Infant Motor Skills: Winning Parent Info

Motor skills are not exactly the same thing as hand and eye coordination but they are pretty closely related. The development of hand-eye coordination often parallels and/or compliments the development of gross and fine motor skills. There are some activities your infant can do to increase their coordination and develop their motor skills, including:
Puzzles: Get your infant started on jigsaw puzzles. Start off on small puzzles of 4-5 pieces. There are baby-styled puzzles available that have little handles on them for babies to grip. As they gets adjusted to the idea, start them off on puzzles of a higher level. Don't get very complicated puzzles for them as they may get frustrated if they can't do it and this could make them develop feelings of frustration.
Baby-sized Lego Blocks: These types of blocks are the kind which require construction and which require pegs to be placed and fitted in certain places. These big blocks are excellent for developing motor skills.
Plastic building blocks: These types of blocks allow babies to stack and build things that require balance and use a different set of hand/eye coordination skills and motor skills.
Peg and hole toys: These are toys that are made of plastic and have holes fitted to plastic pegs for the infant to differentiate different shapes and also to develop motor skills and hand/eye coordination.
Plastic “Doughnuts”: Another popular toy for encouraging the development of motor skills is the graduated soft plastic Doughnuts that fit on a plastic center pole. Your infant can stack these and will soon learn more about shapes, sizes and colors, and how they relate to one another.

Here is a rough timeline for milestones you can expect your infant to cross in the first year and half:
1-3 months infant’s hand is curled into a fist that instinctively holds onto objects that are put into her palm. At two months the grasp is less reflexive and more controlled. At three months, the palm is weakly open but with little strength to grip objects.
5 months infant begins reaching for objects such as toys. Child might briefly grasp and hold toys. Child will enjoy sucking their own hands.
6 months infant is beginning to follow objects with their eyes. Child is sucking their feet and grasping objects between both hands.
7 months infant is developing the ability to transfer objects from one hand to the other. Child’s finger-thumb grip develops and they can simultaneously grip objects in both hands.
8 months infant keeps hands open and relaxed most of the time. Child is starting to have the ability to pick up small foods, like Cheerios.
10 months infant is able to release an object voluntarily. Gives toy to caregiver when asked. Child should be able to hold more than one object in their hand.

Always remember, every child is unique. Each will develop at their own rate. Later on, when your thoughts turn to potty training you must not begin until your child has the necessary skills. Discover more:
Potty Training Little Boys
Potty Training Toddlers
Potty Training Boys