- At six months there are a series
of developmental red flags
that we as health professionals look for,
to indicate that a baby may need a little bit of help.
These red flags help us to identify
and treat potential problems early,
which will reduce the overall time
that a little one requires treatment
as well as the potential impact.
As parents, you are in the best position
to notice these red flags, if and when they occur.
But you'll only be able to recognize them
if you know what to look for.
So, let's walk through each of these red flags
and how you can identify them and what they might mean.
Before we jump into the red flags,
remember that if your baby was born prematurely
it's based on their corrected age, not their birth age.
The communication, social and emotional red flags are,
if a baby is frequently irritable for no apparent reason.
Generally they're extremely social at this age
so that frequent irritability should be reducing.
Also, they should be responding to noise,
so if your little one does not respond to noises or sound
by either looking for that source of the noise
or going quiet so they can hear it again,
or smiling if it's a familiar voice,
or they might even start to babble back
in response to that noise.
Now, just be aware that if your little one
is engaged in an activity
and they're highly enjoying that activity,
they may choose to ignore the noise,
and that is completely fine.
If they frequently ignore the noise,
then that is when you need to be concerned
because it may indicate
that they aren't actually hearing the noise.
Another red flag is that your little one
does not make vowel sounds, like the ahs and the ohs
in response to communicating with you
or just in general when they are talking.
Your little one should also be providing eye contact
with you when they are engaging with you.
So if your little one is avoiding eye contact
that's another area of concern.
Also, if they're not showing any affection
towards their primary caregiver,
or they're not laughing, smiling,
when they're trying to interact with other people.
So, babies at this age are really social
and typically they will laugh or smile at you
when you're trying to interact with them or start to babble.
So if your little one isn't doing that,
then it is a cause of concern.
Just a side note, if you do notice any of these red flags,
it doesn't necessarily mean
that there's anything wrong with your little one,
it just means that you should take them
to the relevant health professional
to have an assessment just to be sure.
In regards to fine motor concerns,
the first one is that your little one doesn't reach out
and hold toys.
So, at this age they should definitely be able to reach out
when they're lying on their back to grab a toy
and they should be able to hold it.
And if you are sitting them in your lap
and providing them with support,
they will be reaching out to grab a toy.
Also their hands should not be fisted,
so if your little one's hands are clenched,
then it might be an indication
that they need to go see an occupational therapist
because we need those hands to be open
so that they can start to grab and interact with toys.
Now, another red flag is if your little one
isn't grabbing a toy and mouthing it
and then looking at it and mouthing it again.
That is how they actually play with toys at this age,
there's a lot of time spent in their mouth
and that's because they don't yet have the ability
to move their hands so well to manipulate the toy
but they have the ability to hold the toy in their hand
and look at it and then place it in their mouth
and then bring it back out.
Your little one should also be able to bring their hands
to the middle of their body
when they are lying on their back.
So, if your little one can't yet bring their hands
to the middle of the body, then that is a red flag.
For your little ones fine motor skills to develop well,
we need them to be able to visually track a toy.
So, if your little one is not yet able
to visually track a toy, then that is a red flag.
And the way you assess if your little one can do this
is you lay them on the floor and you simply hold a toy
above their head in the middle of their body,
and you move that toy slowly from one side to the other
and they should also be able to follow the toy
from above their head to below as well.
Now, their eyes should also be extremely well coordinated,
so cross-eyed or an eye turning in at this point
isn't normally something you would see
and if that's something you're seeing,
then it's definitely an indication
that your little one needs to go
and get their vision assessed.
Before we get into the gross motor red flags,
if you haven't already make sure you download
my free developmental checklist
by clicking the link in the description box below.
So the first gross motor red flag
is that your little one's head falls constantly
to the same side.
So, when you are supporting your little one up in sitting
or when they're lying on their back,
or they're in tummy time,
what you should see is that their head is straight
and it's in line with the middle of their body.
It shouldn't be tilting to one side,
and if you notice that your baby's head
is tilting to one side and their chin is slightly tucked,
and they're unable to follow a moving toy
when you place them on their back
by moving their head head from one side to the other,
then it is an indication that they need to go
and see a pediatric physiotherapist
to assess whether or not they have positional torticollis,
because if this is left untreated
it can affect your baby's posture,
and it can also result
in them favoring one side of the body.
The second red flag is that there is a difference
between the right or left-hand side out of the body
in regards to strength, movement, or tone.
So, at this age they should definitely be able to use
both sides of the body equally.
There shouldn't be a dominant side
and there shouldn't be a side that is more stiff
than the other side.
Also, they shouldn't have extremely floppy muscles.
So, when they're lying on their back,
your little ones should definitely be able to reach up
against gravity and grab those toys,
and also be lifting both legs off the ground.
The next red flag is that they hold their arms back
and have stiff legs when they're held in standing.
And the fourth red flag
is that they have poor head controlling
and are unable to lift their head.
So when your little one is lying on their tummy
in tummy time, they should be able to lift their head
and be starting to push their body off the ground
with extended arms,
and they may even start to reach out for toys.
They should also be able to hold their head upright
and look around when you are supporting them in sitting,
and that might be by supporting them around the ribcage,
when you give them that support,
they should be able to hold the head
in the middle of their body
and look around the room without any difficulty.
Now, at six months of age, sitting up independently
is a skill that most babies are still yet to master.
So, to help your little one master this skill,
make sure you check out this video,
remember to click on the free PDF document
in the description box below,
and I'll see you next week
where I'll share more parenting tips and tricks.