Stages of Life

1. A fetus: an unborn baby

2. A preemie: a baby

that is born ‘prematurely’ – before it has completely developed in the mother’s womb. Generally it takes 37-40 weeks/9-10 months for a baby to fully develop; so if a baby is born before 37 weeks/9 months, it’s considered a preemie.

3. A newborn: a baby that was just born; this term is usually used for the first 4 weeks of life.

4. An infant / a baby: the first year of life (from birth to 1 year old); an infant is a baby who has not started talking or walking yet and who needs constant care.

5. A toddler: a child who is learning to walk; the 2nd year of life (generally between 12 months and 2 or 3 years old).

6. A child: There is no set age definition of ‘a child’; ‘childhood’ can be both the time before someone becomes a teenager and the time before someone becomes an adult. Most of the time, it refers to someone younger than a teenager.

7. A pre-teen/tween: ‪around 10–12‬ years old; a child who has not yet reached the ‘teenage’ years. ‘Tween’ is short for ‘in between’!

8. A teenager: someone who is 13–19 years old (any number with ‘teen’ in it!)

9. An adolescent: a formal term for the teenage years; someone who is becoming an adult.

10. Early adulthood/young adult: This is hard to define! Generally someone becomes an ‘adult’ at the age of 18. A young adult could be anyone over the age of 18 but before ‘middle age.’ Most of the time, a young adult is someone between the ages of 18 and 30.

11. Middle adulthood: This is typically age 30-45.

12. Middle-aged: Since people are living longer, ‘middle age’ is changing. Generally, ‘middle–aged’ is the term for someone in the middle of their life, around 45-55 years old.

13. A senior citizen/elderly: a polite way of saying ‘an old person’! The age at which someone becomes a ‘senior citizen’ can vary from country to country: it could be 55 years old, or it could be 65 years old!