ELMIRA, NY (WETM)- If you’re a parent, you’ve probably heard your doctor talk about milestones, things like when your little one takes their first steps or when they begin talking.

We know school children, all the way through college, are still catching up from pandemic delays. For the first time in two decades, the CDC updated the developmental milestones for children ages one through 5. Those changes actually have nothing to do with the pandemic.

“So in 2017 is when they started they formed a committee to review the current milestones and kind of update them,” says Binghamton University Professor of Psychology, Jennifer Gillis Mattson.

Milestones refer to what skills children should exhibit at different ages. The committee wrapped up in 2019 and we are just now seeing these changes in early 2022. It took so long because the 2004 reporter was largely based on opinions, instead of observations.

“The author’s, the researchers and the early development specialists, who did the evaluation of the milestones set up a very transparent process. So we know exactly how they came upon the decisions that they made for the current set of milestones,” says Gillis Mattson.

The new checklists moves some skills to older ages, adding 15 and 30 months.

“Young children rapidly develop in a short period of time, and so having those additional checklists are going to help everyone kind of stay on top of that development,” Gillis Mattson.

So, does COVID have any affect on these child development milestones? Gillis Mattson says, “It doesn’t seem that COVID has impacted that, at least directly, and at least right now.”

If you are worried that your child is missing the mark, Gillis Mattson says talk with your pediatrician.