What to Notice in the First Year and When to Ask
Something about the way your baby responds, or doesn’t, keeps nagging at you, and everyone keeps telling you to wait and see. An early milestone check can replace that uncertainty with a clear picture of where your baby is developmentally and what, if anything, to do next. Early signs of developmental delay in babies are often quiet, easy to second-guess, and easy to talk yourself out of. Here is what to watch for in the first year, and how to tell when a closer look makes sense.
Early Signs of Developmental Delay in Babies
Milestones are ranges, not deadlines. One baby rolls over early and babbles late, another does the opposite, and both turn out fine. A developmental delay means a baby is consistently behind where most babies are at a given age, either in more than one area or for longer than a few weeks.
That is why a single missed milestone rarely tells you much on its own. What deserves attention is a pattern: several signs that show up together, signs that persist as your baby gets older, or a skill your baby had and then lost.
What Parents Notice in the First Months
In the earliest weeks, the signs parents describe are usually social rather than physical. They are small moments that feel slightly off, even when a pediatric checkup looks normal.
Eye Contact and Social Smiles
Most babies start to watch faces closely and return a smile within the first couple of months. A baby who rarely looks at faces, seems to look past you, or doesn’t smile back when you smile and talk to them is showing something worth noting, especially if it continues over several weeks.
Turning Toward Voices and Sounds
Babies typically become more interested in voices over the first months and begin to turn toward familiar sounds. If your baby seldom reacts to your voice, or you have wondered more than once whether they can hear you, mention it at the next visit.
A 2025 case report published in Perspectives in Infant Mental Health, the professional publication of the World Association for Infant Mental Health, followed a baby whose two older brothers had both been diagnosed with autism. Siblings of a child with autism are known to have a higher likelihood of autism themselves, so this baby’s development was monitored from early infancy instead of waiting for the usual screening ages. By eight weeks, clinicians were able to document differences: the baby avoided eye contact, turned toward sounds less than expected, and smiled socially less often than most babies that age (MacDonald, Couger, and Yarzebski, 2025).
One baby’s story is not a rule that applies to every child. What it shows is that these differences can be visible much earlier than most families are told to start looking.
Movement, Feeding, and Sleep Patterns
Not every early sign is social. Babies who feel unusually floppy or stiff when held, who struggle with feeding in ways that go beyond the usual newborn learning curve, or whose sleep and sensory reactions seem out of step with other babies can also benefit from a closer look.
Signs Worth Watching From 6 to 12 Months
As babies move through the second half of the first year, the back-and-forth of communication becomes easier to see. These are some of the patterns parents and clinicians pay attention to:
– Few or no laughs, squeals, or playful sounds by around 6 months
– Little interest in taking turns making sounds with you
– Not looking up or turning when you call their name by around 9 to 12 months
– Not using simple gestures such as reaching to be picked up or waving bye-bye by around 12 months
– Babbling that doesn’t develop or starts to fade
– Losing any skill your baby already had, at any age
None of these signs means your baby has a specific condition. They mean the picture is worth looking at with someone trained to read it.
Autism, Down Syndrome, and Early Support
For some families, early signs are the first hint that something is different. Autism is usually diagnosed in the toddler years or later, yet the social and communication differences behind it can begin in infancy. Parents are often the first to notice them, long before anyone else is ready to say the word.
For families of babies with Down syndrome, the situation is usually reversed. Most parents learn of the diagnosis during pregnancy or soon after birth, so the question is not whether something is different but how development is progressing and what kind of support will help right now. Close monitoring of movement, feeding, and early communication gives those families a head start rather than a waiting period.
The same is true for NICU graduates, babies born prematurely, babies with other genetic conditions, and children with intellectual disabilities. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) encourages parents to track their child’s milestones and share any concerns with their child’s doctor at every checkup, and it offers a free Milestone Tracker app in English and Spanish to make that easier.
When a Closer Look Makes Sense
Families usually reach out for one of a few reasons. A pediatrician has raised a concern. The baby had a high-risk start, such as a NICU stay or an early birth. Or there is no formal concern at all, just a parent’s instinct that something is off, along with a growing frustration at being told to wait.
That instinct deserves to be taken seriously. At First Steps Developmental Services in Woburn, the Every Milestone Project offers developmental assessments for children from 2 months to 5 years old, delivered by Board Certified Behavior Analysts with experience in early childhood development. Families leave with a written summary of findings and individualized recommendations, and parent coaching is part of every program rather than an add-on. Support is available in English, Spanish, and Portuguese.
Families come to the Woburn center from Burlington, Winchester, Lexington, Wilmington, Arlington, Andover, and communities across Greater Boston. What most of them are looking for is simple: someone who will listen to what they are seeing and give them a straight answer.
Questions Parents Ask Us Most
Am I Overreacting by Asking So Early?
No. Asking early is not the same as expecting bad news. If your baby is developing on track, an evaluation confirms it and you get your peace of mind back. If something would benefit from support, you learn about it at the age when support can do the most.
Do I Need a Referral or a Diagnosis First?
No. Early Insights is a private-pay program, so families do not need a physician referral or insurance authorization to schedule a developmental assessment. Many families who reach out have no diagnosis at all, only questions.
What If My Baby Is Just a Late Bloomer?
Some babies are. Development is uneven, and plenty of babies catch up on their own. The difference between a late bloomer and a delay is usually the pattern over time, which is exactly what an assessment and follow-up monitoring are designed to show. A clear picture now keeps you from guessing for another six months.
Paying Attention Is Not Overreacting
Early signs of developmental delay in babies rarely arrive as one obvious moment. They show up as small patterns: a smile that doesn’t come back, a name that doesn’t get a glance, a skill that fades. Noticing them does not make you an anxious parent. It makes you an attentive one.
Whether your baby has a known diagnosis such as Down syndrome, a family history of autism, a difficult start in the NICU, or nothing more than a feeling you can’t shake, you deserve a clear answer about where your child is and what would help. The years before age 5 are a period of rapid growth and learning, which makes them a good time to understand what your child needs.
If something about your baby’s development has been on your mind, contact us and we can talk through what you are seeing.
About Jarrod Scalzo
Jarrod Scalzo, MSEd, BCBA, LABA, is the Founder and CEO of First Steps Developmental Services, an ABA therapy center dedicated to supporting young children with autism, Down syndrome, and developmental delays, along with the families who care for them. With over 20 years of experience in special education and Applied Behavior Analysis, Jarrod earned his Master’s degree in Severe Special Needs Education from Simmons University in 2009 and became a Board Certified Behavior Analyst in 2014. He founded First Steps with a mission grounded in his own experience as a parent: to give every family the tools, knowledge, and compassionate support they need to help their child build a strong foundation for lifelong success. His approach centers on evidence-based care, caregiver partnership, and creating environments where children feel safe enough to grow.
