Deb’s Key Takeaways:
Skills needed for development of early fine motor milestones:
- Gross motor skills
- Vision
- Cognition/social skills
- Fine motor skills
Ways to encourage fine motor (hand skill) development:
- Exposure to tummy time
- Provide lots of visual stimulation
- Give them different touch experiences
Ways to encourage your baby’s fine motor development:
0-3 months
- Let them hold your finger from birth
- Give your baby lots of sensory experiences
- Hand lotion, soft/hard toys, different textures
- Place rattles in their hand
- Give them lots of tummy time
- Hang mobiles/toys for them to hit when in pram/cot
3-6 months
- Encourage them to reach for dangly objects
- Offer toys when they are silly on your lap
- Offer lots of different sensory experiences in bath/on tummy
- Introduce self-feeding and messy play
- Give them toys to hold with both hands
- Play peek-a-boo – encourage baby to lift the blanket
- Use suction toys on high chair
When to ask for help:
- If your baby isn’t following your face or toy by 2-3 months
- If your baby is not meeting gross motor milestones
- If your baby continues to keep their hands fisted past 2-3 months
- If your baby isn’t reaching for a toy and holding by 4 months
- If your baby doesn’t play with both hands together by 5-6 months
- If your baby is not picking up small objects (e.g. self-feeding) by 6 months