Babies are always grabbing onto things —
their clothes, their toys...your clothes, your toys...
like unlocking my phone when they’re not supposed to.
Give it to me! *laughs* Give me my phone, birthday boy!
But this is one of the best parts about being around babies:
They get physical!
And as a parent, we want to make sure they learn how to build muscle and do all those movements —
to roll, to crawl, to walk.
But I got A LOT of questions.
Like, when exactly does all that start? And, how will I know if they’re doing it correctly?
Okay, so experts separate a baby’s motor skills into two categories: gross and fine motor skills.
Gross motor skills are skills that require the use of large muscles of the body.
So in a newborn, a gross motor skill would be more like just holding their head up
or maybe visually tracking something and using their head for that.
And fine motor skills are motor skills that use the smaller muscles of your hand and your upper extremities.
And fine motor skills would be just like grabbing a hand.
Now, my youngest is the smallest of four boys.
He just kind of had a sense of how this whole walking thing worked.
I think the most important thing is that what we're really learning about infant development
is that children need to have child-initiated movement. It’s really, really important.
And even though Amar couldn’t really keep up with his older brothers,
all those little wiggles and stumbles were actually helping him develop his muscles.
Now if you have a baby, you get used to going to the pediatrician every couple of months for checkups.
When you’re there, you get asked A LOT of questions — especially about your baby’s development milestones.
Here’s a quick cheat sheet for some of the major ones to look out for and when to look out for them.
So from birth to three months, really what the child is doing is trying to learn to control their head.
And also being able to visually track things from side to side.
When they're on their stomach, you can see them pushing up onto their elbows and having their head upright,
and again, looking around to explore their environment.
It’s actually these early months that I really LOVE!
When I start speaking and my baby hears my voice, and they turn their head to look for me...
I live for that moment.
He’s not only learning how to turn, but he’s also learning how to recognize me! It’s so exciting!
From four to six months, it's all about controlling the trunk.
So when they're laying on their back, now they can grab their feet and play with their feet.
They can start to roll from their back to their stomach.
And in terms of sitting, usually around the age of six months is when children start sitting independently
because they have the trunk control in order to do that.
One of my favorite things was when my baby would wrap his little hand around my finger!
They would grab it with their WHOLE hand and just gently wave it back and forth.
Oh that made my heart melt!
Turns out, this adorable moment is actually an involuntary reflex at birth but soon becomes voluntary.
From nine to 12 months, you really see a lot of mobility.
And so that will be a lot of rolling and come back crawling and creeping, and even starting to walk.
And then over the age of a year, you see all the running and walking and jumping and things like that.
Out of all my kids, Amar started walking the earliest!
At 9 months!
He was able to balance standing by himself super early.
So I knew we had trouble on our hands.
Crawling, yes, that’s something because they’re fast like little sewer rats.
But walking is something else because then their heads are at levels where they can hit their head on the corner of something.
So you’re always having to be like, “watch out!”
Now, each kid is built differently, I think we all know that.
And not every child is gonna hit milestones at the exact time on this timeline.
Children are assessed with a standardized motor assessment by a physical or occupational therapist.
A motor delay is when a child is not performing the motor skills that are appropriate for their age.
Alright, I’ll say it — hearing “motor delay” is just scary, no matter how it’s phrased.
But there’s hope, and a lot of help available.
If they meet the criteria, then they'll receive physical or occupational therapy services
that are primarily focused on teaching and coaching the parents on what they can do with their child at home
in order to promote more normal motor development.
I think the most important thing is just if you have concerns about your child's motor development
to bring them to your pediatrician immediately.
And then also know that resources are there.
Early Start programs are available in all states.
And they will do free developmental assessments and therapeutic intervention for children who need it.
You might be wondering what causes these delays in developing motor skills?
Well, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, most developmental delays, like motor skills,
can happen to anyone and often come from a complex mix of places.
For example, motor delays can also be a symptom of congenital CMV,
which is an infection that gets passed to a baby while a mother is still pregnant.
So if you notice anything that seems like your baby’s motor skills are really lagging,
do not hesitate to talk to your child’s pediatrician.
Thank you for watching Seeker Baby!
I’m Angel Laketa Moore and I hope you’re learning as much about babies as I am.