Introducing VTech’s Expert Panel and the Milestones Resource + Giveaway
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This is a sponsored post on behalf of Vtech. All thoughts remain my own.
I absolutely love seeing my children hit milestones. Big or small, they are so exciting. Sometimes it is hard to see them transition and know that we can never go back to the tiny babies they once were, but mostly it is a happy event. Our latest and greatest milestone is Delaney beginning to talk. She is almost 23 months now and she has begun talking up a storm. She repeats almost anything you tell her, and is now using words to tell me what she wants and needs which makes my life SO much easier. Just this morning she told me “Milk. Table. Find it.” I knew exactly what she wanted, her milk cup was on the table and she wanted to go find it. Hooray, she told me what she wanted instead of me having to guess why she was upset.
Delaney is the youngest of 4 children and it has been amazing to me to see how different they all are. They have all reached various milestones at different ages. I think my oldest Danica was talking a lot by the time she was a year old. My second child Kurtis didn’t talk much at all until after he was 2 years old. Keegan was a little before 2 and Delaney has been starting to talk for a few months, but it has really taken off in just the past 2 weeks. It has been the same with all their milestones such as crawling, walking etc.
Vtech recognizes that all children are different and all hit milestones at different ages. They want to help parents recognize the milestones their children may be hitting and recommend products that will help encourage that development.
About VTech’s Expert Panel and Milestones:
- The Expert Panel is compiled of six experts including, Dr. Lise Eliot, Early Childhood Mental Development Expert, who collaborated with VTech to develop the Milestones resource.
- The milestones are broken down by ages that range from newborn to nine years old.
- Each age range is broken down by three categories of learning:
- Language and Cognitive
- Social and Emotional Development
- Physical and Motor
- The categories explain different characteristics and developments that your child is faced with at a specified age and is then followed by recommended products that best cater to your child.
Vtech offered a chance for bloggers to submit some questions about milestones and have their expert panel answer them. One of my favorites submitted addressed concerns over meeting milestones on time. This particularly spoke to me as I was very concerned when Kurtis was not talking at 2 years old. I can say he talks fine now with no delays or problems, but I was definitely concerned when he was 2 years old.
Q. What if it seems like your child isn’t reaching a particular milestone, what can you do to facilitate the learning of it? While every child is different, are there any Milestones (when not achieved on schedule) a parent should be concerned about?
A. It’s important for parents to know what milestones to expect, because failure to reach them can be a warning sign of a developmental delay. For social skills, we like to see babies making eye contact early on, and worry if it doesn’t happen by 3 months or age, or if s/he is not sharing facial expressions or some other kind of back-and-forth communication by 9 months. For language skills, we worry when children are saying no words by 16 months, or only a few words at 2 years, and when there is any loss of communication ability at any age. For motor skills, it is concerning if a baby cannot bring an object to his or her mouth by 7 months, sit independently by 10 months, or walk by 18 months. If your child isn’t reaching these milestones, talk to your pediatrician, who may propose additional testing and exercises you can do with your child at home to promote his or her development.
I love that Vtech uses their expert panel to ensure that their toys are age appropriate and beneficial to development. It is great to be able to pick out toys for my children, nieces and nephews that will help them meet their milestones. They sent me an awesome gift pack with some great toys to help with development. The gift pack included:
Lil’ Critters Play & Dream Musical Piano™(Ages 0-12 months; MSRP $24.99)
Roll & Surprise Animal Train™(Ages 6-36 months; MSRP: $15.99)
Chomp & Count Dino™ (Ages 12-36 months; MSRP: $19.99)
To learn more about Vtech’s toys to use their valuable expert resources, please visit Vtech’s where you can learn about what milestones the says your child should be hitting based on age. You can also learn more about Vtech’s products and their expert panel by following them on and liking them on Facebook.
GIVEAWAY:
One lucky reader will win a great gift pack like the one I received featuring the Lil’ Critters Play & Dream Musical Piano™ (MSRP $24.99), Roll & Surprise Animal Train™ (MSRP: $15.99) and Chomp & Count Dino™ ( MSRP: $19.99)
My advice is not to worry if one of your children reached a milestone earlier than another of your children. Each child progresses at his or her’s own pace.
All children are different, never compare your little one to anyone else.
Avoid the temptation to get ‘caught up’ on things you need to do, and instead nap when the baby naps. Your body will thank you. 🙂
every child is different