Motor skill development from 0-18 months
When do babies usually start to crawl, walk, sit and stand? What counts as early and what’s considered late? These questions tend to start bubbling up among new parents, who are often excited to see what their baby will do next. We’ve listed out when various developmental steps tend to occur, which of course differs from one child to the next.
As a rule, a healthy newborn baby can do the same things as other healthy newborn babies, because much of this is related to reflexes and other innate factors. But the older they get, the more variation you will see from one baby to the next. Everyone is different: we all learn at different paces, which is also true for the fundamentals, like sitting or putting a spoon in your mouth. It’s often the case that a baby might learn one new skill early and another one late. So try not to make too many comparisons to what other children the same age can do, which can easily cause completely unnecessary worry. Instead, spend your energy taking joy in your baby discovering something new or refining an existing skill. One thing it can be quite easy to forget is that even siblings develop differently. We’re naturally inclined to make comparisons to when an older child began to crawl, but there aren’t actually any parallels to be drawn here – siblings or not, every child determines when they’re ready for the next step.
So don’t drive yourself mad staring at the numbers in the table; instead, consider these to be guidelines for what’s typical for the age group, and remember: it won’t necessarily align with your baby.
- Lying on the belly and lifting the head
Earlier: 1 month
Usually: 2–3 months
Later: 4–5 months - Grasping objects on purpose
Earlier: 2 months
Usually: 3–4 months
Later: 6 months - Turning from belly to back or vice versa
Earlier: 3 months
Usually: 5–6 months
Later: 7–8 months - Sitting with support
Earlier: 4–5 months
Usually: 5–6 months
Later: 8–9 months - Sitting on their own
Earlier: 5–6 months
Usually: 7–8 months
Later: 9–10 months - Starting to crawl
Earlier: 5 months
Usually: 7–10 months
Later: 10–12 months - Standing up and cruising along the furniture
Earlier: 6–7 months
Usually: 9–10 months
Later: 14–16 months - Walking
Earlier: 8–9 months
Usually: 10–14 months
Later: 17–18 months
When it comes to motor skill and cognitive development for babies between 0–6 months, you’ll find more in-depth information here – and if you have an older baby, you can read more here.
Your paediatrician will follow your baby’s motor skill development
Different children take different amounts of time, but of course there could be other reasons why a baby might take some developmental steps later on. So your paediatrician will monitor this process to give your child the best possible conditions, and extra support if necessary. But don’t worry if your child isn’t quite up to par on every test, like putting blocks together or drawing circles. Quite simply, you’re looking at the overall picture. Many children don’t perform well in front of an audience and in that case, as a parent, you might tell the paediatrician what your child is capable of doing at home. It’s also important to remember that this isn’t an evaluation – there’s no reason to put your baby through boot camp to start picking up objects earlier – rather, the point is to catch any issues and provide support to babies and children who need it. In addition to your regularly scheduled visits to the paediatrician, you can always get in touch if you think your child seems to be remarkably uninterested in some aspect of development, or if you are at all worried.
Please note that all information above is based on Swedish recommendations.
