11 Developmental Milestones of a 19 Month Old Baby

By 19 months, babies enter a delightful period of growth and development. This period includes high levels of activity, enhanced language use, and independence. At the 19 month milestone, babies are proportionately larger and develop more as they achieve several critical growing-up stages.

It is a time of high mobility, developing speech, and new forms of communication with others. They start to express themselves more clearly and show curiosity about their surroundings.  Let’s explore these milestones and what can be expected at this thrilling stage.

Nineteen months should be when most babies accomplish critical mental development, and evidence should be provided that the babies are developing toward normal in different domains of development. These include physical, cognitive, social, and language skills that are changing rapidly. 

They also begin to form more coherent sentences and understand others and commands. The children’s psyche develops well, and they can already show love and actively examine the world around them. These milestones ensure that each milestone is achieved and can be tracked against the expected care practices.

Movement Milestones for a 19 month old:

• Walking and Running: During this stage, most toddlers can walk and run fairly well, sustaining good control of their legs and coordination.
• Climbing Stairs: By this age, most toddlers love climbing and trying out the stairs with help, using their hands or railings for support.
• Kicking a Ball: They can also follow the movements of a ball forward as they attend to the kick. This coordination activity also develops their legs' strength and balance.
• Jumping in Place: Some 19 to 20-month-old toddlers will attempt to jump up, sometimes even getting both their feet off the ground. 
• Squatting: Generally, it is also observed that toddlers reach down and grab something, such as toys, from the floor without falling over but squatting.
• Pulling and Pushing: Those who can sit up on their love pull or push toys chased by strings and push objects such as toy trolleys.

Visual Milestones:

There is tremendous progress in a baby’s visual skills in the 19th month. Some commonly seen milestones are:

• Visual Tracking: The baby can turn their head to track the movement of people, toys, and other laughing materials over a broader range.
• Depth Perception: They are beginning to realise depth, which will assist in judging distance when reaching for an object.
• Colour Recognition: They can discriminate against specific colours and may prefer some more than others.
• Facial Recognition: At this stage, the baby is excited to see people who are known and can easily spot them from a far range.

Hearing Milestones:

At 19 months, a baby’s auditory development includes several vital skills, such as:

• Responding to Name: The baby consistently responds when their name is called and shows interest in familiar voices.
• Understanding Simple Commands: They can follow simple instructions, such as "Come here" or "Give me the toy."
• Imitation of Sounds: They start to imitate simple sounds and may try to mimic words or noises they hear.
• Reaction to Environmental Sounds: The baby reacts to various environmental sounds, such as a doorbell or a siren, indicating growing auditory awareness.
• Listening to Stories: They may show interest in listening to short stories and looking at pictures while you read to them.

Smell Milestones:

At 19 months, a baby's sense of smell develops, helping them recognise and react to different scents. Key milestones include:

• Reaction to Familiar Smells: The baby may recognise and prefer familiar scents like family members.
• Exploration of New Scents: They'll likely express curiosity by smelling objects, sometimes reacting with enjoyment or dislike to strong odours.
• Association of Smells with Objects: Babies may start linking specific smells to things they encounter frequently, such as associating the scent of soap with bath time.

Touch Milestones:

By 19 months, a baby's sense of touch becomes more refined, contributing to their exploration of the world around them. Key milestones include:

• Preference for Textures: The baby will begin showing preferences for certain textures, enjoying soft fabrics or squishy toys over rougher materials.
• Exploring through Touch: They'll use touch to examine objects and may show awareness of temperature differences, such as reacting to something cold or warm.

Sleep Milestones for a 19 month old:

• Fewer Daytime Naps: Many children in this age group begin to outgrow their naps, going from two nap sessions to one nap in the middle of the day, which signifies some form of daytime energy management.
• Sleeping Through the Night: Most toddlers in this term can sleep for 10 to 12 hours non-stop, helping them more easily establish patterns of good, healthy sleeping habits during the night without interruptions.
• Developing Bedtime Routines: At this stage, children usually embrace unique sleep preparation procedures, such as reading a picture book and hugging before sleeping, which enables better transfer from activity to sleep.

Feeding Milestones for a 19 month old:

• Self-Feeding: Toddlers become more skilled at using a spoon or fork to feed themselves, though they may still make a mess as they practice their coordination.
• Eating More Solid Foods: By 19 months, children usually eat a variety of solid foods, including fruits, vegetables, and proteins, as they explore new tastes and textures.
• Drinking from a Cup: Many toddlers are learning to drink from a regular cup without a lid, improving their motor skills and coordination during mealtime.

Here are key cognitive milestones for a 19 month old:

• Balancing on One Leg: Attempts to balance momentarily on one leg, which fosters coordination and balance.
• Feeding Themselves: Uses utensils with growing skill, developing hand-eye coordination and independence.
• Squatting to Pick Up Objects: They can bend to grab toys from the floor and stand back up without losing balance, enhancing core strength.

Social Milestones for an 19 month old:

• Parallel Play: Your baby will still be content playing next to other children and may not interact with them directly. 
• Simple Emotions: They begin to outwardly display and understand emotions of frustration, happiness, and caring for others to an extent.
• Limitation of Adults: Your baby copies what adults do and their tidying habits, showing that they are starting to learn about social behaviours.

Language Milestones Development for a 19 month old:

• Increased Vocabulary: Toddlers can typically say between 10 and 20 words, and some children expand their vocabulary further as they learn to express their needs and emotions.
• Imitating Speech: Toddlers love to imitate words they hear from adults, even if their pronunciation is imperfect, helping them practice speaking and develop more complex language skills.

Play Milestones for a 19 month old:

• Pretend Play: They mimic everyday actions like cooking or cleaning, showing growing imagination.
• Interactive Games: Enjoys playing simple games like peek-a-boo, promoting social bonding and attention.
• Building Blocks: Stacks blocks or shapes, improving fine motor skills and understanding of balance.
• Exploring Puzzles: Can work on basic puzzles, developing problem-solving and spatial awareness.
• Imitative Actions: Repeats actions they see adults doing, helping them learn and understand social roles.

1. Betty Blocks

2. Outdoor Play

3. Storytime with Books

4. Draw and Scribble

5. Sorting Games

6. Dancing to Music

7. Imaginative Play

8. Game of Cunning and Cubby

9. Messy Play with Clay or Dough

10. Playing Soccer

1. Encourage Physical Activity

2. Promote Language Development

3. Foster Social Skills

4. Self-care

Developmental Delays:

Persistent Health Issues:

Feeding Problems:

Sleeping Issues:

Vaccination and Health Screenings: