Although children develop at their own pace, certain stages of development happen in basically the same order for all children. The following are some general developmental milestones for children from birth through the age of five. Development of premature children should be measured starting with their expected birth date, rather than their actual birth date. Beginning at birth, a full-term baby learns to use muscles voluntarily. He or she learns to control the head, then the arms, trunk and legs.
Newborns also begin crying at birth as a method of communicating.
Other forms of communication, such as smiling and imitating sounds from others, follow as the baby's brain is able to know what sights and sounds mean. In infancy, a child usually only can concentrate on one skill at a time, often forgetting something that has already been learned. However, the child re-learns that forgotten skill later, as more skills can be remembered at the same time. In addition, children at this stage are usually shy with strangers. Children at this age are likely to be independent, self-oriented and unreasonable.