by KYW's medical editor Dr. Brian McDonough
There are normal stages of development that doctors often measure in an infant’s development - things like sitting up at six months of age and walking at one year.
Certainly these benchmarks are things that can be measured and monitored but they are not the same for every child. In other words if some of these landmarks are not met, it is not a big deal but if there are a series of landmarks missed it can represent the sign of other problems.
One of the major reasons we monitor these so closely is because there are cases where certain conditions can be detected and treated. Regular checkups are very important during the first year of life to help identify problems that could potentially occur.