Growth & developmental assessment
A pediatric consultation to discuss your child’s growth, development and any concerns you have noticed.
A growth and developmental assessment looks at how your child is moving, communicating, thinking and relating, alongside how they are growing. Milestones are guides rather than deadlines, and most variation between children is normal. The work of the appointment is telling the two apart.
Is this your child?
Missing one milestone rarely means anything on its own. These are the patterns worth raising, by age:
- By six months — no social smile, no eye contact, not turning towards sound, not reaching for things
- By twelve months — no babbling, no pointing or waving, not looking for a hidden object, not standing with support
- By eighteen months — not walking, no words at all, not responding to their name consistently
- By twenty-four months — not putting two words together, not following a simple instruction, no pretend play
- At any age — skills that were there and have gone, very limited interests, or unusual sensitivity to sound or texture
- At any age — your own sense that something is not right. Parents often notice before a formal delay shows.
What happens at the appointment
- 01What you have noticedYour observations are the starting point rather than a footnote. What your child does at home is information a clinic room cannot produce on demand.
- 02Measurement and observationHeight and weight, and head circumference in a baby, plotted so the trend is visible — then how your child moves, communicates, plays and interacts across motor skills, language, thinking, and social and emotional development.
- 03Structured screeningA standardised screening tool where one is indicated. You may be asked to complete a questionnaire about what your child does day to day.
- 04What we found, and what followsWhether this is normal variation, something to review at a set point, or something that warrants a fuller evaluation.
How growth is actually read
Parents tend to fix on the percentile. What matters far more is the trend — that your child keeps following their own consistent curve over time, rather than where that curve happens to sit. Measurements are plotted against WHO and CDC growth standards at every visit, and it is the shape of the line that carries the information.
A significant departure from an established pattern is what prompts a closer look, because growth can be affected by hormonal, nutritional, chronic and genetic causes that are far more manageable when they are found early.
Development is read the same way. Children develop across four domains — movement, communication, thinking, and social and emotional skills — often at different rates, and unevenness between them is common and usually not concerning. Where a child was born prematurely, development is judged against the due date rather than the birth date for roughly the first two years.
If something needs a closer look
A screening is not a diagnosis. It is the step that decides whether one is needed.
- Some findings are simply reviewed again at a set point rather than acted on
- A fuller evaluation involves standardised testing, observation, and an interview with you
- Referrals are arranged where an evaluation or therapy is needed
- Early support is more effective than waiting, which is the whole argument for screening at all
- A skill that was already there and has gone is the one pattern that should not wait for the next scheduled visit
Who you would see
Dr. Medhat Abu-ShaabanConsultant Pediatrician, Allergy Specialist & Medical Director
Dr. Tala BelbeissiConsultant Pediatrician
Every doctor consults in English and Arabic.
My baby is not walking at twelve months — is that a delay?
Probably not. Twelve months is an average rather than a boundary, and the usual range runs from around nine to eighteen months. If your baby is pulling to stand, cruising the furniture and clearly interested in walking, they are progressing. Not walking at eighteen months is the point at which we would want to look.
My eighteen-month-old has only a few words.
The normal range at eighteen months is wide. What matters more than the count is whether your child understands what is said, uses gestures to communicate, is still gaining words even slowly, and wants to communicate at all. Fewer than about ten words at eighteen months, or limited understanding, is worth assessing.
Should I compare my child with siblings or friends?
It mostly generates worry, because normal variation is wide and children are strong in different domains at different times. Milestones are general guides. A child who looks significantly different from their peers across several areas at once is a different question, and worth raising.
My child seems to have lost a skill they had.
That one is worth a prompt appointment. Losing words, social engagement or motor abilities that were already established is not part of normal variation, and it is assessed differently from a milestone that simply has not arrived yet.
When is development screened as a matter of course?
Development is reviewed at every well-child visit, and structured screening is generally done at nine, eighteen and twenty-four to thirty months, with more where a concern comes up in between.
Is uneven development a problem?
Usually not. Many children are ahead physically while language takes longer, or the other way round. As long as your child is progressing in every area, even at different rates, uneven development is typical. It is a pattern of delay across several domains at once that warrants attention.
Your next step
Start with a conversation.
Tell us what is on your mind and reception will confirm the right specialist and a time.
- Opening hours
- Sat-Fri: 9AM - 6PM
- Insurance
- Direct billing with 15 insurers. Check yours
- Find us
- Al Razi Building 64, Block B
Dubai Healthcare City