We frequently receive emails from parents and caregivers who have questions about their baby’s development, particularly as it relates to the “big” milestones of tolerating tummy time and learning to roll, sit, and crawl. We figured it would probably be helpful to put together an all-in-one resource so everyone can benefit from the same information!
Gross Motor Skills
Gross Motor development involves the larger, stronger muscle groups of the body. In early childhood, it is the development of these muscles that enable a baby to hold his/her head up, sit, crawl and eventually walk, run and skip.
Between the ages 3 – 6 months, your child should:
- Randomly move arms and legs
- Put hands near eyes and touch mouth
- Be able to lift his/her head up when on stomach
- Be able to put weight on arms when on stomach
- Move head from side to side while lying on back
- Hold head steady when held in sitting position
- Sit with little support at the waist
- Turn him/herself from back to side and tries to roll over
- Reach out for toys, using left or right hand and puts toys in mouth
- When on stomach, is able to keep head up, putting weight on arms and turn head from side to side
- Stand when held, bend knees and support weight with legs
- Touch knees and feet with hands when lying on back
Between the ages of 6 – 9 months, your child should:
- Start rolling back to front and visa versa
- Be able to sit by her/himself
- Be able to pivot and creep on stomach
- Start standing stiff legged while holding onto furniture
Between the ages of 9 – 12 months, your child should:
- Be able to crawl over and around objects
- Start to cruise around furniture
- Move from sitting to lying down
- Pull to stand while holding onto furniture
- Walk with 2 hands held
Red Flags for Gross Motor Development (0-12 months)
If you notice or are concerned about some of the following things about your baby, you may want to talk to your physician or another health professional.
- Baby’s head is flat
- Baby doesn’t turn his/her head to both sides
- Baby feels stiff
- Baby is not meeting developmental milestones
- Baby uses one side of his/her body more than the other
- Baby’s skills are regressing
- Something appears wrong with baby’s legs and/or feet
Fine Motor Skills
“Fine motor” refers to the movements we make with the small muscles of the hands. Children start to use their hands right at birth to explore their own bodies and the world around them. Their fine motor skills develop as their whole body starts to move and become more stable. They also learn to do more things with their hands as their cognitive and social/emotional skills improve.
Below are some of the typical developmental milestones for fine motor skills. After each age group, you can find some “red flags” that might indicate a problem.
Between the ages of 0-4 months, your baby will:
- Turn her head toward sounds and voices
- Stare at bright objects and follow them with his eyes
- Move her arms together and apart
- Bring his hands to his mouth, and possibly suck on his own hands or fingers
- By 4 months, lift his head and shoulders off the floor when laying on his tummy
Between the ages of 4-8 months, your baby will:
- Grab onto objects within her reach
- Roll over to explore and get to objects
- Prop himself up on his arms when laying on his tummy
- Sit independently for brief periods
- Pass objects from one hand to the other hand
Red Flags for Fine Motor Development (0-8 months)
If you notice some of the following things about your baby by the time she is 6-8 months old, you may want to talk to your doctor, or to another health professional such as an occupational therapist or a physiotherapist.
- She still keeps one or both hands clenched in a fist
- His arms seem very stiff
- She is not able to prop herself up when laying on his tummy
- She is not able to pick up objects within her reach
- He is not able to sit by himself for short periods
- He is not able to roll over to get objects
Between the ages of 8-12 months, your baby will:
- Reach, grab, and put objects in her mouth
- Pinch small objects (e.g. cheerios) with thumb and pointer finger
- Move objects from one hand to the other
- Drop and pick up toys
- Bang two objects together
- Let go of objects on purpose
- Put things into containers (with large openings) and take them out again
- Bite and chew toys
- Hold a spoon (but not yet feed herself)
- Hold his own bottle
- Hold out an arm or leg to help with dressing
- Wave hello or goodbye
Red Flags for Fine Motor Development (12 months)
If you notice some of the following things about your child by the time he is 12 months old, you may want to talk to your doctor, or to another health professional such as an occupational therapist or a physiotherapist.
- He is not able to grasp toys and let them go again
- She does not bring toys to her mouth or bang them together
- He is not able to bring his hands together at the middle of his body (e.g. clapping)
- She is not able to feed herself finger foods, using her thumb and pointer finger to pick up food
- His movements seem shaky or stiff
- He is not able to move around on the floor to get the toys he wants
- She is not able to put objects into a large container
- His hands are kept in a fisted position
- She is not able to hold her bottle by herself
Eating & Drinking (sucking, drinking, eating solid foods)
Below are some of the typical milestones to expect as your child grows, followed by some red flags that might indicate a problem.
Newborn
By 1 month of age, your child will:
- Take 2-4 ounces (60-120ml) of liquid per feed, 6-8 or more feedings per day
- May lose some liquid from corners of mouth
- Be able to do at least 2 sucks in a row before pausing to breathe
- Have a rooting reflex where he will turn towards the breast or bottle when the side of his mouth is stroked
- Have a suck and swallow reflex where she will open her mouth wide enough to latch onto the breast or bottle
- Bring her hands to her mouth by 2 months
Infant
By 3-4 months of age, your child will:
- Take 4-7 ounces (120-280ml) of fluid per feed, 4-6 feedings per day
- Be able to do about 20 sucks before stopping to breathe
- Sucking, swallowing, and breathing are well-coordinated
By 5-6 months, your child will:
- Take 9-10 ounces (270-300ml) of food and/or liquid per feed
- Start to pat the bottle or breast with her hands during feeding
- Start to eat small amounts of thin, pureed foods such as infant cereal or pureed fruit from a spoon
- Start to suck on or bite on a baby cookie
- Use some up and down chewing movements
By 7-8 months, your child will:
- Start to eat thicker pureed foods at 7 months
- Eat ground or junior baby foods, or mashed table foods by 8 months
- Try to drink from a cup held for him, but may lose a lot of liquid, may take large mouthfuls of liquid and cough/choke
- Move his tongue up and down, and to the side when chewing food
- Mouth and munch on the spoon, toys, and baby biscuits
- Hold his own bottle
Between 9-12 months, your child will:
- Take longer sequences of sucks with cup drinking, but may still have trouble coordinating drinking and breathing
- Move her jaw and tongue a lot when chewing and moving food around in her mouth
- Start to feed himself finger foods
- Start to hold a spoon during meals, but may not feed herself with it yet
- Bite and chew foods by himself
Red Flags for Eating and Drinking Problems
If your child is showing some of the following signs, it may be helpful to talk to your doctor or another health professional, such as a speech language pathologist, occupational therapist, dietician or public health nurse.
- Arching or stiffening of the body during feeding
- Coughing or choking during feeding
- Being very irritable/fussy during or after feeding
- Taking a really long time to feed (more than 30-45 minutes)
- Frequent spitting up
- Getting sick often with pneumonia or chest infections
- Gurgly, hoarse, or breathy voice
- Less than normal weight gain or growth
- Lots of leakage of food or liquid from the mouth
- Coughing, gagging or throwing up during or after meals
- Stuffing mouth with food
- Holding food inside pockets in mouth for long periods
- Difficulty accepting new textures of food, avoidance behaviours to specific foods and textures (gagging, vomiting, blocking the spoon with hands or closed lips, crying, pushing food away, etc.)
- Abnormal bowel movements that last longer than a few days (diarrhea, constipation, loose stool)
- Skin reactions to foods (dry patches, hives, rashes) Note: If your child seems to be having a severe allergic reaction to a food (difficulty breathing, turning red, developing hives or rash on the face/chest), you should seek medical help immediately.
Social & Emotional Development (noticing & playing with others)
This area of development involves learning to interact with other people and to understand and control your own emotions. Babies start to develop relationships with the people around them right from birth, but the process of learning to communicate, share, and interact with others takes many years to develop. Developing the ability to control your emotions and behavior is also a long process. Children continue to develop their social-emotional skills well into their teenage years, or even young adulthood.
Below are some of the typical developmental milestones for social-emotional skills. After each age group, you can find some “red flags” that might indicate a concern.
Between the ages of 0-3 months, your baby will:
- See clearly within 13 inches from her face
- Be comforted by a familiar adult
- Respond positively to touch
- Quiet when picked up
- Listen to voices
- Smile and show pleasure in response to social stimulation
Between the ages of 3-6 months, your baby will:
- Give warm smiles and laughs
- Recognize faces
- Cry when upset and seek comfort
- Show excitement by waving arms and legs
- Notice a difference between two people based on the way they look, sound, or feel
- Smile at herself in the mirror
- Enjoy looking at other babies
- Pay attention to her own name
- Laugh aloud
Between the ages of 6-9 months, your baby will:
- Express several different clear emotions
- Play games like Peek-a-boo
- Show displeasure at the loss of a toy
- Respond to you when you talk to her or make gestures
- Start to understand your different emotions (for example, your baby might frown when you speak in an angry tone of voice)
- Show more comfort around familiar people, and anxiety around strangers
- Possibly comfort herself by sucking thumb, or holding a special toy or blanket
Red Flags for Social-Emotional Development (9 months)
If you notice some of the following things by the time your baby is 8-9 months old, you may want to talk to your doctor, or to another health professional such as a speech-language pathologist, an occupational therapist, or a psychologist.
- Your child is not responding to sounds
- Your child is not smiling or responding to you the way you expect
- Your child avoids close contact or cuddling
- Your child is inconsolable at night
- Your child can’t seem to self-soothe or calm herself
- Your child has no interest in games like peek-a-boo
Between the ages of 9-12 months, your baby will:
- Show happiness to see her parents’ face, her toys, or a mirror
- Know strangers from his family, and cry when his parent goes away
- Give affection and love
- Pay attention to simple commands such as "no" and "give it to me"
- Respond by turning to look when you call her name
- Imitate some of your actions (e.g. waving, pretending to talk on the phone)
- Have fear with new situations
- Understand the word “no”, but will not always obey
Red Flags for Social-Emotional Development (12 months)
If you notice some of the following things by the time your baby is 12 months old, you may want to talk to your doctor or to another health professional such as a mental health clinician, a speech-language pathologist, an occupational therapist, or a psychologist.
- He is not showing interest in other children his age
- She does not respond to you the way you expect her to
- He has extreme difficulty waiting for something he wants
- She is very rigid about her routine, food items, clothing, etc
- He has limited or fleeting eye contact with others
- She does not imitate any of your actions
- She does not respond when you call her name
- He does not follow your point when you try to show something, or bring attention to something
- She doesn’t take turns in a simple turn-taking game like chase or peek-a-boo
Understanding & Thinking (figuring things out, sight & touch)
Right from birth, children are aware of their surroundings and want to explore them. As your child plays and interacts with the people and objects around him, he learns about his body, his home and the world around him.
Below are some of the typical developmental milestones for “cognitive skills” (thinking and understanding). After each age group, you can find some “red flags” that might indicate a concern.
Between the ages of 0-4 months, your baby will:
- See clearly within 13 inches from her face
- Focus on and follow moving objects, including human faces
- Begin to anticipate events (e.g. sucking at the sight of a nipple)
- Demand a lot of attention from you
- Enjoy interactive play
- Enjoy doing the same thing again and again
Between the ages of 4-8 months, your baby will:
- Recognize faces
- Notice a difference between two people based on the way they look, sound, or feel
- Imitate the facial expressions of others
- Respond to familiar sounds
- Enjoy looking at other babies
- Enjoy pop-up toys that surprise her
- Enjoy playing peek-a-boo
Red Flags for Cognitive Development (0-8 months)
If you notice some of the following things by the time your baby is 6-8 months old, you may want to talk to your doctor, or to another health professional such as a speech-language pathologist, an occupational therapist, or a psychologist.
- Your child is not tracking objects with his eyes
- Your child is not responding to sounds
- Your child is not repeating actions to have pleasurable results
- Your child avoids close contact or cuddling
- Your child is inconsolable at night
- Your child can’t seem to self-soothe or calm herself
- Your child has no interest in games like peek-a-boo
Between the ages of 8-12 months, your baby will:
- Show happiness to see her parents’ face, her toys, or a mirror
- Know strangers from his family, and cry when his parent goes away
- Give affection and love
- Pay attention to simple commands such as ‘no’ and ‘give it to me.’
- Have fear with new situations
- Understand that an object is still there when she can’t see it (e.g. hidden under a blanket)
- Imitate gestures and actions
- Enjoy looking at picture books
Red Flags for Cognitive Development (12 months)
If you notice some of the following things by the time your baby is 12 months old, you may want to talk to your doctor, or to another health professional such as a speech-language pathologist, an occupational therapist, or a psychologist.
- She doesn’t search for hidden or removed objects
- He tries to solve problems by just repeating actions, instead of using trial and error
- She is not anticipating the effects of her actions (e.g. knocking down blocks)
- He is not showing interest in other children his age
- She is not using toys for their intended purpose
- He has extreme difficulty waiting for something he wants
- She is very rigid about her routine, food items, clothing, etc.
- He has limited or fleeting eye contact with others
If you have concerns about your child at any age, please feel free to Contact Us to speak to a professional. You can also make a referral to New Therapy Solutions anytime.