If you have started to wonder whether your baby is growing a little differently, that instinct is worth listening to. Babies grow on their own timelines, and very often a difference is just a difference. But no one knows your child the way you do. If something has been sitting on your mind, this is a good place to start. Any time is a good time to ask, and asking only ever helps.
Every baby gets there on their own timeline. The CDC's checklists now show the age by which most children (about 3 in 4) reach each milestone, so a baby who is a little later than a friend's baby is often doing just fine. Checklists are a way to start a conversation with your child's doctor, more compass than scorecard. Watch the whole picture over time, more than any one box on one day.
Every state has a free early intervention program for babies and toddlers from birth up to age 3. You can contact it yourself if you have a concern, before any diagnosis and without a doctor's referral. The evaluation is free. A question is reason enough to call. From age 3, your public school district does the evaluating.
When there is a delay, the single biggest thing that helps is starting support early, while the brain is growing fastest. If everything turns out typical, you have lost nothing but a phone call. If it does not, you will be so glad you did not wait. Trusting your gut is exactly the right instinct.
Every state has these programs under different names. to see yours.
Some signs are worth a call to your pediatrician sooner rather than later, not as an emergency, just a conversation: your child loses a skill they once had, does not respond to their name or to sounds, does not make eye contact or share smiles, or is not babbling, pointing, or using gestures by around their first birthday. You can also call your state's early intervention program directly with any concern. Trust what you are seeing.
If you are ready for a next step, the help-near-you links include your state's free early intervention program and parent-to-parent support from families who have been where you are. And if you just need a minute to sit with this, that is alright too.