Typical development is AMAZING. Children learn new skills quickly. Check below for some general guidelines of things to be expecting your little one to be learning, depending on how old they are. Remember, eating is the most complex physical task that children do – it takes the typically developing child 2 full years to learn to eat a wide range of foods. However, if your child is struggling to meet these milestones, it is worth talking with your child’s pediatrician or other health professional. Because eating is so complex, it is often the first sign that something isn’t working well for a child from a developmental standpoint. The earlier you get help, the easier it is to get back on the developmental path.
Please note: If your child was born prematurely, you will want to use their “adjusted” age (how old they would be if they were born on their due date), not their “calendar” age (how old they actually are). From a developmental milestone standpoint, we adjust for prematurity until the child is 2 years old.
38-40 Weeks Post Conception (at birth for a term pregnancy)
Oral Motor
- Baby has several reflexes that support eating, including the swallow reflex, phasic bite reflex, palmomental reflex and transverse tongue reflex
- Sucking is supported by a central pattern generator and happens automatically
Sensory
- Baby can an discriminate between different concentrations of sweet flavors (breast milk has a sweet flavor)
2 Weeks
Sensory
- Babies reject bitter flavors, as this flavor is associated with rotten or poisonous foods
2 Months
Sensory
- Babies reject sour flavors
2.5 – 3.5 Months
Motor & Postural Stability
- Steady head control achieved
- Baby can maintain a semi-flexed (curled) posture during feeding
Oral Motor
- Baby is transitioning to volitional sucking instead of relying on their reflex (range = 1.5 to 3 months)
Sensory
- Can detect flavor differences (e.g. increased suckling to new flavors)
4-6 Months
Motor & Postural Stability
- Beginning hand-to-mouth play (independent oral exploration of objects)
- Increased reaching skills
- Reaches for bottle or spoon when hungry
Oral Motor
- 2 to 6 months: Integrating Reflexes –
- Rooting
- Palmomental
- Phasic Bite
- Loss of Central Pattern Generator that supports sucking rhythms
- Opens mouth when spoon approaches/ touches the lips
- Tongue used to move purees to back of mouth for the swallow
- Munching (up and down) jaw movements
- Lateral (side to side) jaw movements
- Diagonal jaw movements, which is the beginning of a more mature rotary chew
- Lateral tongue movements, which helps with eating efficiency
Sensory
- Preference for salty flavors emerges
6-7 Months
Motor & Postural Stability
- Trunk control is sufficient for independent sitting for more than 3-5 seconds
- Stable head control in sitting (no head bobbing)
- Transfers toys and food from one hand to the other
- Holds bottle in both hands
7-8 Months
Oral Motor
- Able to bring upper lip down to draw food off of the spoon.
- Full lip closure emerges.
- Consistent tongue lateralization seen when foods presented to sides of tongue.
- Active movement of foods from side of mouth to central tongue groove and back
- Mature tongue lateralization emerging
- Diagonal rotary movements
8-10 Months
Motor & Postural Stability
- Trunk rotation and weight shift
- Beginning to move in and out of positions
- Voluntary release patterns emerge
- Uses fingers to rake food toward self
- Puts finger in mouth to move food and keep it in
- Introduction of cup drinking (a variety of cups is best – open cups, straw cups, sip cups without the no-spill valve)
Oral Motor
- Circular rotary movements emerge
- Able to transition to slightly more texture (small bumps/fork mash or thicker purees)
- With assist, able to break off pieces of meltable foods like a Veggie Straw or Baby Mum Mum
- “Chewing” (munching) of softer food
10-12 Months
Motor & Postural Stability
- Independent sitting in a variety of positions
- Pincer grasp developing
- Pokes food with index finger
- Uses fingers to self-feed soft, chopped foods
Oral Motor
- Licking food off of lips emerges.
- Simple tongue protrusion may occur.
- More controlled biting, isolated from body movements.
- Full transfer of foods from side to side in mouth with tongue, without difficulty.
- Rotary movements begin to emerge
12-14 Months
Motor & Postural Stability
- Typically “co-feeding” with a parent, where parent feeds some bites and child independently takes bites
- Grasps spoon with whole hand
- Holds and tips bottle
- Holds cup with 2 hands
Oral Motor
- Chews and swallows firmer foods without choking.
- Chews foods that produce juice.
- Able to keep most bites in mouth during chewing
14-16 Months
Motor & Postural Stability
- Efficient finger feeding
- Practicing utensil use (versus effective use for volume)
Oral Motor
- Uses tongue to gather shattered pieces
- Sweeps pieces into a bolus with the tongue
- Chews bigger pieces of soft table foods
- Working on chewing foods increasing in texture “hardness”
18-24 Months
Motor & Postural Stability
- Able to pick up, dip, and bring foods to mouth
- Increasing utensil use (not efficient until after 24 months of age)
- Scoops purees with utensil and brings to mouth
Oral Motor
- Working on increasing speed and efficiency
- Chewing strength improves
- Better able to manage hard-to-chew foods
24-36 Months
Motor & Postural Stability
- Use fingers to fill spoon
- Increasing fork skill
- Open cup drinking without spilling
- One handed cup holding
Oral Motor
- Circulatory jaw movements improve
- Chews with lips closed
- Working further on increasing speed, strength and efficiency with bigger and bigger pieces of harder and harder to chew table food
References:
- Browne, J. V. 2008
- Carruth et.al. 2002
- Delaney & Arvedson, 2008
- Porter, 1999
- Schwaab, et al, 1986
- Torola 2012
- Winberg & Porter, 1998
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