Psychomotor Development of the Baby

Article:

A newborn baby is a helpless creature who, not yet having proper control over his own body, is already confronting a world completely alien to him. He couldn't survive without the help of his parents. In the first year of life, he learns to coordinate his movements, explores his own body, gets acquainted with the people and objects around him, pronounces his first words and takes his first, still uncertain steps.

The psychomotor development of a child in the first year of his life progresses by leaps and bounds. In a short period of time, this hitherto completely helpless creature, who could not yet perceive himself as an individual, begins to know and control not only his own body. The baby gradually gets acquainted with the people who surround him, begins to utter his first words and, with the help of his parents, takes his first steps.

The stages of psychomotor development of a healthy child change in a certain sequence. Today these successive stages are known in every detail and have been comprehensively studied. First, an infant learns to raise his head while lying on his tummy, later he tries to hold it, even later he learns to turn on his own, then to sit, crawl, stand up and, finally, walk independently. Mastery of motor skills must correspond to the growth, formation of social behavior and intelligence of the child.

All parents are familiar with the feeling of pride in a baby who looks at everything around with interest and every day reacts more and more clearly to his name. The child goes through all stages of his development in the most natural way, perceiving more and more information from the outside world. What were only reflexes become conscious reactions. Therefore, it is especially important to encourage the child with play, offer him more and more new incentives for learning, keep him active and inspire him.

At three months, the baby can already raise his head and shoulders while lying on his stomach. His muscles are strengthened. A little later he can already turn his head and look around. At four months, the baby is already rolling over, holding his head confidently, and soon begins to lift his upper body as well.

At about the sixth month of life, he already gains the ability to move forward, he crawls on his stomach and rolls from side to side. Even if the baby is slightly behind in the development of these skills, this is not a reason for concern. The fact is that the very concept of normality during this period is quite relative. However, the baby's first steps in mastering his body will still consist of striving to gain control over his head and upper body. This process should be kept under constant control so that, if necessary, appropriate measures can be taken immediately and developmental delays are prevented.

At five months, some babies are already starting to sit up in the crib, while others still lose their balance and tip over. When the baby is seated for the first time, he leans on his hands, since this position is still new for him. However, he quickly gets used to it, especially since from now on he gets the opportunity to observe the world around him from a much more comfortable position.

Later, in the eighth or ninth month of life, the child can already sit down without assistance and sit calmly with a straight back. It is known that some children are already sitting at six months, but in any case, by nine months everyone should be able to do this. If the child does not try to sit up on his own, parents should gently encourage him to do so, sometimes sitting him down with comfortable back support. And also show him what advantages such a position has. Soon the baby will probably have a desire to try to do this on his own.

By six months, the child has already reached such a stage of psychomotor development that he is able to move independently: he crawls on his stomach, pushing off with his hands. Sometimes babies use different movement tactics. They raise their head or butt