Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Developmental Post #21

This week's developmental post is focused on the developmental milestones of preemies who are 9-11 months old. Previously I have done posts for 6-8 months old, 3-5 months old and 0-2 months old.

Here are some developmental milestones you may see when your preemie is 9-11 months old.

Gross/Large Motor

  • crawls on all fours
  • pulls to stand & lowers self to floor (changing position without falling)
  • cruises by holding onto furniture
  • stands alone

Fine/Small Motor

  • pokes at objects or pictures with an isolated finger
  • drops toys on purpose
  • picks up small items with index finger and thumb
  • plays with two toys at the same time

Social/Play Skills

  • finds a toy that has been hidden under a blanket, cup, etc
  • imitates facial movements (pucker lips, tongue out, etc)
  • participates in social games (peek-a-book & pat-a-cake)
  • indicates when he/she wants something

Communication

  • turns when name is called
  • imitates non-speech sound (tongue click, cough)
  • looks at familiar person when named
  • plays with toys while making appropriate sounds or words (car sound, "boom" for falling objects)
  • stops activity momentarily when adult says "no"

Ways to optimize your preemie's development

  • play social games with your preemie as much as possible
  • name objects to encourage vocabulary development (do you want the ball vs. do you want this or Look, here is the cow/horse/dog/etc)
  • Put your preemie on the floor with several different toys to play with
  • Offer choices - hold out two toys and ask (example: do you want the ball or the block?)

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