Worried about your child's development?
What you might be noticing about your child's development, what is typical at different ages, things you can try at home, and where to start if you want help.
Many parents notice things about their child's development and wonder whether they matter. You do not need to be certain there is a problem before seeking advice, and you do not need to wait for someone else to raise concerns.
Many concerns can be supported through simple strategies at home. If your child needs extra help, support is available and does not require a diagnosis.
What you might be noticing
You might have noticed that your child:
- is not saying as much as other children their age, or is hard to understand
- gets upset more often or for longer than you expect, and is hard to settle
- plays or communicates differently from other children
- is slower to sit, walk, climb or use their hands
- finds everyday things hard, like dressing, eating or going to the toilet
- reacts strongly to noise, textures, food or busy places.
You might not be able to put your exact worries into words. That is OK – there are people who can talk with you about your concerns.
What is typical?
Children develop at different rates. Knowing what is typical for your child's age can help you work out whether what you are noticing is worth acting on.
-
Raising Children Network — milestones, videos and practical guides for children from birth to 8. Start here if you are not sure where to look.
-
Starting Blocks — what to expect at each stage from birth to 5, in 6 age groups.
-
healthdirect — what milestones and signs to watch for in the first 18 months.
-
Your Child's Development — a Canberra Health Services booklet covering birth to 4, with what to expect at each stage.
Developing kids
Children learn to talk at different rates, and a wide range is normal. Understanding and talking are 2 different things, and a child can be doing well at one and not the other.
If you are worried about your child’s talking, it could be useful get your child's hearing checked. You do not need a referral.
- Language development in children: 0 to 8 years — Raising Children Network. What most children are doing at each stage, and what helps.
- Language delay in children — Raising Children Network. What a language delay is and what to do about it, for children 6 months to 8 years.
- Speech disorders in children 1 to 8 years — Raising Children Network. If your child is hard for other people to understand, repeats sounds or stutters.
- Speech development in children — healthdirect. Speech milestones from birth to 5.
- Children's Hearing Service - Canberra Health Services — hearing assessment for children aged 18 months to 18 years.
All children have hard days. Big feelings are part of growing up, and learning to manage them takes years.
It can be helpful to talk with your GP if your child's behaviour has changed suddenly, or if they are not sleeping. Pain, illness, hearing and sleep may show up as behaviour, and they are worth ruling out first.
- Understanding and managing emotions: children and teenagers — Raising Children Network. How children learn to recognise and handle feelings, and what helps at each age from 1 year up.
- Self-regulation in children and teenagers — Raising Children Network. Why the feeling arrives before the skill to manage it, and how that skill develops.
- Calming down for children: how to help — Raising Children Network. Five steps to use in the middle of a meltdown, for children 3 to 8.
- A positive approach to discipline — Raising Children Network. Guiding behaviour rather than punishing it, for children 3 months to 8 years.
- Guiding your child's behaviour in early learning — Starting Blocks. What affects behaviour, and how to work with your child's educator so home and your early learning service do the same thing.
If you are wondering whether your child is autistic or has ADHD, it’s good to seek advice.
Families often ask about both autism and ADHD. What parents notice sometimes overlaps, and so does much of the support. Getting support does not depend on the result of an assessment.
- Autism and behaviour — Raising Children Network. Difficult behaviour, anxiety and confidence.
- Autism, communicating and relationships — Raising Children Network. Building communication and relationships with an autistic child.
- ADHD: family life and relationships — Raising Children Network. Making family life work when a child has ADHD.
- ADHD: learning, school and work — Raising Children Network. The strengths to build on, and what helps at school.
- Autism Connect — a free national autism helpline funded by the Australian Government. Talk to an adviser about anything to do with autism, before or after a diagnosis. Call from 8 am to 7 pm Monday to Friday on 1300 308 699.
- Positive Partnerships — funded by the Australian Government Department of Education. Free workshops and practical resources for families of school-aged autistic children.
- A Village for Every Child — family resources on ADHD, with a map of what to do before a diagnosis and after one.
Read about getting an autism assessment for your child: learn how assessment works in the ACT, what a referral needs to include, and what happens afterwards.
Everyday ways to support your child's development
There are lots of places where you can find activities suitable for your child:
-
Literacy activities for kids — Raising Children Network. Talking, singing, reading, storytelling and drawing, with ideas for every stage from birth to 8.
-
Activities you can do at home with your child — Starting Blocks. Everyday moments turned into learning, like counting letterboxes or talking through what you are cooking. All ages.
-
Talking and reading with your baby — Starting Blocks. How stories, songs and books build language, from birth to 4.
-
Language and play: toddlers — Raising Children Network. Narrating the day, following what your child is interested in, and waiting for an answer. For 1 to 3 year olds.
-
Play ideas for school-age children — Raising Children Network. Why play still matters once school has started, for 5 to 8 year olds.
-
Homemade toys and free activities for kids — Raising Children Network. Ideas using what you already have at home, birth to 8.
-
Tips on raising a multilingual child — Starting Blocks. Why speaking your own language at home helps, and how to do it alongside English.
-
Child development conversations, for parents — A Village for Every Child, Belconnen. How to talk with your child's educator about what you are noticing.
-
Nutrition advice for children and families — Canberra Health Services. Free dietitian advice, self-directed videos on fussy eating, and Tuckatalk factsheets on first foods, snacks and everyday meals. Factsheets cover birth to 12.
What to do next
Find out the options that are available to you in the ACT. Read how to get help with your child's development.
Part of Thriving Kids
Thriving Kids is how the ACT government is supporting families with their children's development.