Jessica Chenoweth 
Developmental Milestones Change for the First Time in Almost 20 Years
The CDC and the AAP announced this month that they are changing the milestone checklists for children for the first time since 2004. The changes are mainly to try and lessen confusion and unneeded worry by parents and caregivers.
Prior to this change, signs of developmental delays were based on where children in the 50th percentile of a given age groups would be at. That means that only 50% of kids would be doing that action at that age. This caused a lot of parent’s undue worry when they thought their little one wasn’t hitting those milestones. The new system is based on based on milestones 75% or more kids at a certain age are expected to hit.
Other changes include:
- Adding checklists for children at ages 15 and 30 months
- Identifying more social and emotional milestones children should meet
- Removing vague language like “may” or “begins”
- Providing new, open-ended questions to use in discussions between parents and pediatricians.
- Revising and expanding tips and activities to promote kids’ development
You can get more information on the CDCs “Learn the Signs. Act Early.” website below. You can also download the free “Milestone Tracker” app on your smartphone.
https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/actearly/index.html
