Baby's Motor Skills Are Developing!
You've been amazed by each of your baby's big motor milestones. By now, she most
likely rolls over and sits up. She might even be scooting on her bottom, crawling,
or pulling herself up to a stand as she constantly launches herself into a world
that beckons just out of reach.
Motor On, Baby
Between 10 and 12 months, there are equally exciting -- though often overlooked
-- motor skill developments involving baby's hands. For example, you're out walking
your baby in the stroller when she suddenly points to a dog and squeals. Or your
baby's in her high chair when she deliberately picks up her sippy cup and drops
it on the floor. These milestones don't get the same play as walking, but they're
just as important to her development, indicating that your clever baby is now trying
to master the world in a whole new way: with her tiny fingers.
The motor areas of a baby's brain mature in a head-to-toe sequence, with brain areas
that control the head and neck muscles maturing before those that take charge of
controlling trunk, arm, and hand muscles. The areas of the brain controlling the
legs are the last to develop. Why is this? Put simply, it's probably because a baby
needs to know how to suck and feed himself before he needs to walk. When your baby
was born, he held his arms and hands tucked close to his body, a position called
"flexion." Over the past months, his hand and arm motions have become less reflexive
and random; by 6 months he can grasp a toy -- but only using his whole hand. To
understand how limiting this is, watch a 6-month-old holding his pacifier. He has
little control of his hands -- he may fling his arm around, hit himself in the head
by accident, and mistakenly drop it -- then look frantically around wondering what
happened to it. Or he may want to let go of it, but be unable to release his fingers,
banging the paci on the floor in frustration.
Pinching & Gripping
Fast-forward a few months, and your baby is on the verge of mastering a crucial
milestone: Between 10 and 12 months, she develops the "pincer grasp," the ability
to use the thumb and forefinger together to grasp and manipulate objects, or pick
up a pea or a Cheerio. Pointing or poking at toys is a precursor to this all-important
event, indicating that she has the ability to move her index finger separately from
the rest of her hand. "Eventually, your baby's fine motor skills will allow her
to program a computer or play the flute, but this period of development is just
as amazing," promises Barry Solomon, MD, an assistant professor of general pediatrics
and adolescent medicine at Johns Hopkins Children's Center. "This is an exciting
time for babies, because fine motor skills let them analyze and learn about the
world in different ways," he explains.
For instance, once your baby can use the pincer grasp to pick up an object between
her thumb and first digit and then drop it deliberately in favor of a more appealing
object, she'll start running a host of experiments. She might throw her dish or
cup off the high chair again and again to explore cause and effect. Will the dish
always make the same noise when it hits the floor? Will the same sticky stuff cover
my tray and clothes? Will the dog come into the kitchen if it hears the dish? Will
Mom laugh, or will she say "no"? Indeed, the world opens up in all kinds of new
ways -- cabinet doors that were previously off-limits when closed can now be opened.
Toys that could only be shaken or batted at before can now be rotated, poked, and
probed. Toddlers also love any toys with holes that they can put things through,
things with lids or doors that open and close, or toys that spin.
Get a Grip!
By 12 months, with fingers and thumb working together, baby should be able to build
a two-block tower (then knock it down), and nest smaller objects inside larger ones
and take them out again, says Dr. Solomon. Filling and dumping (especially dumping)
are also new favorites. These activities spur cognitive leaps, as your baby learns
concepts like big and little, and full and empty.
In the right mood, your baby might even "help" you dress or undress him by raising
his arms and curling his hands into fists deliberately. He'll clap when he's happy
and wave bye-bye more, too, now that he knows this gesture goes with that phrase.
"This is the age of imitation," notes Sybil Hart, PhD, associate dean of research
for Texas Tech University's College of Human Sciences. "Your baby will want to do
everything you do."
Frustration
Scientists have measured the hormone cortisol in infant saliva to show that infants
as young as 4 months can feel frustrated, and you'll probably see signs of this
as your baby grows. Here's what's going on, from baby's point of view.
- "I'm not getting my way!" Better motor skills put her in situations where she's
thwarted. Just as your baby manages to pull herself up to the coffee table, you
swoop down and move her to the playpen. Or she manages to get her hands on a really
interesting glittery thing (your necklace) and then you pry it out of her hands.
- "Why don't you understand me?" Your baby may also feel frustrated because you
can't figure out what he's saying. He may point to the fridge, saying "baba, baba,"
his word for everything from "baby" to "ball," but not, until now, anything that
would be in the fridge. Your string of wrong guesses only enrages him.
- "I want it now! As babies get closer to a year, we expect them to wait a little.
For example, whenever your newborn was hungry, you fed him immediately. By 6 months,
"you might tell him to hold on for a minute," says Hart. "And by 10 months, you
might plop him in a high chair and expect him to play with a couple of toys while
you warm up lunch." This is by no means irresponsible parenting: Babies need to
be exposed to a little frustration now and then to learn how to become patient,
but it's not an easy lesson!
Once your baby turns 1, and has better communication skills, some of her frustration
should abate. "When she's crying in her crib and you call to tell her you're coming,
she may stop, because she knows that you're on your way," says Hart.
Pulling to Stand
Most babies pull themselves up to a stand between 10 and 12 months; of course, some
do it earlier and even walk before their first birthday, and others are a little
later. Whenever it happens, pulling to stand is a major milestone for babies, not
just physically, but emotionally, says Hart. "Once a baby is upright, he's in a
better position to make eye contact and interact socially." Indeed, standing changes
the way your baby interacts with his environment, as it "multiplies his opportunities
for exploration and bolsters his confidence," explains Lise Eliot, PhD, author of
What's Going On in There? How the Brain and Mind Develop in the First Five Years
of Life (Bantam, 2000). How exactly? Your baby's vertical stance allows for a new
visual perspective, a better reach to grab objects, and a greater sense of equality
with other upright humans.
Once your baby can stand, it's difficult to get him to sit. You may just get him
settled in his high chair when he'll twist around and try to stand. Standing is
your baby's top priority now, as he practices balancing in preparation for taking
those first steps.
Age-by-Age Milestones
Month 10
- Rolls a ball
- Feeds himself finger foods
- Points to objects
Month 11
- Starts using pincer grasp
- Can stack blocks and turn pages of a chunky baby book
- Pulls to stand
Month 12
- Cruises furniture or takes first steps alone
- Feeds herself with a spoon
- Holly Robinson lives with her five children outside of Boston.
By Holly Robinson. Originally published in American Baby magazine, January 2006.
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