When to See a Doctor About Your Baby’s Motor Skills Concerns

14 Dec When to See a Doctor About Your Baby’s Motor Skills Concerns

Most parents will have a few of those moments where they start to worry about their child’s development and whether or not they are meeting all of those important early milestones that babies are supposed to meet. This can be an overwhelming situation for any parent, as you obviously want to make sure that your baby is growing and developing as they should be. This is particularly true when it comes to your baby developing their motor skills.

This is one of the first bigger milestone for babies and one that is noticeable for new parents as well. Your pediatrician will likely tell you about all of the different milestones that your baby will meet as they grow older, and while every child may be slightly different in their timeline—these milestones are typically quite indicative of normal development.

When you baby isn’t hitting these milestones, it can be concerning. But how do you know when it is time to see a doctor about these concerns?

As soon as you fear there is a problem.

As a parent, you know your child best and if your child is not meeting their milestones and you fear there could be something wrong, it is important to bring it up to your pediatrician. Don’t wait— being proactive can make a real difference. Your pediatrician will be able to help you determine if your child just needs more time to reach these milestones or if you need to be referred to a developmental specialist.

For example, between 1-3 months, babies should be reaching a number of motor skill milestones, including the following:

• Supporting the head and upper body when on their stomach
• Stretching out and kicking their legs when lying down
• Opening and shutting their hands
• Bringing their hands to their mouth
• Shaking and grabbing hands and toys
• Following moving objects with their eyes
• Turning their head when they see some type of stimulus

These are important motor milestones, for your young infant, but if you aren’t seeing your baby do these things by 3 months, then you may want to have your pediatrician step in.

Sometimes helping babies is as simple as doing more activities at home to encourage your baby to work towards these milestones—in other situations, a specialist will be able to determine what is going on with your child and preventing them from reaching these important goals.

If you are worried that your child is not meeting their motor skill milestones, then make sure to contact Continuum Pediatrics for an appointment today. You can call our office directly at 817-617-8600 to schedule an appointment and to make sure you are staying on top of these important milestones.