Okay, you’ve heard of milestones from your pediatrician, you’ve seen them all over Instagram and Tik Tok and you’re wondering what a milestone really is, is your child meeting them, and why does it really matter?
Milestones are physical “checkpoints” that occur as a baby learns and grows. These are incredibly important for development during the first 5 years of life and help evolve the skills necessary to complete everyday activities like sitting, walking, running, lifting, etc. During well-visits, your pediatrician may ask you questions about the activities your child is able to complete and/or may ask them to perform specific activities during the visit. Difficulty completing these specific movements or activities by a certain age may clue you in that your child might need to work developing these skills. Below are some of the gross motor milestones that your doctor might look at:
0-3 Months
Can lift head ~45-degrees off of the floor while on belly
Able to turn head fully side to side while lying on belly or back
Able to bring hands to mouth
Active movement of arms/legs off of surface
4-6 Months
Able to remain propped on forearms while on tummy
Reaches hands together to grab a toy
Able to grab and hold feet while on back
Prop sitting using two arms in front
Maintains good head control in sitting and tummy positions
Rolls back to belly and belly to back
Pushing up on straight arms when on tummy
7-9 Months
Can sit unassisted
Can transition in and out of sitting position independently
Starts to move using alternating leg/arm movements (i.e., creeping, crawling)
Moves items from one hand to the other hand
Able to play with toys while lying on tummy
10-12 Months
Crawling on hands and knees using alternating arms/legs
Pulling to stand and beginning to cruise along furniture
May stand alone for brief periods
Lowers to sitting from standing by plopping down on bottom
13-18 Months
Walking independently
Squat to pick up toy and return to standing
Stacking objects
Creeping/crawling upstairs and downstairs
19-24 Months
Begins to jump with both feet leaving the ground
Able to stand on tiptoes
Can run
Able to walk up a few stairs with or without help
Can pull a toy backwards
Can throw a ball forward
2-3 Years
Can catch a ball
Attempts to balance on one foot
Walks up stairs with one foot on each step
Able to jump forward and down from a surface with both feet
Can throw a ball underhand
Can kick a ball forward
3-4 Years
Can stand on one foot for 5 seconds
Walks down stairs with one foot on each step
Can jump forward 2-3ft with both feet
Can jump over short obstacle with both feet
Able to throw ball overhand several feet
Can ride a tricycle
4-5 Years
Can stand on one foot for 10 seconds
Can jump over taller obstacle with both feet
Can gallop forward several feet
Able to ride a bike with training wheels
Able to hop on one foot
Can try sit-ups and push-ups
Beginning to do activities like jumping rope, jumping jacks, skipping
Working on riding a bike without training wheels
Can catch a bounced ball
If your child is struggling to complete these activities or is having difficulty keeping up with similar-aged peers, a pediatric physical therapist can assist with helping your child develop these age-appropriate gross motor milestones!
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