Important: This page is general information, not medical advice. It does not recommend or prescribe any treatment. Always consult your doctor or pharmacist before starting, stopping or changing any medicine.
About Child Development
As children grow older, they develop in several different ways. Child development includes physical, intellectual, social, and emotional changes.
Children grow and mature at very different rates. It's hard to say what "normal" is. There can be big differences in height, weight, and build among healthy children. Diet, exercise and genes are all factors. Some children begin puberty or are close to it before they are teenagers.
Children start to become more independent from their parents. They may rebel. They also look outward - to their friends, who are usually of the same sex. Peer approval becomes very important. Your child may try new behaviors to be part of "the group." This can also be the time that parents or teachers recognize learning disabilities or behavioral problems in children. These problems can get worse as time goes on, so it is important to get help early.
It sits within Children and Teenagers.
The lead U.S. institute for this subject is the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
When to speak to someone. Reading about a topic cannot tell you whether it applies to you. Speak to a doctor or pharmacist if symptoms are severe, sudden, getting worse, or simply not going away — and seek emergency care immediately for chest pain, breathing difficulty, sudden weakness or confusion, or a serious allergic reaction.
Research on Child Development
4,238 studies areregistered for this condition on ClinicalTrials.gov, the U.S. National Library of Medicine's public registry. A selection is below — the links go straight to the registry entry, not to a summary of ours.
What a registered study does and does not mean. Registration means a study exists and has been declared publicly. It says nothing about whether the treatment being tested works, is safe, or is available to you. Many studies find no benefit — that is what research is for. Never seek out an experimental treatment on the strength of a registry entry alone.
Research currently under way
- Suramin for the Treatment of Autism Trial: KZ101 in a Male Pediatric Population With Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)Children's Hospital of Orange County
- Phase 3 Study of LUM-201 in Children With Growth Hormone DeficiencyLumos Pharma
- Developing Brain, Impulsivity and CompulsivityNational Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
- Perinatal Autism Genetics and Epigenetics StudyUniversity of Iowa
- A Study of TYRA-300 in Children With Achondroplasia: BEACH301Tyra Biosciences, Inc
- Examining the Effectiveness of an Intervention Protocol Based on Cognitive-Occupational Principles (OP-CO; Cognitive Orientation to Daily Occupational Performance) for Children and Adolescents With Developmental Intellectual Disability: A Pilot StudyMiri Tal-Saban
Research already completed
- Project VOICES: Vocal Optimization in Children Elevating the SpectrumVanderbilt University Medical Center
- Technology-assisted Language Intervention (TALI)Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati
- Psychoeducation of Adult Siblings of ASD People (Autism Spectrum Disorder).Hellenic Mediterranean University
- Equine-Assisted Physiotherapy for Spinal Muscular AtrophyCharles University, Czech Republic
- Cognitive Neuroscience of Autism Spectrum DisordersNational Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
- Screen Time and Language Development in Toddlers Assessed With the Bayley-4Kayseri City Hospital
Study data from ClinicalTrials.gov, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved 2026-07-30. Registry entries are supplied by study sponsors and investigators; ClinicalTrials.gov does not verify their scientific validity. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH.
Where to read more
Rather than paraphrase, we point you to the primary sources. Every link below is to a government health agency, a national institute or a recognised medical body — grouped by what you are trying to find out.
Start Here
- Child DevelopmentCenters for Disease Control and Prevention
- Growth and DevelopmentNemours Foundation
Diagnosis and Tests
- Developmental and Behavioral Screening TestsNational Library of Medicine
- Developmental Monitoring and ScreeningCenters for Disease Control and Prevention
- Growth Charts (For Parents)Nemours Foundation
- How to Read a Growth Chart: Percentiles ExplainedAmerican Academy of Pediatrics
Treatments and Therapies
- Medications to Treat Bed-WettingNational Kidney Foundation
- Physical Therapy (For Parents)Nemours Foundation
- Speech-Language Therapy (For Parents)Nemours Foundation
Related Issues
- 5 Ways to Promote a Positive Body Image for KidsAcademy of Nutrition and Dietetics
- Bedwetting in Children (Enuresis) (For Parents)Nemours Foundation
- Bedwetting: 3 Common Reasons and What Families Can DoAmerican Academy of Pediatrics
- Bladder Control Problems and Bedwetting in ChildrenNational Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
- Emotions and BehaviorNemours Foundation
- Magic of Play: How It Inspires and Aids Early DevelopmentNemours Foundation
- Shyness in ChildrenAmerican Academy of Pediatrics
- Understanding Your Child's Temperament: Why It's ImportantAmerican Academy of Pediatrics
- What Is a Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrician?American Academy of Pediatrics
- Your Child's GrowthNemours Foundation
Clinical Trials
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Child DevelopmentNational Institutes of Health
Medical subject headings
Clinicians and researchers index this subject under Child Development. These are the terms to use when searching medical literature.
This page is built from the MedlinePlus health topic record for Child Development, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health. Information is from MedlinePlus.gov. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and is not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH. Retrieved 30 July 2026.