at this important child development stage, our Snack & Doodle is a great developmental toy that makes snack times on-the-go practical and creative! Our Long Length Coverall will still be coming in handy for painting, crafts and feeding overall, which fits neatly inside a matching travel pouch to make it easy to carry around.
More About Our Early Child Development Toys and Products
All of our products are designed with your child’s development in mind, working with weaning experts to make the early years fun and educational for your child, as well as more simple for you. Our range of weaning bibs, including our iconic Bib & Tray Kit, are designed more for parents, whereas our Snack & Doodle and Wash Mitts are more developmental toys to keep baby engaged, helping to support their different early years development stages.
From making eating on-the-go simple, clean and fun, to encouraging baby to develop their pincer movements and helping them to master essential movements, our entire ethos at Tidy Tot is to support your child throughout their early years with sustainable and convenient weaning products that double as developmental toys. We understand how important childhood development is to you as a parent, with Tidy Tot initially being created to provide the products we wanted for our children that simply didn’t have a strong focus on early development.