Many parents worry about their children’s development, fearing that they are falling behind others.
- Child development is often divided into specific areas, such as gross motor skills, fine motor skills, language, cognition, and social/emotional development.
- These designations are useful, but there are notable overlaps between different skill areas.
According to a new poll*, 1 in 4 parents are worried about a potential developmental delay in their child. Among these anxious, more than 80% seek advice from health professionals (63%) or childminders and crèches (24%). However, 18% of them have the bad habit of consulting much less reliable sources of information, such as social networks, family or friends.
“When parents seek advice from friends, family or social networks, they may glean inaccurate or outdated information about what is expected during different stages of child development,” warns pediatrician Gary L. Freed, director of the survey.
Dads are more worried than moms
Moreover, one in three parents said they had already compared their child to that of a friend or with their brothers and sisters. Dads are more likely than moms to have compared their child to a friend’s (41% vs. 28%) or other children in their family (32% vs. 25%).
“It is important for parents to keep in mind that child development is a process that takes time, and that each child is unique,” recalls pediatrician Gary L. Freed. “Children may reach certain milestones earlier or later than their peers of the same age. This does not necessarily mean that one child is ahead or another is behind,” he adds.
*To achieve these results, 779 parents with at least one child aged five or under were surveyed.
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