Helping Your Baby Reach Milestones

Welcoming your child into the world can be one of the most rewarding experiences. Every time your baby reaches a milestone that is just icing on the cake. Helping your child to reach these milestones is very important. You are the person that will help them progress in this world.

Gaining Neck Strength:

This is one of the very first accomplishments your baby can reach. Your infant will need to strengthen his neck muscles in order to hold up his head on his own. Lay him on his stomach 3 times a day for 10 to 15 minutes each time. He will most likely not tolerate this for very long, but after awhile he will be able to look back and forth. Before you know it he will have complete control of his head.

Rolling Over:

The best thing to do is lay her down on her back try and do this on a soft surface. Put toys on both sides of your baby so that something catches her eye. She will continue to try and roll on her side to get the toy. Eventually she will get it, and this will lead to her rolling over. This milestone is usually achieved at 4 months of age.

Sitting Up:

Sit your baby up every chance you get. If you are watching T.V. prop your little guy up next to you on the couch. While he is sitting up he will be strengthening his stomach muscles. The more he does this-the sooner he will be sitting up by himself. The average for this is around 7 months old.

Crawling:

Have you ever noticed your baby kicking and moving their legs all of the time? What they are doing is strengthening their leg muscles in preparation for walking. Some children even bypass crawling all together, and go straight to walking. When something catches their eye they will want to get to it. This is when crawling will happen. Make sure that the item is viewable but out of reach.

Walking:

This is my favorite one. I have always loved when my children started walking, even when I had to chase them. Standing your child up will help to build their leg muscles. They will start to balance themselves on something like a coffee table or couch. Using 2 people that are only about a 1 or 2 feet apart you can encourage your child to walk to the other person. Make sure you have the camera ready, because they will be walking in no time.

If your child does not reach every milestone on time there is no need to worry. Every single baby is different and some will achieve these early and some will achieve them late. There is a common factor between most of these goals, and that is strengthening muscles. No infant will come out built like a weightlifter. This is a process that will take time and patience, and in the end it will be worth it.