The motor development of a baby in the first year and how to train it

The development phase of a baby is closely related to motor skills. Both fine motor skills as well as gross motor skills that should have started to be seen since the newborn. Then, this ability will further develop as you get older. Check out the development of fine motor skills and gross motor skills of babies below that you need to know.

What are gross motor skills?

Gross motor skills are skills that involve the coordination of movements between large muscles, such as the arms, legs, and chest. This ability is what allows the baby to sit, roll over, walk, run, and so on.

That way, the gross motor skills that the baby will have will affect the balance and coordination of his body. In fact, the gross motor skills that are formed from birth will also be the basis for carrying out fine motor skills of the baby.

Gross motor development of infants up to 11 months of age

Based on the Denver II growth chart, the development of a baby's gross motor skills will take place step by step, as he gets older. The following is the gross motor development of babies based on their age:

0-6 months of age

Babies learn to raise their heads

Gross motor skills that can be performed by a newborn, only include raising his head slightly and repeating the same movements. For example, moving his feet and hands simultaneously.

Only at the age of 1 month of development of the baby, your little one begins to learn to raise his head about 45 degrees, but not completely perfect. Right at the age of 1 month 3 weeks baby, he already looks reliable to lift his head 45 degrees.

As the baby grows, it will continue to teach itself to be able to lift its head up to 90 degrees. However, these gross motor skills can only be done well when the baby is 2 months 3 weeks old.

Roll over

In addition, gross motor development that babies will also learn is rolling. So when the question arises when can the baby roll over? The answer is in this age range.

In fact, the baby will begin to try to roll at the age of 2 months and 2 weeks. However, he is usually only able to roll over well at 4 months and 2 weeks of age.

About a week later, at the age of 3 months, he seems to have started learning to sit on his own. At this age too, your baby is in the process of learning to hold his weight on his feet, and begins to support his body on his chest when he is on his stomach.

Age 6-11 months

Entering the age of 6 months, the development of gross motor skills that is being learned by babies is being able to crawl and sit alone without assistance. When many parents ask, how old is it that babies can crawl and sit on their own? The answer lies in this age range.

Not only do you move your arms and legs, the more you try to move forward, the faster your baby is likely to crawl. Then, the age of the baby can sit and do well, which is around the baby 6 months 1 week.

Learn to stand

Subsequently, she began learning to be able to stand on her own by holding on at 6 months 3 weeks of age. It is only when a baby is 8 months of development that he can truly stand up on his own by holding on to people or objects.

Subsequent development, he can maintain his balance properly to get up from a sitting position at the age of 9 months of development of the baby. A week after that, at the age of 9 months 1 week, your little one is able to change positions from standing to sitting smoothly.

So, at what age do babies learn to stand up? Generally, babies begin to learn to stand on their own without the need for help for about 2 seconds, at the age of 10 months of development.

However, he will actually be able to do it independently at the age of 10 months and 3 weeks.

Problems with gross motor development of babies

The baby's gross motor skills are skills related to the coordination of movement between large muscles. For example rolling over, sitting, standing and walking.

That way, problems with the baby's gross motor development appear when your little one rolls over, sits, or stands up too late. Normally at the age of 1 month baby, you will see your little one begins to be able to lift his head around 45 degrees.

Then, at the age of 2 months 3 weeks baby, his head can be lifted 90 degrees. Likewise, at the age of 3 months, he began to appear to learn to sit alone.

Then at the age of 4 months 2 weeks, your little one seems to have rolled over smoothly. And so on, the baby's gross motor development will take place step by step.

If it is quite a long way from that age but the baby has not yet shown the signs of gross motor development, there may be a problem with the baby's development.

However, gross motor skills can be different for each child. However, if the delay is too far from the normal age, please consult a doctor.

How to hone your baby's gross motor skills

The way that can be done to help the development of the baby's gross motor skills is to "provoke" him to want to do this. Give him plenty of time, space, and opportunities to hone the coordination of his big muscles, for example by doing the following:

0-6 months of age

Here's how to train gross motor skills for babies aged 0-6 months:

1. Talk to or serve a toy

Early in his life, you can train your baby's gross motor skills to raise his head a little, 45 degrees, and finally 90 degrees by fishing him.

You can talk to him by bringing your face closer to your little one or by playing with a toy in front of his face.

When your baby is attracted to babbling or toys, he will slowly raise his head as if he wants to get closer to you.

2. Change the position of the baby's body

Sometimes, some babies learn to lie down on their own, but some need to be prone to stomach first. For starters, you can put the baby to sleep not on his back continuously, but also on his side to the right or left.

Often train the baby to do the prone position (tummy time). Do this position when the baby is not fussy, not hungry or not after eating.

Do it with fun, if your baby is showing fatigue, can be stopped and done at another time. Do it tummy time as early as possible and as often as possible.

Over time, the baby may fall down on his own and eventually can be on his stomach and use the chest to support his body weight.

Another example is when a baby learns to sit. You can change the position of the baby from lying down to sitting. Over time he was able to learn to use his hands to hold his weight while sitting.

Age 6-11 months

Here's how to practice gross motor skills for babies aged 6-11 months:

1. Hold the baby's hand while learning to stand

You can practice the development of your baby's gross motor skills while teaching balance while your baby is learning to stand. At first you need to provide assistance by holding his hand while your little one is standing.

Then, slowly release your grip when he feels he is getting his balance. However, if the baby seems to be starting to fall, immediately hold his body so that he remains in a standing position.

2. Help baby stand up independently from a sitting position

When the baby is lying or sitting and you want to pick him up, you should not pick him up right away. If he is lying down, try to sit down first.

After sitting down, hold his hands and exert a little force by pulling them, until then he stands up. This aims to familiarize and train the baby's body so that later it can stand on its own.

What are fine motor skills?

Fine motor skills are skills that involve coordination between small muscles, including the hands, fingers, and wrists. In babies, fine motor skills allow him to do many things.

For example, a baby's fine motor skills are reaching for a toy, grasping an object, giving the object it is holding and putting the object into the container.

In essence, the baby's fine motor skills only involve the role of his two hands.

Fine motor development of infants up to 11 months of age

Referring to the Denver II child development chart, there will be new fine motor skills that can be learned and practiced in each developing baby's age. If you draw a straight line on the graph, here is the baby's fine motor development by age:

0-6 months of age

Babies begin to learn to use both hands at the age of 2 months, but not very well. Stepping on the baby 2 months 3 weeks, new babies can actually function their own hands.

Babies are able to clap their hands, but have not been able to use them to grab and hold objects. Only when entering a baby at 3 months and 3 weeks, the baby's fine motor development is getting more reliable.

According to the National Childcare Accreditation Council, babies usually begin to develop fine motor skills around 5 months of age. This can be seen when your little one is able to hold his own toy.

As they get older, babies at 5 months and 1 week are generally able to reach or pick up objects that are nearby, such as toys. Right at the age of 5 months 3 weeks, babies begin to learn to look for threads or other objects like that.

At the age of 6 months of development, the baby's fine motor development develops again when he starts learning to collect raisins on his dinner plate.

So, when can babies hold their own milk bottles? Holding a milk bottle is part of fine motor development. It has been explained a little above if babies start holding their own bottles from the age of 6 months.

One of these fine motor skills develops until the baby is 10 months old.

The only sign you can see when he is ready to hold his own feeding bottle is the urge to reach for the bottle. Then, when the baby is able to maintain balance whether lying down, sitting, or standing, the bottle will not fall easily.

You can also train him to hold the bottle by himself so that he gets used to it.

In addition, at this age he also understands how to give the object he is holding to someone else.

Age 6-11 months

Only when the baby is 6 months 2 weeks old, your baby can really look for threads or other objects, and collect the raisins that you give when he eats.

Meanwhile, a baby's fine motor skills to provide the object that he is holding can actually be done well at the age of a baby of 7 months.

After one week after that, aka in babies 7 months and 1 week, your little one is able to pick up and hold two objects at once.

After being able to hold two objects, at the age of 7 months 3 weeks, the development of fine motor skills of your little one will make him begin to learn to hit two objects that he is holding.

However, this cannot be done smoothly. After about two weeks, at the age of 8 months and 1 week, you will see him starting to pinch or pick up an object using the function of his thumb.

Only when the baby is 9 months 2 weeks old, your baby can pick up objects with their thumbs well.

In addition, at the age of 10 months, your little one is already reliably hitting the two objects in each of them he is holding.

Another fine motor skill that babies can do is learning to put objects into containers, at the age of 11 months of development. However, these activities can only be carried out smoothly when your little one is more than 12 months old.

Problems with the fine motor development of babies

In contrast to gross motor skills, the problem of infant development from fine motor skills is disruption of the coordination of small baby muscles. Including the fingers, wrists, to the overall hand function.

As an example of fine motor skills, babies should be able to pick up objects near them by the age of 5 months 1 week. Then, the baby is able to give the object that he is holding to another person when the baby is 7 months old.

At 9 months and 2 weeks of age, your little one can pick up objects with their thumbs, such as when pinching them.

Stepping on the age of 13 months, your baby is already smoothly putting objects into containers.

If there are problems with the development of the baby from the side of fine motor skills, it is possible that your little one has not been able to do these activities at the age that should be.

How to train baby's fine motor skills

Toys can be a tool that helps babies learn to develop fine motor skills. So that your baby's fine motor skills can develop optimally, here are some tips you can do:

0-6 months of age

Here's how to train the development of fine motor skills for babies aged 0-6 months:

1. Put toys around the baby

Your little one can begin to learn to pick up toys or objects when they see the "target" around them. The existence of toys that will provoke the baby's curiosity, thus helping to develop fine motor skills.

So you can practice the development of your baby's fine motor skills by placing toys around him.

2. Show the baby how toys work

Baby motor development that can be done is to introduce a toy by holding it, show how the toy works, then talk to the baby.

You can say, “Lookhere Sis, what do you have? Funny, the ball can sound when shaken. I want to try it too not?”

After you show these toys, usually your little one seems interested and wants to know more.

This is what made him try to learn to reach the toy on his own. However, don't forget to make sure you have kept sharp and dangerous objects away from around the baby.

Age 6-11 months

Here's how to train the development of fine motor skills for babies aged 6-11 months:

1. Ask the baby to give him the toy he is holding

In addition to learning to reach and grasp an object, babies must also be able to give what they are holding to others. To practice this, you can pretend to be interested and gently ask for an object that is in your little one's hand.

You can ask, "What are you holding, brother?huh? Can you borrow for a moment? " Do this while reaching out and piling your palms together, as body language that you want the object.

2. Teach the baby to pick up objects with the thumb and forefinger

You can practice your baby's thumb skills by teaching him to pick up something in a container. However, it's best to use a container that is mostly closed, and leaves little room for the contents inside.

To make it easier to do, beforehand you can teach the baby how to do it first. Then let him do it himself so that motor development occurs in the baby.

Another way you can do this, you can also ask your little one to press a toy that has a button. This will help train the function of the fingers so that motor development occurs in the baby.

What should I do when starting the oral phase in babies?

Putting objects into the mouth is a normal thing to do and is a baby's motor development. This is even a sign that the baby is interested in studying the environment around him.

Babies learn to understand the world around them by seeing, touching, hearing, smelling and feeling. This usually occurs when the baby starts at the age of 7 months to 1 year.

The habit of biting objects around them is also associated with a lot of baby teeth that begin to grow. The baby's first teething makes him uncomfortable and biting something may comfort him.

Some things you can do to avoid unwanted things from happening are:

Keep away dangerous objects

Once he is able to move on all fours or crawls, it is easier for him to pick up objects and put them in his mouth. At this time, you have to put dangerous objects out of reach of the baby, such as medicine, air freshener, and so on.

Make sure your baby's hands and feet are always clean

In addition to goods, usually babies also put their hands or feet into their mouths. So, by ensuring the cleanliness of the baby's hands and feet, germs that cause disease do not enter the baby's body.

Distract baby

If the baby starts to bite or put objects in his mouth, divert the baby's attention to other things. For example, invite the baby to play together, take the baby out, or so on.

Offer baby food when the baby starts to bite, lick, or put any object in his mouth

This will certainly be better. You can offer foods that are easy for babies to hold, such as apples, melons, steamed carrots, steamed broccoli, cucumbers, and so on.