Motor skills at 3 months

Developmental Milestones: 3 Months - HealthyChildren.org

Ages & Stages

What are some of the developmental milestones my child should reach by three months of age?

By the time your baby is three months of age, she will have made a dramatic transformation from a totally dependent newborn to an active and responsive infant. She’ll lose many of her newborn reflexes while acquiring more voluntary control of her body. You’ll find her spending hours inspecting her hands and watching their movements.

Here are some other milestones to look for.

Movement Milestones

Raises head and chest when lying on stomach
Supports upper body with arms when lying on stomach
Stretches legs out and kicks when lying on stomach or back
Opens and shuts hands
Pushes down on legs when feet are placed on a firm surface
Brings hand to mouth
Takes swipes at dangling objects with hands
Grasps and shakes hand toys

Visual and Hearing Milestones

Watches faces intently
Follows moving objects
Recognizes familiar objects and people at a distance
Starts using hands and eyes in coordination
Smiles at the sound of your voice
Begins to babble
Begins to imitate some sounds
Turns head toward direction of sound

Social and Emotional Milestones

Begins to develop a social smile
Enjoys playing with other people and may cry when playing stops
Becomes more communicative and expressive with face and body
Imitates some movements and facial expressions

Developmental Health Watch

Although each baby develops in her own individual way and at her own rate, failure to reach certain milestones may signal medical or developmental problems requiring special attention. If you notice any of the following warning signs in your infant at this age, discuss them with your pediatrician.

Doesn’t seem to respond to loud sounds
Doesn’t notice her hands by two months
Doesn’t smile at the sound of your voice by two months
Doesn’t follow moving objects with her eyes by two to three months
Doesn’t grasp and hold objects by three months
Doesn’t smile at people by three months
Cannot support her head well at three months
Doesn’t reach for and grasp toys by three to four months
Doesn’t babble by three to four months
Doesn’t bring objects to her mouth by four months
Begins babbling, but doesn’t try to imitate any of your sounds by four months
Doesn’t push down with her legs when her feet are placed on a firm surface by four months
Has trouble moving one or both eyes in all directions
Crosses her eyes most of the time (Occasional crossing of the eyes is normal in these first months. )
Doesn’t pay attention to new faces, or seems very frightened by new faces or surroundings
Still has the tonic neck reflex at four to five months

Last Updated: 6/1/2009

Source: Caring for Your Baby and Young Child: Birth to Age 5 (Copyright © 2009 American Academy of Pediatrics)

The information contained on this Web site should not be used as a substitute for the medical care and advice of your pediatrician. There may be variations in treatment that your pediatrician may recommend based on individual facts and circumstances.

Baby Development: Your 3-month-old

Written by Stephanie Watson

Third Month Baby Milestones: Motor Skills

Those innate reflexes -- such as the startle reflex that your baby displayed during the first couple of months -- should be fading or gone by now. You’ve probably also noticed that baby’s neck strength is improving. When you hold them upright, you should see very little or even no head wobbling. Three-month-old babies also should have enough upper-body strength to support their head and chest with their arms while lying on their stomach and enough lower body strength to stretch out their legs and kick.

As you watch your baby, you should see some early signs of hand-eye coordination. Your baby’s hands can open and shut, come together, swipe at colorful dangling toys, briefly grab a toy or rattle, and go straight into the mouth.

Third Month Baby Milestones: Sleep

Your 3-month-old’s nervous system is maturing, and their stomach can accommodate more milk or formula. Those changes should allow your baby to sleep for a stretch of six or seven hours at a time, which translates into a good night's sleep for you.

If your baby does wake up in the middle of the night, wait about 30 seconds before heading into the nursery. Sometimes, babies will cry for a few seconds and then go back to sleep. When you rush in at the first sound of fussing, your baby won’t learn how to fall back asleep on their own.

When the cries don’t stop and you do need to go into your baby’s room in the middle of the night, stick to the essentials. Feeding and changing should be done in the dark, if possible, and then it’s right back into the crib. Eventually, they will get the idea that nighttime is for sleeping only.

Your baby’s daytime sleep schedule should also become more routine by now. Most 3-month-old babies take a few naps of about 1 1/2 to 2 hours each day.

Third Month Baby Milestones: The Senses

Your 3-month-old’s hearing and vision are improving. Babies this age turn their heads and smile at the sound of their parents’ voices, and they love listening to all kinds of music.

Your baby will still prefer to look at brightly colored toys. That’s because sharp contrasts are easier to see. Faces are absolutely fascinating to 3-month-old babies. Look at them and they will stare back into your eyes. Your infant will also gaze intently at their own reflection in a crib mirror.

Third Month Baby Milestones: Communication

At three months, your baby is becoming more of a unique human being. This is the stage that child psychiatrist Margaret Mahler referred to as ''hatching,'' when babies come out of their ''shells'' and begin to react and relate to the world around them. Part of this hatching process involves interacting with people and smiling for pleasure, otherwise known as social smiles.

By the third month, crying is no longer your baby’s primary method of communication. In fact, 3-month-old babies should cry for no more than an hour each day. If the crying exceeds this, or seems excessive to you, schedule a visit with your pediatrician, because reflux or another medical problem may be behind the tears.

Instead of crying, your baby is starting to communicate in other ways, such as cooing and making vowel sounds (''oh'' and ''ah,'' for example). Engage your little one in conversation by responding to these sounds and narrating what you are doing when you are together. Say, ''I’m going to change your diaper now,'' or, ''It’s time for lunch!'' Your baby will listen raptly to the sound of your voice and watch facial expressions as you talk. Eventually, they will start forming their own sounds and making their own gestures. Having conversations is also a great way to bond with your baby.

Your baby also needs to learn to develop close and trusting relationships with others. Let them get comfortable being held and talked to by someone else while you're around.

Third Month Baby Milestones: Missed Milestones

Every baby is a little different. Don’t be alarmed if your 3-month-old misses a milestone, especially if they were born prematurely. However, do call your pediatrician if your baby hasn’t done the following things by three months:

Responded to noises
Followed people or objects with their eyes
Smiled
Reached for objects

Tips for Your Baby’s Third Month

A number of experts offer advice on parenting, particularly on how to get your baby to sleep through the night. Listen to the advice, but trust your instincts. If letting your baby cry it out (the Ferber method) doesn’t work for your baby and it goes against your beliefs as a parent, don’t do it.
At 3 months, babies should still sleep on their backs to reduce the risk of SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome.) Keep soft bumpers, stuffed toys, blankets, and sleep positioners out of the crib. Never put your baby down to sleep on a couch, chair, waterbed, or cushion. And don't let your baby sleep in a stroller, swing, or bouncer for extended periods of time -- unless it's the only way they'll sleep.
You might hear from a friend or family member that starting your baby on solid foods now will help them sleep through the night. But you need to wait at least one more month. The American Academy of Pediatrics doesn’t recommend that babies eat anything but breast milk or formula until they are between 4 months and 6 months old.

Development of fine motor skills from 3 to 6 months (massage + exercises) - 2 answers

So much has been written about fine motor skills, but everything is mostly for adult children. And what about babies? It turns out that fine motor skills can and should be developed from birth.

How? Let's read on)

You need to start working on the development of fine motor skills from an early age. Already an infant, you can massage your fingers (finger gymnastics), thereby affecting the active points associated with the cerebral cortex. At an early age, you need to perform simple exercises, accompanied by a poetic text.

Why is the development of fine motor skills of hands so important for children? The fact is that in the human brain, the centers responsible for speech and finger movements are located very close. By stimulating fine motor skills and thus activating the corresponding parts of the brain, we also activate neighboring areas responsible for speech.

Recommendations for mothers:

1. Exercises for the development of fine motor skills are carried out in a complex, starting from the first months of a child's life.

2. In the complex of exercises, try to include tasks for squeezing, relaxing and stretching the baby's hands.

3. Begin or end with a hand massage session.

4. Carry out fine motor development activities regularly, according to the child's age and developmental level.

5. Alternate between new and old games and exercises. After your child has mastered simple motor skills, move on to mastering more complex ones.

6. Perform certain movements while listening to (and then pronouncing the child) a poem.

7. Conduct classes emotionally, actively, praise the child for success, but do not forget to monitor his mood and physical condition.

Massage

Finger massage is very useful for the baby. The fingers are closely connected with the brain and internal organs: the little finger with the heart, the ring finger with the liver, the middle finger with the intestines and spine, the index finger with the stomach, and the big finger with the brain.

1. Take your baby's hand and massage each finger thoroughly, starting with the little finger. Perform massage movements from the nail phalanx to the palm, paying attention to each joint.

2. Massage the baby's fingertips with light pressure.

3. Massage your baby's palms with circular motions of your index finger.

4. Take the child's hand in your hand and with light pressure from the thumb make circular motions in the center of the hand

5. Take two massage brushes and run them over the child's palms. His hands are on his knees, palms up.

Passive exercise and massage:

1. Sip the baby's fingers as if you want to pull them out; movements should be very light and gentle;

2. Perform circular movements with each finger separately, first in one direction and then in the other direction.

3. Clapping the baby's hands on the table, on each other (patties), on objects with different textures. You can also slap on the surface of the water while bathing, kids usually love it.

4. Teach your child to stroke with his palm (on his cheek, on his hand). When the baby gets older and his muscle tone in the upper limbs returns to normal, he should be taught "okays" and "magpie-magpie" (magpie-white-sided, where she was - far away, galloping across the fields, calling the children) - with these words they make circular movements with their fingers on an open hand. Then the enumeration: “I gave this . ..” when naming the next “this”, the finger is bent with its simultaneous massage.

It is also very good to use mini trainers. As such simulators, you can use "furry" latex balls (they are sold in pet stores). Up to three months, put small balls with a diameter of 3-4 cm in the palms of the child. When the child falls asleep, squeezing these balls, then his hands retain the correct shape.

At 4-5 months we use large balls for massage. The massage also changes: holding the child's hands in your hands, you need to hold the ball between his palms and twist it.

At 5-6 months , to strengthen the muscles of the palms, it is good to use the exercise "Combing": the baby's hands in turn lift up and smoothly move them along the head back and forth. When performing this exercise, the muscles of the shoulder girdle, palms, fingers work. At the same age, we move on to massage the hands, massaging each finger, each of its phalanxes. We carry out kneading daily for 2-3 minutes.

At the age of 6-7 months we add walnut rolling over the child's palm (circular movements) for 3-4 minutes to the previously performed exercises.

Many exercises for the development of fine motor skills up to 6 months can be found at link.

games for the smallest hands

Reviewer Kovtun Tatiana Anatolievna

53739 views

September 15, 2021

From birth, children begin to explore the world - first through sounds, images and bodily contact with loved ones. And then the stage of sensory development begins. At this time, the child's ideas about the properties of the objects around him are being improved. And the more interesting things that differ in texture and texture will surround the baby, the more harmonious his development will be.

Mom, I'm ready!

After 6 months, the child already actively uses his hands - for example, he learns to take a spoon. By 8 months, he masters the pinched grip with two fingers. Mom can help the baby develop fine motor skills - and therefore contribute to the development of his speech. It's no secret that the nerve receptors in the fingers are associated with the areas of the brain responsible for speech.

Small finger massage

If it is too early for a baby to master the wisdom of finger gymnastics, a mother can give him a massage of his hands and fingers. And you can massage not with your hands, but with special massage small balls - “hedgehogs”. These are sold in orthopedic stores. Better yet, massage with walnuts. How is this massage done? Walk them all over the palm and along each finger, invite the baby to hold and roll nuts or massage hedgehogs in his hands.

Fine motor games

When to offer the baby games for the development of fine motor skills? On average, you can start mastering finger games from 8 months, but we recommend focusing on the characteristics of your child. Some children are ready to connect earlier, and some will be able to master the games only by the age of one. After all, it all depends on the individual pace of development of the child, and you can always get advice on this from a specialist.
At the first stage, all manipulations with fingers are performed by mom or dad, and the baby is just learning. Later, he will master the games and will do all the movements on his own.

Hedgehog

This is the simplest game, it is suitable even for toddlers. We clasp our hands with a lock and swing from side to side: “Hedgehog-hedgehog is prickly, where are your needles?”. At the last word, you need to help the baby spread his fingers - “needles”.

Game “Wake up the neighbors”

We pronounce the following text and help the child perform the appropriate movements:

“The morning has come - the sun has risen” (together with the baby, raise your hands up, spread your fingers).
"Hey, brother Fedya, wake up the neighbors" (shake your fist).
“Get up big, get up pointer” (alternately unbend each finger).
“Get up middle, get up orphan” (alternately unbend each finger).
“And you, Mitroshka. Hello, palm! (on the word "palm" shake all fingers).

It is done for each pen.

Game "Orange"

"We shared an orange" (twisting the fist).
“There are many of us, but he is one” (we show all the fingers, and then only one).
“This slice is for a hedgehog, this slice is for a siskin” (we bend a finger for each animal in turn).
“This slice is for kittens, this slice is for bunnies” (if mom makes, she can massage her fingers).
"This slice is for the beaver, and for the wolf - peel" (on the word "peel" you need to shake all the fingers of the brushes lowered down).

Looking for treasure

For fine motor skills, games with cereals are very useful. Take a large bowl and mix everything you can in it: beans, lentils, peas, millet. Send cones, acorns, chestnuts and shells there - naturally, washed and dried. And inside all this "porridge" you need to bury some kind of surprise - a small toy, a car or a jar of soap bubbles. The task of the baby is to dig for a long time with pens in a heterogeneous mixture in order to find a gift.

In parallel, you can count cones, chestnuts, sort beans by color.

Mom must remember that the baby should not be left unattended: he can choke or put the “treasure” in his nose or ear.

Draw with semolina

Take a baking sheet and generously sprinkle it with semolina or sugar. Show your child how you can draw with your fingers on such a “screen”. To help the young artist, you can give a brush, a funnel made of paper and a spoon to pour the cereal. Older children can repeat patterns or even letters after their mother, and little ones will just have to tinker with their croup.

Grain sorting

Pour beans (preferably red) and millet into one bowl. The task of the baby is to shift all the beans into a separate bowl. For older children, the task can be complicated by offering to carry out all the actions with sugar tongs, for example.

If you mix beans with semolina, then the child can be given a sieve, then the large motor skills of his pens will also develop.

Plasticine, pastel, marker

Masaru Ibuka, author of the bestselling book It's Too Late After 3, strongly recommends giving children crayons as early as possible. And this is very correct! Take triangular pencils, wax crayons or art pastels: to draw with them, you need to make all sorts of efforts. Let the child have a choice! And felt-tip pens can be put aside for another time, and not even because they dirty everything around, but because the kid does not need to make any effort to draw with them, because felt-tip pens easily leave a mark on paper.

Drawing with finger paints is a troublesome activity, but fascinating and useful for fine motor skills of the hands. The texture of the paints develops sensory skills, and touching the paper and trying to draw a pattern stimulate fine motor skills. For completeness, invite your child to draw on velvet or corrugated paper.

An excellent training of fine motor skills will also be a breakaway application - children at the age of 10-11 months can already quite cope with the task of tearing napkins or even cotton into pieces on their own (but only under the supervision of their mother and with her direct participation), and then with the help of their mother press them to a pre-prepared drawing (sheep, snowdrift, snowman, hare). The task of the mother is to guide the baby's hand and show how to press the paper to the sheet correctly, what effort and what parts of the pen need to be made.

Modeling from salt dough - this activity is also called "flour-salt" - and playing with clay perfectly complement the arsenal of techniques for developing fingers.

Salt dough has an undeniable plus: the baby will not eat it, even if he still pulls various “goodies” into his mouth - paints, crayons, and so on. However, it is better not to leave the baby alone with him. Mom can make the dough looser or denser - and depending on this, the child will need to put more or less effort into sculpting from it. You can roll out the dough with a rolling pin, cut out shapes with molds, sculpt a kolobok (mother's hand is always on the child's hand and shows the correct movement), make a cake, roll out sausages, and then turn everything into a shapeless lump again.

With clay, the game is even more interesting.