Call 911 or other emergency services if you become so frustrated with your child that you are afraid you might cause him or her physical harm.

Call your doctor if you are having constant difficulties managing your child and often become angry or frustrated. Your doctor can guide you to resources for help if you feel unable to properly care for your child for any reason.

Talk to your child's doctor if you are concerned that your child is not growing adequately or is not reaching major developmental milestones in any area.

Individual children vary in the exact timing that they achieve milestones in all areas of:

• Physical development. This includes gaining weight and getting taller.
• Cognitive development. This is your child's ability to think, learn, remember, and reason.
• Emotional and social development. These traits are related to how your child sees his or her place in the world.
• Language development. Your child both learns to say new words (expressive language) and understands words that he or she hears (receptive language).
• Sensory and motor development. Large motor skills, such as walking, and small motor skills, such as picking up small items, are all advancing.

When it comes to your child's growth and development, keep the big picture in mind. For example, a slight delay in one development area, such as talking, usually is not of concern by itself. As long as your child communicates effectively through gestures and regularly responds to your speech and that of others, using language usually soon follows.

It is generally of more concern if a child shows signs of a general communication problem, which may include delayed language development. This type of delay can be related to hearing impairment. A child with signs of a communication problem:

• Does not know one word in addition to "mama" and "dada" or point to a familiar object when instructed to at 12 months.
• Does not say a few words, look like he or she is listening when you are talking, or point to what he or she wants at 15 to 18 months.
• Does not say five or more words or comprehend more than 50 words at 18 months.
• Does not speak more than 50 words, put two words together, name or try to name objects, or use words to request things at 2 years.

It is also a good idea to call your doctor if your child:

• Shows delays in several developmental areas.
• Successfully reaches a developmental milestone but then loses the new ability.
• Displays behaviors that may be associated with autism. These may include not appearing to interact with or be attached to others, especially caregivers; acting in a repetitive manner, sometimes with odd gestures; or seeming to selectively tune out other people or noises. For more information, see the topic Autism.

Babies who were born early (premature)

The time between the mother's last menstrual period and the birth of the child is normally 40 weeks. If your child was born before 37 weeks of age, he or she is considered premature. Until age 2, a child born prematurely will have growth and development milestones adjusted based on gestational age. To calculate gestational age, doctors subtract the number of weeks your baby was born early from his or her current age. For example, the gestational age of a 17-month-old baby who was born premature at 30 weeks is between 14 and 15 months.