[Music] today we're going to talk about the development of motor milestones in children birth to 24 months this is a public service video for parents we're going to go through the Milestones to look for we're going to look at what's going on behind the scenes in terms of the brain and the body that's allowing those Milestones to occur we're going to go through what a pediatrician May check for in the office we'll also tie it up with some tips for you about things to bring to your pediatrician's attention babies are born ready to move they come out and they're kicking and batting their arms but somewhere between birth and 24 months those random movements are going to turn into highly controlled and coordinated movements how does that happen let's see from the parent par point of view we're going to look at head control the Milestone of birth to 4 months you bring your newborn baby home from the hospital and they can't control their head at all you're aware you need to keep your hand behind their neck to help them with that endeavor we can also look at how they develop head control by looking at how they do on their belly a newborn can barely move their head side to side to clear the floor by 1 month they can get their head up 45° by 2 to 3 months they get their head up 90° and by 4 months they've not only got their head up they got their ch chest up and they've assumed that classic puppy pose what's going on behind the scenes the newborn babies movements are governed by these primitive reflexes principle number one is that primitive reflexes must resolve prior to attaining voluntary control over motor movements what's going to go on at the doctor's visit the doctor will look at those primitive reflexes and make sure that they are resolving as they should over those first few months so for example the morrow or startle reflex the asymmetric tonic neck reflex also called the fencing reflex hand grasp foot grasp where the baby's hand or toes curl around an object the doctor will also check the attainment of head control by something called the pull to sit maneuver baby is 4 to 7 months of age and now working on rolling over when he was on his belly he managed to get his head and his chest up now all it takes is a little bit of momentum and gravity he's going to go all the way over how does baby learn to roll over baby needs time on his tummy on a firm surface principle number two development is influenced by experience from 6 to 9 months of age baby is working on sitting at 6 months baby May sit briefly with a rounded back leaning on his hands when he's placed by the parent and then fall over by 7 months the baby can straighten his back somewhat and and is relying Less on his hands Often by 8 months those hands are available for play the baby is now stable enough to maintain himself with that that support and at 9 months the baby may be able to get himself into a sitting position from lying down behind the scenes we're Guided by principle number three control is developed from the neck downward the doctor will look at your baby's progress towards sitting does he need to keep his legs wide apart to stabilize himself he may push the baby over and look for the baby to put out an arm on either side to break his fall a protective reflex called the lateral parachute and what about standing from 6 months babies enjoy being held in supported standing it's a whole new view of the work between 9 and 12 months babies often will begin to pull thems into a standing position after that they begin to take steps holding on what we call cruising and soon after that they will let go and begin to take steps with their parents' hand support there's another principle at work here principle number four postural or protective reflexes precede the attainment of motor Milestones baby's not going to be stable enough to walk until there's a backward parachute until when pushed backward the baby has developed this protective reflex to put his arms behind him and break his fall and protect his head and what about crawling crawling is not generally considered a a motor Milestone because about 15% of typical children do not crawl they go directly from sitting to walking but the majority of children do crawl in their a variety of crawling Styles the typical scenario is that baby starts off in sitting and in reaching for a toy ends up on all fours begins to rock and may initially move backward before figuring out how to go forward most children begin to walk between 12 and 17 months we all know the Walk of a new Walker the legs are wide apart the arms are up to help with their balance and often they're not bending too much at the knees over the next few months we'll see certain changes the legs will come closer together the arms will come down and we'll be more bending the knees babies this age like to climb they like to stoop and recover they like to squat when they play baby is 18 to 24 months a phase I like to call playground redit walking has turned to fast walking has turned to running baby can now climb upstairs erect holding on to the railing or a parent hand between 18 and 20 months the toddler will kick a ball at 21 months he'll throw a ball at 24 months he'll jump both feet off the floor and by 24 months they're alternating their arms when they move and they've adopted more of a heel to toe mature gate pattern the majority of the major motor Milestones have been acquired by 24 months now it's just a matter of refining it's important to remember that children progress through these milestones at their own pace and in their own way and not to get too focused on any one particular age of attaining a milestone we do have some guidelines though of things to bring to your pediatrician by 4 months if your baby has not attained head control that would be something to discuss by 9 months if baby is not yet sitting by 18 months if baby is not yet walking independently if at any point baby has a regression or loss of previously attained skills if you have any concern about your baby's development do bring these concerns to your pediatrician he or she will determine if your child needs more medical evaluation or would benefit from involvement with early intervention or if the skills are being attained within the normal range of development [Music]