ABSTRACT
Once babies are safely home, most parents are anxious to know the signs that show their offspring are making sound progress in all aspects of their development. New parents can find this an awesome responsibility and sometimes they are reluctant to ask questions in case they are thought not to be coping. Professionals who have been in touch with the family or who are taking full responsibility for day care from three months on or even earlier are also asking questions, so this chapter seeks to give answers, while reminding parents, carers and professionals that their seemingly fragile infants are usually quite robust. The chapter explains how babies' brains develop, allowing them to do more things, and it shares information about timetables for development. These can be used for guidance but the norms are wide; there may be differences across cultures and, in the main, babies will develop according to their innate timetable, i.e. in their own time. Learning to walk is a case in point. Some will walk at seven months; others wait until they are 20 months or so, and both are perfectly all right. Babies simply can't walk until they have the neurological development, the strength, co-ordination and balance that underlie this complex skill. Then they enjoy showing it off. Moreover, slow walkers may be very early talkers. They have been sitting absorbing the events around them, and unless there is a neurological difficulty, they will walk. Trying to rush them causes stress, so gentle encouragement, patience and lots of loving communication is best.
