Can You Identify The Red Flags in Your Child’s Development?

This Milestones Monitor Tracker will help guide your kids through their preschool years

At three years old, your child has grown to a preschooler. Are you starting to see them develop skills, such as an improved vocabulary and following simple errands? There are seven domains of development that facilitate a child’s learning—attention, communication, inhibitory control, memory, motor skills, strategy and planning, and regulated behavior.

To help parents keep a close watch on their child’s growth, Enfagrow A+ Four consulted with child development and behavior specialists to create a Milestones Monitor. This resource will help you learn about the different domains of development, track your child’s progress, and and get tips on guiding your child.

How to Use The Milestones Monitor?

When you go through the domains of development, remember that they are all important and closely related to each other. The Milestone Monitor will guide you through the sequences and show you how the abilities and skills build on what has already been acquired by your kids.

The tracker lists milestones for each domain of development and is grouped into different age groups. Aside from ticking items off the list and celebrating the milestones of your child, you can see a list of red flags to watch out for.

Sample Tracker

To give you a preview of the milestones monitor, here’s one area of development you can track—communication. This covers more than just your child’s vocabulary and ability to talk. How does your child understand and interact with the world at large? How does your child convey ideas, intentions, and emotions? See if your child can do the following:

3-4 years old:

Can speak in sentences

100% intelligibility with few articulation errors

Can tell stories

Understands action words

Follows three-step commands

Knows same and different

5-6 years old:

Defines simple words

Retell stories with a beginning and an end

Describes events in order

Understands adjectives

Enjoys rhyming words and produces words that rhyme

Asks what unfamiliar words mean

7 years old and older:

Uses complex and compound sentences

Talks about a range of topics

Understand opposites and word analogies

Answers who, why, when, where, and how questions

Parenting tips to develop your child’s communication skills:

Talk with your child

Listen and respond to your child

Read with your child

Red flags:

Unable to use three-word sentences by 3 years old

Unclear speech, does not answer simple questions, inability to use pronouns and tell a simple story by 4 years old

Inability to rhyme and inability to recognize shapes, letters, and colors by 5 years old

Cannot retell or summarize a story with a beginning, middle, and end from 6 years old

Handling Red Flags

Are you concerned that your preschooler isn’t developing as quickly as you would like? Remember that each child is unique and goes through varying levels of growth. If your child is not yet exhibiting the skills outlined in the Milestones Monitor Tracker, then reinforce the tips suggested under each domain. Be patient when guiding your child.

But if their skills still do not manifest even with the stimulation tips provided, then this is a red flag. It’s best to consult a pediatrician for further evaluation and management.

Monitoring your child’s development can help you spot and address red flags early. To help your child’s development, provide them with educational activities, parental guidance, and proper nutrition. Help boost your child’s brain development with Enfagrow A+ Four, the only one with the highest levels of DHA and MFGM Pro to support their academic and emotional intelligence.