Pediatrics: Motor Skills and Coordination Milestones

All children develop at different rates.  However, certain milestones involving how they play, learn, speak, behave, and move, help to determine if they are on track in their development.  

While motor skills and coordination milestones happen throughout early childhood, the first year of a child’s life can seem to be when the most development takes place in a short amount of time.  Some examples throughout a baby’s first 12 months include:

• Smiling at people
• Turning head toward sounds
• Recognizing people 
• Babbling
• Developing different cries to indicate hunger, pain, or being tired
• Responding to their own name
• Bringing things to their mouth
• Rolling over 
• Sitting without support
• Crawling
• Playing peek-a-boo
• Picking things up with thumb and fingers
• Pulling self into a standing position
• Walking 

These are just a few examples of motor skills and coordination milestones to watch for and review with your child’s pediatrician.  If at any point you have concerns about your child’s development, you should schedule an appointment with your child’s physician to discuss them. 

For a list of milestones to watch for in your child, click here to be directed to the CDC guidelines.