For example we refer to infants over a year as 13 months, 16 months, 24 months, etc. Is there a reason for this convention?
In: Biology
Same reason I don’t talk about how many Billions of dollars I have.
The difference between 2 months and 10 months is a lot. If you don’t care about the difference, then you probably shouldn’t be having a conversation with a parent about their kids.
Developmentally it matters through at least two.
Because the difference between 13 mo’s and 18 mos is GIANT… even they are both “one year old”
As kids get older their development slows down. It’s not as drastic, milestones take longer and are not as significant.
(Walking vs not walking, can they feed themselves, are they potty training, do they have language yet … Those things happen over month increments, not year.)
Many important developmental milestones happen during the first two years of life. And it can be difficult to gauge an infant’s age based solely on its size. The changes happen rapidly. There are huge differences between a 12 month old, and an 18 month old. And between 18 mos and 24 mos. Measuring age in months when changes happen so frequently is a more accurate shorthand to convey what stage of development the baby is in.
Per the NHS (and typical among US health care providers as well):
>>With babies and toddlers, we count their age in weeks up until 6 months, then months up until 2 years.
>>Our research shows that this is how people talk about their child’s age. Healthcare professionals also use weeks and months in this way. It means we can be consistent and accurate when writing about a baby’s milestones, vaccinations and development reviews.
[Source](https://service-manual.nhs.uk/content/inclusive-content/age#:~:text=With%20babies%20and%20toddlers%2C%20we,and%20months%20in%20this%20way.)
I saw a video on tiktok that exemplified this. A 1 year old and 1 month is a baby, he can sit, but not walk, maybe talk. A 1 year old and 11 months can walk, talk, and is a toddler almost. It’s a really big difference between them.
Because they change and grow so quickly. One year and one month is Vastly Different from one year and eight months.
These are developmental stages. Kids grow up fast and every few months they’re in a different stage of their development which means different things about their behavior and care.
A 12 month old baby & a 23 month old baby could both be referred to as being 1 yr old, but they are waaaaay far apart development wise. A 12 month old might not be walking or talking, whereas a 23 month old will probably be doing both.
There’s a lot of developmental milestones that happen between age 1 and 2. Calling them 1 the whole time doesn’t really convey the actual abilities and expectations of the child through that age range
Because they change every month until two years of age. Then we start referring their age in years than months.
You can see a difference between a 12 month old and a 15 month old.
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