How many times have you caught yourself staring at the tiny fingers of your baby? I could not even believe that I created them inside my body from scratch. Before you know, those little hands will grow up to be big and strong. When your baby can grab toys and stuff with his tiny fingers, you will know that he has already grown up. The ability to grab things is a skill needed to perform many other activities such as eating and drinking alone and writing.
A baby will have the skill to grab and hold things from the first day of their life. But as the baby grows up, he will actively reach and grab things like toys around him. Parents are always concerned about the time that their little ones should hit these important milestones. This article is about the skill of grabbing things, when it will happen and how you can help the baby to make it happen soon.
CONTENT
1. When will my baby start to grab things?
2. What to expect after grabbing?
3. How to encourage my baby to grab things?
4. What can I do if my baby does not like to grab things?
1. When will my baby start to grab things?
You might have already experienced that your newborn could wrap his little fingers around your finger once you touch his palm. This is a reflex that comes from birth which means your baby has no control over this action. But over the first twelve months, the skills of grabbing things will develop gradually.
The reflex to grab as a newborn will go away when your baby is around six months. During the first two, three months, the baby will spend most of the time with his hands closed and clenched. As the baby passes the age of three months, he will learn to open his hands and clench them back.
When your baby is around three to four months, his muscles will grow stronger along with eye-hand coordination. These developments will help your baby to reach things around him and hold light objects if it is placed near or on his palm. The baby will also try to take the object to his mouth before it falls down as he cannot hold it for a long time at the moment.
This is the perfect time to let your baby play with a baby gym. The baby can grab things while being on his back. The colorful and attractive mobiles will keep your baby occupied for an hour or so and your baby will master his skill of grabbing.
During the age of four to eight months, your baby will get the skill to grab bigger objects. At six months, the hand-eye coordination of your baby will improve significantly enabling your baby to reach an object, pick it and hold it in his hands. He will also be able to move an object from one of his hands to another without dropping it. A rattle is a good toy for a baby who is at this age as he can shake things now. The sound that a rattle makes while shaking will amuse him.
If you have observed that your baby is capable of grabbing and putting things to his mouth, you have to be extra cautious during his playtime. Check the play area for tiny items like buttons, pins, and coins as they can choke the baby if he managed to put them in his mouth.
Do not allow your baby to play with the toys of the older siblings because they may have little parts that can be dangerous if swallowed by your baby. If you have not baby-proofed your house yet, this will be the perfect time to do it.
The ability to put things into his mouth is a sign that your baby is ready for solid food. But it is not recommended to offer solid foods to babies who are younger than six months. When you are offering solid food to your baby, make sure the pieces of food are big enough so they will not choke your baby. Never allow your baby to eat solid food unsupervised.
Between the ages of nine to twelve months, grabbing things will become an unforced skill to your baby and he will pick and hold things easily. The baby will prefer to grab and drop things or give them to someone else. To encourage this skill, you can play with your child by offering him a toy to grab and ask for it back once he has grabbed it. Once your baby is twelve months, your baby will have fully developed the skill to grab things and will be able to handle a spoon to feed himself.
2. What to expect after grabbing?
After becoming good at grabbing things, your baby will learn to throw things. Get ready to pick the same toy multiple times while your baby enjoys throwing it around. After a month or two from the baby’s first birthday, he will be able to stack building blocks and wooden blocks. Around fifteen months, your baby will have the ability to hold a pencil or chalk and draw with it.
When your baby is one and a half years old, you will notice that the baby uses one hand more than the other. The hand that your child uses the most will be stronger and better at work than the other. But until he is three, you cannot confirm whether your baby is right-handed or left-handed.
3. How to encourage my baby to grab things?
The easiest and the most practical way to encourage grabbing is to place the objects that the baby likes near him. These objects or toys should be colorful or attractive to the baby in some other way such as making noise. Start by offering soft and light toys that the baby can grab easily. These objects should not be too far away from the baby as it will disappoint him when he fails to reach them.
If you want to encourage your baby to pick with his thumb and index finger (pincer pick), you can offer sliced fruits such as avocado and banana once the baby has started solid foods.
4. What can I do if my baby does not like to grab things?
One important fact to remember is that the babies who are born way earlier than the due date (premies) will reach the milestones late than the other babies. You have to use his adjusted age when considering the average age to hit a developmental milestone. Adjusted age is calculated assuming that your baby was born on his due date. If your baby is now four months old but was born two months earlier than the due date, his adjusted age is two months.
But if your baby does not do the following activities, please consult your pediatrician.
- Your baby is four months old but does not try to bring things to his mouth.
- The baby does not attempt to reach things even after turning six months.
- The baby is already nine months old but does not move things from one hand to another.