Rolling over, crawling, walking. These are just some of the developmental milestones for infants and toddlers. A lot of parents are constantly worried about if their baby is developing on track and if they should be doing different things to aid in their development. That is why today we will be talking all about developmental milestones to help educate parents on what to expect and provide ways to help support infant development.
Our Guest Speakers
This episode features two guest speakers. First, we have Christine Hernandez, an occupational therapist, certified breastfeeding specialist, and functional pelvic health practitioner. She believes that motherhood deserves more than survival mode. She also has first hand experience as a mom herself. Joining her we have Haydee Medrano. Haydee is an occupational therapist, certified breastfeeding specialist, and pelvic health therapist. She is passionate about nurturing the mother and baby connection. Christine and Haydee are co-owners of "Bloom her Path" which is a maternal and infant therapy practice that aims to support women during pregnancy and postpartum.
What Are Developmental Milestones?
Milestones are skills that most babies achieve by a certain age. They help us understand the different components of development for babies. Milestones are more of a guideline than hard and fast rules. We have 4 main categories of development.
- Gross motor: These are big body movements such as sitting, crawling, or walking
- Fine motor: These are smaller hand movements such as grasping, reaching, or transferring a toy from one hand to the other
- Communication: This includes things like babbling and responding to sounds
- Social cognitive: This includes things like eye contact with others and problem solving
Major Milestones to Know
By 2 months old: Babies should be tolerating tummy time, lifting their head to 45 degrees for a brief period, starting to extend their legs, and opening their hands
By 4 months old: Babies should start demonstrating pre rolling skills, such as rolling onto their side, they should be bringing their hands and toys to their mouth, and they should demonstrate more midline coordination
By 6 months old: Babies should be able to roll from their back to their belly, starting to roll from belly to back, and starting to sit
By 9 months old: Babies should be able to hold one object in each hand and bang the items together (bilateral coordination), start getting up into quadruped (all fours) and start crawling, and starting to reach for toys in sitting
By 12 months old: Babies should be stacking 2 objects, pulling to stand, squatting to the ground and back up, and cruising (taking side steps while holding on to furniture)
Red Flags
- Not walking by 15 months
- Hitting milestones way too early (for example, a ton of head control earlier than expected in those first 2 months can indicate body tension)
- Asymmetry (having a head preference, always holding one shoulder up higher)
- Not tracking or watching items move by 2 months
- Difficulty getting things to mouth by 6 months
- Not sitting by 9 months
- Not crawling by 12 months
- Loses a skill they previously had
Early Intervention and Prevention
Catching a delay in development early can help to improve your baby's development before it gets any worse. For example, if you wait until 15 months when you notice they are not walking yet, there might have been a bunch of other missed or delayed milestones before that. Occupational therapists can help with overall wellness and prevention. You do not have to wait until something is wrong or you see a delay to get help. Early intervention saves time, money, and resources down the road.
What Can You Do?
To help progress development and support your baby learning new skills, it is important to make a just right challenge. That means making something not too hard or too easy for them. For example, placing toys a bit higher or further away so they have to reach more can help them develop those skills.
Learning how to play with your baby and what toys to use can be a challenge. Using simple toys with soft music or lighting can help engage babies. It is also very beneficial to just talk to your baby and narrate what you are doing. You are their favorite toy! They are learning about the world from you.
Tummy Time
You can start tummy time from day 1. This involves putting your baby on your chest for tummy time. Once they are 2 to 3 weeks old it is usually encouraged to start practicing tummy time on the floor on a play mat or favorite blanket. If they have difficulty tolerating it you can roll up a blanket and put it under their armpits to give more support for their chest.
It is important to pay attention to the cues from your infant. If they get too dysregulated and upset, end tummy time and try again later. It should be fun and pleasurable for infants and parents. The floor is the most ideal tummy time surface because it is firm, requiring them to use their muscles more and work harder.
Resources
This article is a companion to Episode 7 of the Functional Fourth Trimester podcast.