Your Complete Guide To Baby's Motor Development From 0 to 1 Years

Writer：MAKUKURelease time：2022-01-14

Growth and development is a big part of every child's life. And it's important that you, as their parents, are there to help them reach these developmental milestones. One of the areas where you can help your child is nurturing their motor development.

Motor development is also known as physical development. Quite literally, this means the physical maturity of your child, from their bone and muscle strengthening to performing movements as a way of interacting with their environment. Think of it this way: every change in your child that you see — crawling, grabbing, smashing — is part of their motor development.

There are five areas of development for a child. First is physical or motor development, which is marked by their physical growth.There’s also cognitive development where your child learns to perceive their environment. Another area of development is the language formation which establishes the speech progress of your child.

For example, when a child learns to grasp things or hits the crawling and walking milestones, which are tied to gross motor skills, it will be easier for them to explore their environment. This can influence cognitive development. When they learn how to eat, drink, and speak, which are all tied to fine motor skills, they can improve social and emotional development.

This is one of the gross motor skills you’ll be able to witness during your child’s motor development. Here are other examples of gross motor skills according to Healthline.com:

●    sitting

●    standing

●    walking

●    running

●    jumping

●    lifting (a spoon, a hairbrush, a barbell — they all count)

●    kicking

●    riding a bike or a horse

●    playing sports like football or baseball

●    Swimming

These are just general examples. There are actually different gross motor skills that your child should be able to achieve once they reach a certain age.

Your baby’s startle reflex will fade gradually. Along with this is the start of your baby’s movements becoming more intentional than random.

3 to 6 months
Your baby will start moving around at this age. They will begin rolling from their back to their side, then all the way over to their belly and back, and then vice-versa.

6 to 9 months

After your baby has started sitting with your assistance, they will gradually be able to do it alone. They would first use their hands for support as they try to sit longer. Then, as their abdominal muscles and back muscles get stronger, they will then be able to sit on their own.

Your baby’s muscles strengthen just like how adult muscles would do — with constant exercise. This kind of exercise for babies, means pulling themselves to a standing position. As soon as your baby is able to do this, always be ready with a camera because you’ll want to record what may come next.

Now, there are things that your kids will learn to do on their own just like how fine motor skills develop in your child as early infancy. Of course, the development of each child varies, and in some instances, your child might be taking their sweet time developing this skill.

How can you help your child develop and strengthen their fine motor skills? You can get started with these activities that not only help your child improve their fine motor skills, but are also great ways to bond and connect with them.