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During the first year of the baby’s life, parents, especially the first timers, will be eagerly looking forward to the developmental milestone of baby and will be thrilled to see when the baby reaches those milestones. Rolling over, sitting, standing, walking are some of the major developmental milestones that are looked forward by the family. Grasping things is another developmental milestone. Continue reading to find out more about pincer grasp one of the significant milestones which open the world of independence for the baby.
Pincer grasp simply implies the ability of the baby to squeeze small objects with the thumb and index finger. Once your baby develops pincer grasp, eventually, this will empower him to feed himself. Apart from feeding, if the baby is able to grasp things, then this is his first step on the path of reading, writing, drawing etc.
Right from the time of birth, the baby figures out how to hold anything in the palm by wrapping the fingers and thumb around it from one side. This is known as palmer grasp. It takes the baby around a year to develop the ability to pick up and hold things tightly in his hands. Thus, the palmar grasp gradually develops into pincer grasp. The baby starts working intensively on this skill by the time he turns 3 months and makes leaps with each passing month. Usually, the baby develops pincer grasps between 8 and 12 months. Here is how the baby develops grasping skills through the months:
All babies are different and they achieve milestones at their own pace. If your baby is not attempting for a pincer grasp, most probably the baby may not be ready for it yet. Likewise, premature babies reach milestones a little later.
However, if the child is not using the pincer grasp by 12 months, an assessment should be done to evaluate the baby’s fine motor skills. Delayed or absent pincer grasp can be due to genetic disorders like cerebral palsy and autism. Do consult your pediatrician to clarify any worries or doubts.
Allowing the baby to explore a lot with fingers by touching and exploring toys or household objects will help the baby to achieve this developmental milestone of pincer grip quickly.
Once the pincer grasp is developed, babies start to explore more by shaking, moving, throwing, and rotating the objects at their reach. They use both the hands to find out the size, hardness, texture, weight, and other properties. In short, the usage of the mouth by the baby to examine the objects will be reduced gradually.
Pincer grasp is essential in activities such as holding pencils, coloring with crayons, cutting with scissors, and so on. However, whether the baby is a left handed or right, will be visible only when he turns two or three years old. Until then the babies tend to use both hands equally.
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