The motor milestones babies achieve might seem unrelated to each other but they do happen in a sequence. Development process goes from head to foot and motor control progresses from the center of the body which means that the baby can control their torso before toes and fingers.  

Here are some important milestones for baby’s development:

Head Control

This is the first thing that new parents support that how can they support baby’s head until 3 months. By 7 months babies get full control of their head and are able to hold it still for a long time. To help baby develop head control you must place the baby on the floor stomach down and entice the baby to lift his head by getting face to face with him.

Reaching & Grabbing

Babies usually start to grasp or reach for things at the age of 3 months, this skill refines quickly with the passage of time. By 5-6 months the baby is visually mastered to reach out to things when they see it and try to reach for it with their hands and by 8-9 months they learn to grab the object with thumb or forefinger and can pick up small things such as food crumbs. To help babies develop this skill install a crib gym where babies can try and reach for objects over their heads. Give them rattles to grab and play. Let the baby lie on the stomach and place toys within their reach so they can try and reach out for them.

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Roll Over

Rolling over is a milestone that appears out of the blue and parents wait anxiously to see them achieve that. By 4-5 months babies are able to roll over on one side and by the age of 6-7 months, they can flip themselves in the opposite direction. To encourage babies to roll over you must give them plenty of space to practice and talk to them while they are practicing in order to praise them. Keep the object of their interest on the other side so they are enticed to roll over in order to grab or see the object.

Sitting Up

Once the baby starts to roll over, the next milestone they achieve is sitting up and parents are super excited to see that. By 4 months of age baby can sit when they are propped up and by 6 months they can sit on high chair. To help baby enhance their sitting skills you must place them on your lap, face outwards and sit cross legged on the floor or prop the baby on the pillow so they can practice to sit but make sure to keep this under your observation.

Crawling & Walking

Between the age of 8-13 months babies achieve locomotion. Crawling and walking is the biggest baby milestone that parents notice and are excited about. To help your baby and encourage them to enhance their locomotion skills you must play games like crawling after them or hide somewhere and ask the baby to find you. This will excite the baby and they will be willing to crawl. Moreover, create obstacles in the room where your baby can practice and can crawl from over, under and around those objects.