Pediatrician goes viral after sharing the 'secret' milestones parents might be missing

“So you have kids…which means that you’ve gone and looked at what milestones they ‘should’ be reaching…we’ve all done it,” she says, listing apps and the internet as primary sources of research.

“But I’m gonna tell you some secret milestones…cause what happens when I'm in clinic is that I'm talking to a lot of parents and I'm like, ‘Oh she’s probably doing this by now right?’ And then they’re like 'How'd you know?’”

Profuse hiccuping is listed first, which Dr. Sami asserts is “totally normal,” followed by “screaming bloody murder for everything,” whether they’re “hungry, wet, bored,” and everywhere in between. “It’s always just like one setting, and it's like, ‘I’m dying,'” she quips. Okay, so this one is much louder than hiccuping, obviously. But still normal.

Then, somewhere between 6 to 9 months, things get a little “weird,” apparently. “They start to shake their head all the time or maybe they start to stick their tongue out a little bit,” she notes. Though at this stage parents might wonder if these behaviors are normal or not, Dr. Sami reassures that, yes, they’re not only normal—”they're a milestone.”

Next, at around 12 to 15 months old is actually when the milestone of temper tantrums begins, not age 2, as most people believe. Then, at around 15 to 18 months, “they all totally try to kill themselves every day,” she jokes. “That’s totally a milestone.”

Dr. Sami breaks then breaks down milestones for toddlers all the way up to early teens, which are as follows:

Toddlers

Becoming picky eaters and “selfish, unreasonable terrorists.”

4 to 6 years old

Talking non-stop and asking “Why?”…to the point where as a parent you might reconsider wanting them to be able to talk in the first place.

9 to 11 years old

Developing anxiety toward death and mortality. While this is normal, Dr. Sami does recommend talking to your pediatrician about it so that it’s easier to navigate.

Teens

@thepedipals

♬ original sound - The PediPals

Perhaps most importantly, Dr. Sami notes that not every milestone will be checked off at the same time for every kid, if at all.

“You know how milestones work. They kind of all go and develop at their own rate. Then some of ‘em kind of skip over milestones. That’s OK,” she states.

She also suggests that rather than sharing with other parents (or strangers on the internet) what milestones kids have and haven’t hit, which can elicit unnecessary worry, parents should simply tell their pediatrician, who can more likely be the one to address any real concerns anyway.

Bottom line—almost everything in a child’s development is a milestone in its own right. Even the weird and obscure ones. Odds are that as long as your pediatrician has given their thumbs up, you can simply ride that wild and crazy wave that is raising a tiny human.