Milestones
Babies learn to move at their own pace. Tummy time, reaching, rolling, sitting, crawling and eventually walking develop gradually as babies explore their bodies and the world around them.
Milestones can be helpful guides, but development isn’t a race or a checklist. There is a normal range for when new skills emerge, and how a baby moves can be just as interesting as when they reach a particular milestone.
Movement Matters
As babies develop, they experiment with many different ways of moving. We like to see variety — turning the head in both directions, reaching with both arms, exploring both sides of the body and gradually finding different ways to move in and out of positions.
Sometimes parents notice that their baby strongly prefers one side, dislikes certain positions, always rolls in one direction, has difficulty with tummy time, or seems to be working particularly hard to achieve a movement. These observations can tell us more than simply checking whether a milestone has happened yet.
Building the Foundations
Babies are learning how to support and organize their bodies as soon as they are born. This happens before more complex movements can develop. We look at how your baby enjoys (or doesn’t enjoy!) lying on their back and tummy and how comfortably they can move their arms, legs and head.
We also look at the quality of movement. That means we are not simply checking if your baby can roll, sit or crawl but we are paying attention to how they get there. Are they using both sides of their body? Can they shift their weight and change positions comfortably? Are their movements becoming smoother and more controlled?
These early movement patterns help build the foundation for the skills that come next.