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Questions & Answers - Motor Concerns
My son is 5 months. I'm not
concerned about his social interaction at all. He is a happy,
"talkative," and smiling baby. However, there are two things I'm
concerned with regarding his motor skills.
1. Reaching for toys.
Ethan met the guidelines for batting at toys but just now started to
reach for them. When he does reach for them, he kind of just swipes
both arms and hands inward towards the middle of his body. He is
sometimes successful. Does this count as reaching? Should he have
done this earlier? He has been putting his hands together and in his
mouth since 3 months of age. When I put a toy in his hand, he will
shake it and bring it to his mouth. I just don't know what to look
for with reaching and grabbing toys. He doesn't grab the toys on his
activity mat or in his exersaucer.
2. How long should he be bearing weight on his legs when placed
on them? He'll bear down for a split second and then bend them.
He'll then go up and down almost like he's bouncing. Should he be
standing for longer periods of time while supported?
From your description of your son it sounds like his fine
motor/reaching skills are still within normal limits for a baby who
is just about to turn 5 months old. From 3-5 months most babies are
still batting at & reaching for toys on hanging gyms, while not
necessarily always being able to grasp them with control. Babies
from 3-5 months are typically able to grasp toys voluntarily when
placed in or near their hand, instead of just reflexively. Babies of
this age still tend to reach forward with both hands (bilateral
reach) and as they get to about 6 months of age they begin to be
able to grasp toys with one hand (unilateral reach) and begin to
transfer toys hand to hand.
Babies from 3-5 months still do a lot of hand to mouth with or
without a toy, which is age appropriate. By the time a baby is 6-7
months old they can typically reach with control from a variety of
positions (belly, back, sitting, sidelying), but right now your
son's reaching may be more difficult in positions where he has less
stability or support such as in his exersaucer or when on his belly.
He may also still be using his fingers without his thumb to grasp,
which is also ok for his age.
As far as standing, most babies by 5 months will briefly bear some
weight on their legs and flex and extend their knees and by 6 months
will bear weight for longer periods and bounce actively while requiring
less support in this position. By the time a baby is 7-9 months they
should be able to stand well with support against an object or with both
hands held.
You can review our
Gross Motor Development &
Fine Motor Development sections at these links.
I wrote a few weeks ago about my son who shows no
interest in reaching/grabbing for toys or anything. He is very
social, "talkative," full of smiles, and laughs. It almost seems
like he is bored with the toys and wants to connect to the
person/people instead. My pediatrician said that everything looks
great and normal but seemed concerned when I brought this issue up.
He doesn't reach for his pacifier, my hair, or anything. She did say
that it was very good that he is able to bring his hands together at
his midline and put them in his mouth. She referred us to early
intervention and we are just waiting on them to call and set up an
appointment. I am literally going crazy with anxiety while we wait.
My question to you is, what could this mean? Sensory disorder,
developmental delay, autism? I know you can't diagnose him without
seeing and interacting with him, but I want to know if he is meeting
every other milestone, what could no interesting in reaching or
grabbing for things mean? What possibilities are we looking at? I'm
just trying to prepare myself instead of drive myself crazy with
anxiety.
I am sure it brings anxiety for you waiting for the early
intervention team to show up to evaluate your son, but be assured
that this is the best possible thing you can do at this point to
allay your fears and help your son if he indeed needs help in any
area of his development. Without knowing your son, I am still apt to
say that he may just need a little more time to develop his reaching
skills since he only just turned 5 months old on March 1. Most young
babies still clearly prefer people and faces over toys and believe
it or not that is a good thing. If he did not look at your face and
did not show interest in people, I would be concerned. He may
actually begin reaching for your face, hair or jewelry before he
begins reaching for toys. When the team arrives to assess your son,
they may have a developmental specialist or an OT and/or PT look at
your son's fine motor/reaching skills. At age 5 months, we are
mostly looking at skills such as bringing his hand together at
midline (which he is doing), bringing hands to mouth (which he is
doing) and bringing hands to mouth with a toy, which I think you
said he will do if you place the toy in his hand. I would also look
for him to begin transferring a toy from hand to hand by the 6th
month. His hands should also be open most of the time and if they
are sometimes fisted, they should be very loosely fisted and not
tight or with the thumb indwelling. Does he put his hands onto the
bottle at all when you feed him? I would not expect him to hold it
yet, but ideally he should be patting the bottle with one or both
hands during feedings. Between 3-5 months babies are just developing
tactile awareness in their hands and learning how to use their hands
and fingers. The batting and swiping at toys comes way before the
actual directed reach and clear grasp. The only other thing I would
suggest is that if you haven't done so, to have his vision screened
since visual deficits can be one reason a baby will not reach for
things. The OT and/or PT on the early intervention team will also
assess his muscle tone and range of motion in his upper and lower
extremities to make sure he is not too loose or too tight which can
prevent a child from being able to move in a typical pattern. The
team will only be able to tell you if he is showing a developmental
delay in one of the areas of development (Gross Motor, Fine Motor,
Cognitive, Self-Help, Social, Communication), they cannot make a
specific diagnosis, but you can ask them about sensory issues if you
are concerned about that.
You may want to try using wrist rattles, the little soft rattle
toys that attach to a baby's wrist with Velcro, this way the toy is
on his one wrist and will encourage him to reach for it with his
other hand and he will not drop it. Then switch it to the other
wrist and do the same. Also you can massage his hands and fingers to
improve his tactile awareness. If he is not reaching toward toys in
his bouncy seat, try rolling up small receiving blankets or towels
and placing them behind his shoulders to bring his shoulders forward
which may help to bring his hand together and make it easier for him
to reach toward the toys. You can also do this on the floor if he is
lying under a baby gym. Also, since many rattles these days are
heavy, we suggest using the connector rings that you use to hang
toys on baby gyms, since these rings are small and light and the
right size for a baby's hands. Sometimes babies will hold or grasp a
single connector ring before they are able to grasp a heavier,
larger rattle. You can also use textured books with your son,
opening his palm and guiding it across the page to feel the various
textures or do this on the carpet or a pillow or blanket, helping
him feel different textures. Best of luck with his upcoming
evaluation and let us know what the team says. This link on our page
talks a little bit about the
process of early intervention and what to expect.
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Questions & Answers - Motor Concerns
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