Called Children Baby Weeks One's Talking Age Born

Americans use many words to talk about babies and young children. A "premature baby," often called a "preemie," is a baby who is born before 37 weeks of "gestation" (the amount of time spent inside a pregnant woman's body), where the normal gestation is 40 weeks. Most preemies are very small and, depending on how early they were born, they may have "severe" (very bad and serious) "developmental problems" (difficulties in growing older as other children do).

A baby that is born "full-term" (after at least 38 weeks of pregnancy) is simply called a "newborn" for the first few days or weeks. When the newborn is around four weeks old, he or she is no longer a newborn, and is instead called a baby or an "infant." These terms are generally used for many months, at least until the infant is one year old or until he or she is "crawling" (moving with one's hands and knees touching the floor).

Once children learn to walk, some people call them "wobblers," where "to wobble" means to walk in a very unsteady way, "losing one's footing" (not being able to stand on one's feet) and falling down. Once children are able to walk better, they are called "toddlers," usually between the ages of one and three.

When children are two years old, people often say that they are in their "terrible twos," because two-year-olds tend to have a lot of "temper tantrums" (moments where children become very angry and kick and scream) and can be very difficult for parents to control.

As children become older, they are referred to by whatever year they are in at school. Most three- and four-year-olds are called "preschoolers," five-year-olds are called "kindergartners," six-year-olds are called first-graders, and so on.