Your child's developmental milestones - 2 to 3 years
By 14 months
Most babies will achieve these milestones by this age:
Gross motor
Your toddler will start to walk independently.
Fine motor
They’ll be able to build towers using 2 cubes.
Communication and hearing
Your toddler will be able to say one word at a time, such as “no” or the name of a particular object.
Social and emotional
They’ll play alongside other children but not with them. This is called parallel play.
Problem-solving, learning and understanding
Your toddler will put 2 cubes into 1 hand to help them take a third cube.
By 16 months
Most babies will achieve these milestones by this age:
Gross motor
Your toddler will crawl upstairs. Their legs will be stiff when they run.
Fine motor
They’ll be able to build towers using 3 cubes.
Communication and hearing
Your toddler will have a vocabulary of 5 to 10 words.
Social and emotional
They’ll start doing pretend play. This is when your toddler pretends objects or actions are other make-believe objects or ideas as play. For example, pretending blocks are a house or pretending to talk on a phone.
Problem-solving, learning and understanding
Your toddler will find toys hidden under layers.
By 20 months
Most babies will achieve these milestones by this age:
Gross motor
Your toddler will walk upstairs while holding your hand.
Fine motor
Your child will be able to:
- stack 3 to 6 small blocks on top of each other
- turn the pages of a book by themselves
Communication and hearing
Your toddler will be able to point to 6 body parts.
Social and emotional
They’ll be able to feed themselves and take off clothes.
Problem-solving, learning and understanding
Your toddler will scribble back and forth using a crayon.
By 24 months
Most babies will achieve these milestones by this age:
Gross motor
Your toddler will be able to:
- jump into place
- kick a ball
- throw a ball
Fine motor
They’ll be able to make a ‘train’ using cubes. They’ll be able to use a crayon or marker to copy a vertical line after seeing you do it first.
Communication and hearing
Your toddler will be able to say 2 or 3 word sentences. They will refer to themselves by their names. They will have 50 or more words in their vocabulary.
Social and emotional
Your toddler will:
- match objects to pictures
- imitate or copy others to please them
- won’t be distressed if separated from you and will continue with their activity
Problem-solving, learning and understanding
Your toddler will continue to do pretend play. They will copy a line drawn on a piece of paper.