Help me figure age in a photo!

June 24, 2009 5:51 PM

I have photos from two consecutive years, in which my brother was 6 mos - 18 mos. I can group the photos somewhat by clothing or activity - but can I separate them into the two years at all reliably? I know nothing about child development, and can't tell myself from looking at the faces.

So I've been digitizing my family's photos, and the photos from 1987 and 1988 are all jumbled together. At the beginning of these photos, my brother was 6 months and at the end of 1987, he would have been about a year and half. Some of them, I can tell - especially the near-end Christmas 1987 photos - there, he looks pretty reliably older than in the Christmas 1986 photos. But for most photos, I really can't seem to tell how old he is (or isn't). I know this because I made an initial pass at sorting them out, 1986 and 1987. And then, I look at the 1987-filed shots, and think - gee, he looks younger here than in that 1986 photo.

Can you help me figure out how to sort these photos into the right year with some degree of accuracy? I've put a few up into a collected Picasa album, with some captions containing my best guesses. But I have to admit, I'm thoroughly stumped. My parents aren't really going to want to spend any time helping me, so asking them really won't get me anywhere.

I'm hoping some of you with small children will be able to tell some of the distinguishing characteristics, and maybe articulate some of them to me - or maybe someone with photo-sorting experience has other tips.
NB: I get extremely focused on accuracy on tasks like this, so "post it all as one mashup" or "who cares?" really won't be helpful - though I appreciate those sentiments.

Thanks in advance for anything you can offer!

posted by mccn to Grab Bag (7 answers total)

Put in some photos where you know the age. Especially if we can see the face.
posted by theichibun at 6:01 PM on June 24, 2009

This kid is not 18 months, he's much older.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 6:02 PM on June 24, 2009

Maybe the clothes he's wearing in some of the shots will help you. If you know that the photos begin when he's 6 months old, and you know he was born in the winter, say, then he would be 6 months old in the following summer. And so if he's wearing a fall outfit, or you see orange leaves on the trees in the background, you could make an educated guess that he's roughly 8 months old in that photo.

Also, babies tend to get a little slimmer as they get older. My now-almost-3 year old really lost a lot of his baby chubbiness after he turned 2. especially around the face. So, if you see him looking a little thinner in some of the pictures, those might be in the "later" category.

The photo that he's wearing the "Browns" outfit really looks like a baby picture to me. And the next one, where he's in the yellow shirt, he looks a lot older than 18 months. All the ones in the top row seem to show a baby or a very young toddler, so I'd put them in the earlier pile. The last one, where he's in the orange sweater, I think goes in the older pile.

He sure is cute!
posted by Kangaroo at 6:16 PM on June 24, 2009 [1 favorite]

babies that are 3-5 months have control of their heads (by and large) and they are able to be held in a sitting position, but they have to be supported - babies learn to sit up all on their own around late 5 months to early 7 months, but most seem to do it right at the 6 month mark. they start pulling themselves up on tables and the like (to stand) starting around 9 months and walking usually happens from 11-14 months. most kids get their first tooth poking through around 5 months.

as a former child photographer, don't let the outfits tell you when the pictures were taken. i'd have moms show up to my studio with birthday, easter, halloween, and christmas outfits on the same day. they just wanted to get it out of the way. i've seen less extreme versions of this with moms bringing in the jersey or super cute coat that aunt mae bought but won't fit when the season is appropriate, so they take the picture in the outfit so they can show aunt mae they appreciated the gift.

and the picture if only i had a penguin posted - that kid could be 21 months or so, but i'd agree that he's probably not 18 months - and if that kid ran into my studio, i'd expect he was 2-2 1/2.
posted by nadawi at 6:22 PM on June 24, 2009

Best answer: The first picture, where he's on his tummy, is about 4-5 months old. He's able to hold his head up, but he's not sitting. The fourth one, where he's being cradled, he looks younger -- 2-3 months (smaller, being held that way). The fifth one, on the floor, is about 8 months -- able to sit up, about to crawl. The sixth, in the overalls, is a little older than that -- crawling, but not yet walking. The Johnny Angel picture is a 2 year old, the yellow shirt looks more like a big 2 1/2 year old or a 3 year old. The Christmas sweater's 18 months -- he's able to stand, but he's still built like a baby.
Sorry I can't give you many real guidelines, it's just based on gut (mine and my mom's, who agreed with me on those estimates) and knowledge of kid's development.
It's especially hard to tell in pictures from that age range where a kid is crying, sleeping, or being babied (held or rocked) -- there you've got to look at the baby's face and see if you can figure out cues based on how aware he looks, where he's focusing (kids become more and more aware of the world around him), apparent body control (how well is he holding his head, standing up, etc).
posted by katemonster at 6:25 PM on June 24, 2009 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: This photo, I know he's about 5 months - he was about that old when we brought him home (we're both adopted). He was born in July, and we brought him home in November or December - I remember snow on the ground. It could have been October - it snows early there - but likely not. In this one, he's close to a year old - when we finalized the adoption, summer of 1987:

I don't have any where I know for certain how old he is - except those earliest ones, because he came with Don King hair that my mom trimmed down after a while - so I'm sorry I can't help mer.

Katemonster - thanks super much for your niput, I think those are great ideas! I'm pretty sure that 2-3 months is a little younger than when we knew him, but if we brought him home in October. it could be 3, and in November 4.
posted by mccn at 7:28 PM on June 24, 2009

Response by poster: Well, everyone agrees he's older than 2 in the photo in the courthouse - the one I marked as 1987. So it must have taken two years, not one to finalize the adoption - I bow to the masses on that one!
posted by mccn at 7:32 PM on June 24, 2009