I have always wondered why we use month’s to describe a baby’s age but from what I have experienced this stops when they are 2 years old, why? Is this the same all around the world? I am from Australia.
Edit: Hi all I have read through the comments and would just like to add this here as I have replied to one post and don’t want to put it on all comments
Yes I completely understand this and why medical practitioners use it, but why then is it used in everyday context, for example when you meet other people with babies under 2 the say it in months all the time, nothing to do with milestones or anything like that, so I mean in a social situation, hope this helps you understand where I am coming from.
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Because there is a huge difference between a 6 month old and 9 month old baby. A 12 month old baby and an 18 month old baby are entirely different.
The growth rate and behavioral changes in those first couple of years are huge. A 6 month old is very different than a 10 month old. After 2 years the milestones for change are farther apart.
it’s pretty common all around the world
newborns have more significant development over months than a grown human. A difference of a few months for you is watching a different tv show in the evenings. A difference of a few months for a newborn is whether or not they can walk or say words. It stops typically about 2 years of age because that’s when the difference of a few months becomes less significant in the average newborns development
It’s common in the U.S. as well. It’s because babies change a lot in the first few years of life that milestones need to be demarcated in months so we can tell if a child is developing properly. They learn to roll, sit up, crawl, walk, a few words, then phrases, then simple sentences. They start teething at a certain time. By two they should be ambulatory and able to communicate with others and have started toilet training. Things slow down a bit from there.
The developmental changes from month to month for the first 2-3 years are much more drastic than the changes every year after that. There are milestones every child should be hitting every month or so, and it’s easier to measure those on a monthly basis
Unless there is 2 of something, then no need to use it as a count.
So when baby is first born you can go by days until week 2, weeks until 2 months old, months until baby is 2 years.
But also there is a huge difference in 12 month old and 23 month old developmentally
Because developmentally, there are big changes month to month. A 12 month old and a 23 month old are both 1, but vastly different developmentally.
Because months are used as benchmarks for development. By month 7 babies start to roll over on their own, at 9, they should start crawling and may begin to speak their first words and start walking at 12 months.
It’s in part because the assessment standards used in clinical settings are measured in months from birth.
In Italy we do the same. I think it is because if a baby has 10 months (almost 1 year) and another has 14 months (almost 1 year) their development level are, usually, very different. So it is important be more precise about baby’s age. After 2 years development is less fast, so you may begin to count years “and a half”.
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