Decoded: The First Year | Episode 11 | Is My Baby Behind? Why Milestone Timing Isn’t the Whole Story | Dr SCL

Today’s question is probably the one I hear the most in practice:“Is my baby behind?”It usually comes with a hint of worry, a side of shame, and a little too much Googling.So in this episode, I want to help you zoom out — and look at your baby’s development through a lens that actually makes sense.Not age.Not checklists.But function.Let’s start here: milestone charts aren’t evil.They’re helpful as rough guides.But when they’re used as performance reviews? That’s when the panic sets in.Here’s the problem: Milestone charts tell you when things might happen — but not how well they’re happening, or why they’re not.And most of the charts floating around out there? They’re based on averages. Which means some babies will do the thing earlier… some later… and some in their own unique order.But that doesn’t tell us how their nervous system is actually integrating those movements.