The motorial development of your child during the first life year is important. We summarized some milestones in chronological order. Reading these will definitely improve your preparation for the parenthood.
From birth, a baby has very much strength in his hands. He mostly keeps his fists closed. Make sure that you support his head each time. His hearing is very accurate in such way that he startles by a noise. He is very sensitive for the human voice, especially the deep voices. A newborn baby has a blurred view. He distinguishes objects ideally from a distance of 30 cm. He is fascinated by moving and glittering objects like your eyes. He is attracted by colors such as red, white and black. A baby quickly recognizes your body odour and the taste of milk. Your smell makes him calm, so do not change perfume. Although smiling is in the first place a reflex, you will experience the first smile as a gift. By smiling back you will give his expression a meaning and so becomes smiling a way to communicate. Language and communication start slow and take long before your baby can talk. He talks to you with his body, his mimics and crying. He understands the different intonations of your voice very well and makes a clear distinction between tenderness, anger and concern.
Very carefully, your baby starts to open his hands to hold objects. His body relaxes and his legs become longer. More and more he starts to control his neck muscles and tries to lift up his head, but everything still shakes a bit. Let him show funny things when he lies on his back, in his bed or in his rocking chair.
From now on, your baby can keep his head straight up and turn it left and right to follow an object with his eyes. But his attention goes to his hands. He discovers his 10 fingers, sucks on it or plays with it. He can stretch his hands to a colored object, but can not hold it himself yet.
When he lies flat on his belly, he stretches himself and plays "air plain". When you put him on his back, he starts trying to turn or roll on his belly.
From now on, he sets himself up, supporting himself on his hands, throwing his head backwards. He still can't sit down independently, but does like the stand. Here, you have to hold him with both hands. Support him with cushions so he can follow the actions around him.
Your child likes to roll himself from belly to back. In this position, he takes several objects which he handles skilful: from one hand into the other, turn and roll again. It is too soon to see if your child is left or right handed, as he does not yet feel the difference in the usage of his hands. He likes to play with his feet and hands and can watch for hours to them and to the wonderful movements he makes with them. After the baby's nappy change, you can give him one hand to lift himself up till he sits straight. You will notice that he loves this kind of game.
Your child still needs the support of your hands to sit down. Help him by surrounding him with cushions, so he can not hurt himself when he loses his balance. When lying on his back, he can roll himself onto his belly. Supporting on his elbows, he lifts up his backside into the air.
Your baby can more or less sit up straight. He likes when you help him to sit up straight by supporting him under his arms so he can stretch his legs to the ground. Be careful, hold him tight, as it is still too soon to learn him to walk. He is getting more and more skilled with grabbing objects.
Your baby can now perfectly sit up straight with a straight back. He is being driven by and endless curiosity. He goes out exploring on hands and feet or backside, sometimes backwards, sometime forward. To lift himself up, he uses chairs, tables and the railings of his play box. Slowly but for sure, he learns to stand on his own feet. Although it might give some problems in the beginning, make sure that you have low and solid furniture, so that your baby can practice.
With his thumb and forefinger your baby forms a kind of small pincer to carefully pick up crumbs and other small things from the ground. Be careful as everything disappears in his mouth. He likes to explore and puts his fingers in everything he encounters. He likes to stand up as long as he can,so hold him tight, in order to try out his balance feeling. He lifts himself up on large tables and furniture, and is dedicated to reach his goal and sits on his back again once exhausted.
Your baby moves himself with energy and handiness on hands and feet. He can sit straight up and keep his balance and sit down himself again. He likes to stand up and grab everything he sees or feels. When he can hold himself with his hands, he will carefully starts to step, foot by foot.
Your child decides himself when he will start walking. For a while, he will walk rounds around his play box, the coffee table while holding your finger. One day, he will no longer hold your finger and will make a few steps by himself. Amazed by his daring and result, he will sit down again. At that moment, he realized that he can walk by himself. It won't take long before he makes another attempt. His personal confidence and encouragement of his environment play a key role here. If he feels that you are nervous and scared that he would hurt himself, he will be less eager to try out again this single-handed journey. So try to give him some confidence and encourage him, but never force him.
DE KUIKENTJES