Our site uses cookies to make your experience on this site even better. We hope you think that is sweet.

Yes, I am okay. Know more
Planning for a baby?
Already Pregnant?
Have a Baby?
Have a Toddler?
Positive Parenting
Baby Names
Child Safety
Cord Blood
Life Skills
Premature Baby
Twins

Motor Skills Developmental Milestones

4 min read

Motor Skills
Motor Skills are an individual’s ability to coordinate his actions through muscles control. It is controlled by the nervous system and brain. A child’s upbringing has a great impact on his motor skills development. Willingly moving hands, grasping, making gestures, waving, walking, running, etc are some examples of fine motor skills. A child learns all this with some time and practice. The wait for watching your baby’s first steps and catching a ball is incredible and totally worth.
Age, physical ability, atmosphere and inheritance all these factors play a vital role in Motor Skills development. Though the pattern for every child’s Motor Skill development is quite similar, yet a child could hit the milestones at different ages. Children who are born premature, or are multiples, take some time but gradually catch on their peers of the same age group.
At the time of birth, the child has no significant control over his body. The action of moving arms, hands and legs are random. The child learns to do many things as he grows up and he gets on the cruise of discovering his body and various things he can do with his body parts.
Here is the list of obvious and proposed motor skills development in a child with the factor of age. The following improvements in your child can be fast or a bit late behind, but it is not a big deal, as children will learn them with time.

Between 3 to 6 months

3-6 months

    –

  • The baby will be able to grip on things and make efforts for the same
  • Loosening hands grip will not yet include in his motor skills
  • The baby will have significant control over his upper body
  • Baby will be able to move his head willingly to both sides
  • By the end of this period, the baby will be able to turn on his back and move his head
By the end of 12 Months
    • The child will be able to sit up without any help
    • He/she will be able to move his hands willingly
    • He/she will be able to hold things and let go
    • The baby will progress to getting on his hand and knee position, crawling may take time
    • The child will be able to roll on his back and stomach on a surface
    • Some may even start to rock back and forth on hand and knee position

12 Months

By the end of 18 Months
  • The child will be able to crawl around the house
  • The child will be able to stand with support
  • The child will be able to pick tiny things and leave
  • The baby will use one hand for lifting things and other hand to balance while crawling
  • Babies can point at things they want by this age and gesture you to give it to them
  • The baby will be able to walk with support, or holding both of your hands

Baby attempts to walk

Between 19 to 24 Months
  • Your baby will be able to move from one place to other
  • Crawling will progress to walking clumsily without any help
  • Fine motor skill will also start to develop in this period
  • The child will be able to hold tiny things like crayons, spoon, pencil and scribble on paper
  • The child will be able to place things on each other

19-24 Months

By the end of 24 Months
  • The child will easily walk though he/she may stumble
  • Efforts to climb stairs will be made in this period
  • The child will make efforts to run
  • Children of this age will be able to through and kick ball, chanced of things hitting their aim are less
  • The child will be able to eat and drink on his own
By the end of 30 Months
  • Your child will run and walk without any help
  • He/she will be able to hop and jump at one place
  • The child will be able to write and carry things
  • The child will learn to function well with fine motor skills.
  • Tasks like folding paper, scribbling on paper with help of pencil or crayons are performed
  • There will be no difficulty in using his hands for performing any simple task
  • By this time, the child will school ready

30 Months

By the end of 36 Months
  • Significant improvement in fine motor skill will be observed
  • The posture of walking and running improves at this age and the child has control over his body
  • He is able to perform various task simultaneously
  • The child can run and stop in an instance without falling
  • The child will be able to catch large objects like big soft-ball
  • The child will learn to button his shirt
  • Using tools like scissors, sharpener, and eraser will become easy

It is not necessary that every child develop his/her motor skill in the same format or in same age period. For some children it is difficult to develop motor skill. Children with physical disability and weakness will take time to perform all these tasks. If your child has difficulty in doing simple tasks for his age, take him to a child specialist and get more knowledge about the same.
Disclaimer: Every baby grows differently. This article is for reference purpose only.

Responses (0)

Please check a captcha
Read this next

Mental Health Tips for New Parents

Becoming a parent is overwhelming. It's often something that we spend a long time looking forward to and preparing for - sometimes, far longer than the 40 weeks of pregnancy. But, no matter how prepared you think you are, when your baby arrives, everything changes. It's never quite what we expect, even when we're welcoming home our second or even third babies. It's more exciting, it's more work, and it's definitely more exhausting. It's just more. New parenthood is like an assault on your emotions, as well as your hormones. You are busy trying to take care of a new life, your hormone levels are off the charts, your whole world is turned upside down, and any hopes of a good night's sleep are long forgotten. It's no surprise that your mental health might take a hit. Here's a look at some of the things that you can do to boost your mental health in those astounding first days of parenthood. Rest When You Can One of the most unsettling elements of being a new parent is the tiredness. You thought you'd been tired before, but not like this. Even if your newborn sleeps well, they'll be up at least a couple of times in the night for feeds and changes, and you are unlikely to get more than....

3 min read

Everybody Look at Your Hands

How to encourage children to wash their hands   Being a parent during the COVID-19 pandemic is incredibly difficult. That’s not exactly a secret: everything from school to social engagements to birthdays has been fundamentally changed in 2020. This year it’s all about keeping our kids safe while at the same time allowing them to have as close to a normal childhood as possible. Other than completely locking down at home, there are few options for keeping them virus-free. Masks are playing a critical role in safety for everyone, adults and children alike. That’s why they’re mandatory at most schools and daycare centers, not to mention on playgrounds and other public areas where large numbers of people gather. The other surefire way to keep kids safe is making sure that they wash their hands whenever they enter our homes, and if they frequently use hand sanitizer in public spaces. This all makes sense on paper, but we all know that kids have minds of their own. It is one thing to tell a child that he or she needs to wash their hands, but that doesn’t always mean that they listen. This sort of limit testing is part of a normal childhood, but in 2020, it can have....

3 min read

Finding Ways to Help Kids Exercise

We all know just how important it is for kids to get their recommended dose of active exercise. It is essential for fundamental development, especially in a child’s early years. Research also has proven that kids who exercise at a young age have a better chance of keeping healthy habits later in their adult life.   Getting enough exercise.   Children have varying degrees of energy. While some have what could almost be called endless energy, others may be more lethargic. This is particularly true today, where there are a range of devices to keep kids sedentary.   From smart phones, tablets, to video games and TV, getting a kid outside can be a challenge. But it’s an important aspect to their wellbeing. Physical activity guidelines outline that children and adolescents ages 6 through 17 years should do 1 hour or more of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity daily.   Make exercising fun   While these guidelines may seem impossible for some children, you shouldn’t lose hope! There are ways that can help you integrate exercise into your child’s life. One of the best ways of doing this is disguising physical activity as play.   Below....

3 min read

What to Feed the Baby in the First Year

The first year is always critical for the new baby. What will she eat, what will she wear, how to keep her safe, vaccinations… these are common questions all first-time parents ask. Food is, of course, very important because it is directly related to the development and the child’s growth. Babies breastfeeding will take between 8 and 12 feedings in a day. Those on formula foods will need between 6 and 10 feeds a day. Usually, solid foods will be introduced when the baby is around 6 months. Always remember, nutrition is key in the 1st year. Make sure to start a healthy eating habit quickly for your infant. But the feeding must always depend on the readiness of a child because every baby is different.     How Often an Infant Must Feed They are still very small, but they can know when feeling full or hungry. Feed her whenever she feels hungry. Each breastfeeding session is usually between 10-15 minutes. Formula and breastfeedings can be done deep into the night as well if the infant wakes up and cries because she is feeling hungry. Some parents add rice cereals to the bottle to make the baby sleep through the night. This is not recommended because it can easily....

5 min read

Want personalized reading and shopping suggestions for your exact stage of pregnancy?

Come on, sell the idea of signing up with us in two lines so well that they HAVE to sign up.

Sign Up
image

Want curated content sharply tailored for your exact stage of pregnancy?

Sign Up
Load More

165+ Services.

6+ Cities.

60K+ Parents Reviewed.

Explore Local Services.

Get regular updates, great recommendations and other right stuff at the right time.

Begin typing to search