Motor Milestones
Milestones can be both really fun to celebrate and document, and also a source of stress. While it’s helpful to have some guideposts around when to expect your baby to gain various skills, remember that these ranges are wide for a reason - babies reach these milestones at their own pace, in their own way.
For instance, check out all the unique and adorable ways babies crawl
Like many things in parenting, there’s a balance to strike here:
It’s not healthy to obsess over how quickly or not your baby is hitting these milestones, or comparing to friends’ babies. Barring any serious developmental issues, all babies learn to walk eventually.
On the flipside, there are small things you can and should do to encourage your baby’s development. Think of these efforts as providing opportunities for them to develop, rather than trying to accelerate their progress.
If you observe that baby isn’t making any progress towards a milestone and is falling outside the range, it’s a good idea to raise it with your pediatrician.
Early intervention (e.g. physical therapy) can make a big difference and isn’t something to feel worried or embarrassed about
Factors that might affect timing of milestones:
Prematurity: if your baby was premature, you should use their “adjusted age” (based on their original due date) when considering these milestones
Size: bigger babies are sometimes slower to sit, crawl and walk because they have more weight to manage
Genetics: if you or your partner were late walkers, there’s a chance your baby will follow the same pattern
Lovevery includes a month-by-month list of more specific, incremental milestones
Gross Motor Skills
All the skills in this category - rolling, sitting, pulling up, crawling, cruising, walking - build on each other and require the same basic support from you: opportunities to practice
Some amount of time in the stroller, bouncer, carrier, or arms is nice & necessary, but make sure you’re also dedicating time in each wake window to “baby exercise” where they are on the floor experimenting with movement
These milestones aren’t just about an exciting new physical skill - they also give babies new vantage points of the world and increased independence to explore what interests them
The downsides: you will need to keep an increasingly close eye on your more-mobile little one and step up your babyproofing
Also, sleep regressions can sometimes accompany the achievement of new milestones, as their brains are in overdrive and they may even be “practicing” the new skills at night
Rolling
Most babies start by rolling belly to back (often as a way to escape tummy time!), between 4 and 6 months; around the same time, they may begin rolling from back to side
Rolling from back to belly typically happens between 5.5 - 7.5 months
Once they’re doing this, you’ll need to unswaddle at night so that if they roll over, they can use their hands to push up and get into a different position, otherwise there is risk of suffocation.
Once unswaddled, it’s okay if baby rolls onto their tummy at night - in fact, many babies sleep better that way - but it might take you the parent some time to feel comfortable with it
You’ll also want to be more vigilant during diaper changes so they don’t roll off!
Your baby might successfully roll once or twice, and then have a long hiatus before they roll again - have patience, they will become consistent eventually!
How to support:
Tummy time is the best way to build baby’s rolling muscles
In addition to the traditional floor or chest tummy time, babies seem to like “airplane” time where you hold them on your knees or with your hands and fly them around, while they hold their neck up to look out
It can also help extend tummy time if you put baby down in front of a mirror - it’s not that your baby is a little narcissist, they’re actually just being social because they think it’s another baby!
If you have the Boppy Pillow for nursing, it can double as a great tummy time prop, especially if your baby dislikes being fully flat on the floor
Guide cross-body movement by helping them curl into a happy baby position on their back and then gently rolling them side-to-side with their feet so they feel the weight shift. You can also bring their left foot to right hand and vice-versa to promote the cross-body feeling (exercises #1 and #2 in this video).
Tempt with toys - show baby a toy, but then move it to the side so that they have to turn to the side in order to continue tracking it, and maybe even roll in order to grab it
Trust they’ll figure things out - it’s very common for babies to get an arm stuck in the beginning when rolling to their belly. Instead of being tempted to fix it immediately, give your baby some time to try to work it out. If they can’t yet, lift their shoulder and give them a chance to pull it out themselves. Just like us, babies learn by trial & error.
Sitting
The range for when babies sit is 4-9 months, with an average of 6 months and 90% of babies sitting by 7.5 months
Babies typically start with a “tripod” position (see below image) where they are doubled over, using their hands for support
With time, they will start to lift their hands and go unsupported for longer stretches before toppling over
They’ll need to be put in the sitting position to practice - it’s not until later, around 9 months, that they learn how to get into the seated position on their own. Around that time, they’ll also learn how to swivel around in this seated position
How to support:
Make sure baby is practicing on a soft surface and that you are right near them to catch them in case of a topple, at least until they are more consistently sturdy
Use the Boppy pillow, or a bunch of normal pillows, to provide cushioning
Just like with tummy time, practicing sitting in front of a mirror can keep their interest for longer
Strengthen baby’s core by gently pulling him up by the arms to go from lying on his back to sitting, like a sit-up
Once baby is sitting well for longer stretches, you can challenge them by placing toys at different angles and distances so they can practice reaching while maintaining balance
Crawling
The range for when babies crawl is 5-13 months, with an average of 8.5 months and 90% of babies crawling by 10.5 months
A small portion (~4%) of babies will skip crawling altogether, and just use rolling and/or scooting until they walk
In fact, the CDC removed crawling as a developmental milestone because, unlike sitting and walking, it isn’t a skill that continues through childhood/adulthood and doesn’t appear to be essential for later mobility. But many pediatric therapists still believe in its importance, so it’s a bit controversial.
Crawling usually follows a progression over weeks/months that can look something like:
Tummy time that uses arms to push up even higher, like upward facing dog
Rising up on hands and knees, or even in a full plank
Rocking back and forth from the hands and knees or plank position
A variation on the classic crawl, such as:
“Army crawling” where they are on their bellies moving forward using just their arms, not their legs
“Scooting” where they propel forward, backward or sideways from a seated position
“Crab Crawl” where they move mostly using just one leg, often sideways or backwards
Culminating in the more traditional all-fours crawl
How to support:
Dress your baby in clothes that promote mobility - this means minimizing stiff jeans or overalls, as cute as those are
Put your baby on high-friction surfaces like thick rugs/carpet or foam playmats, rather than slippery hardwood or soft blankets
When your baby is in tummy time, put your own hands up against their feet so they have something to push off of
Use toys as motivators by placing them out of reach
Familiarize baby with all-fours by holding up their tummy so that you take most of their body weight, but they keep their hands and feet on the ground. This video by a pediatric OT illustrates this, along with other helpful exercises.
Expose baby to crawlers by spending time with crawling babies or modeling crawling yourself
Once they’ve figured out crawling on the ground, supervise crawling up stairs
Going downstairs is much more difficult/dangerous; if you happen to have a landing with just a couple stairs, you can teach them how to turn around and crawl backwards down the couple stairs
Standing
The range for when babies stand independently is 7-17 months, with an average of 11 months and 90% of babies standing by 13 months
A few months before they stand unsupported, babies will stand with support by leaning or holding onto a low table, couch or your body
Initially, you will have to put them in these supported standing positions, but over time they will learn to “pull up” themselves using the table or couch
Over time, they will start to experiment by letting go for a few seconds at a time and developing more and more balance.
Later on, they will also try going directly from sitting to standing, popping up from a squat position
Standing is obviously a key first step to walking, but it will likely be a couple more months until they progress to walking
How to support:
Starting when baby is just a few months, hold them upright with their feet on the floor, to start giving them the sensation of standing and putting weight on their feet
Over time, you can reduce how much you are stabilizing baby yourself, so that they are doing more and more of the work
Identify furniture in your house that is a good height for standing practice and spend some time there each day with baby
Make sure it isn’t furniture that could tip over, and secure anything that does run that risk
My favorite practice spot is the floor right under the crib - the crib slats serve as perfect handholds for baby to grip
Practice on safe, soft surfaces since falls are inevitable - in the beginning, you should also position your own body close behind baby to catch falls
Once again, use toys as temptation so that baby needs to stand to reach them
Walking
The range for when babies walk is 8-18 months, with an average of 12 months and 90% of babies taking their first steps by 15 months
Usually begins with cruising along while holding a couch or table, and then walking holding both your hands for support, and eventually just one hand
You can also buy a push walker toy like this alligator walker or this wagon
It’s normal for baby’s early walking to look a little funny, including toes turned in, toes turned out, or walking on their tiptoes. This should subside with time but if it doesn’t, chat with your pediatrician.
Walking up stairs with support from a handrail or adult’s hand comes later, around 18-24 months
How to support:
Barefoot is best, but if outside, use these moccasins before real shoes
Again, dress in clothes that allow for range of movement and on surfaces that aren’t slippery
Put favorite toys up high around the house so they need to walk to reach them
Spend time with walking toddlers for inspiration and healthy peer pressure
Fine Motor Skills
These skills involve finger/hand dexterity, and while essential, they typically don’t garner as much parental attention/stress as the gross motor, so I’ll review them more briefly
0-3 months: baby will start opening their hands (i.e. unfurling their fists) and bringing hands to mouth
3-6 months: baby starts reaching for toys, holding a toy you put in their hand, and eventually grasping a toy themselves with their palm (called the “palmar grasp”)
6-9 months: baby is transfering objects from one hand to the other, shaking a rattle, bringing toys to their mouth (so make sure there are no choking hazards!), and raking food towards them using their fingers
9-12: baby is banging objects together or onto floor/table, using their fingers to grab food/objects (called the “pincer grasp” - Cheerios and Yogurt Melts are great for practicing this), turning pages of a book
At this age, it is normal for baby to LOVE just pulling things out (of drawers, bins, etc.) and knocking things over. It may be many months before they move from “destruction” phase to “creation” phase (e.g. building towers, rather than just knocking them down).
How to support:
The main way to help is just to have the right toys around and give baby ample opportunities to engage with them
The toy subscription service Lovevery makes this easy, but it’s also pretty straightforward to just get toys that are easily graspable, that rattle, that make interesting sounds when banged, etc.
Everyday objects work just was well as toys (and for some reason are even more appealing to babies!) - think measuring cups from the kitchen
