Baby Milestone: Grasping

Grasping is the ability to hold on things. Being able to grasp things is your babies first step towards holding your fingers to the journey of feeding, holding crayons, writing, playing and many more other fun stuff. Learn about the timelines, your baby will able to reach this milestone as we discuss more about how they develop this capability and your role in this milestone.

At what age do babies start grasping

Newborns have the innate capability to grasp things from the the day they are born, they just need some time to develop the strength to coordinate between grasping things to pick it up and hold it without flickering and securely keep it his hands without a drop. Naturally babies starts showing observable grasp by 3 month which then starts showing improvement with each passing month.

How it develops with time

Newborns – Babies are born with the natural instinct to grasp things. This can be identified with a simple tricks which every parent apply unintentional, just touch your baby’s palm and he will enfold it with his tiny little and delicate fingers. Remember that these actions are involuntary and irregular during the first 2 months.

3 months onward: Baby will start developing the hand- eyes coordination and try to reach for things although it would be different for them due to underdeveloped muscular strength and coordination. In their attempt to reach for things, you can help them in the process by hanging soft toyssafe enough and in their reach so that they can try to raise hands touch it and practice to grasp them. Remember that you have no other role than attracting them towards the toys by keeping them in their sight.

6 – 8 months – By this time your baby should be able to pick large blocks if not tightly but with some probability of dropping them on floor. Also they will  not be able to hold small objects like keys, until he develops better deftness with fingers. By the time he finishes 8 months, he will be able to shift objects from one hand to other, pull objects towards himself and start putting objects in his mouth to try to eat it. He wont be able to hold spoon stiffly yet and not able to eat on his own due to amount to strength require to hold a spoon and a perfect hand and eye coordination to put object in is moth without spilling it over.

9  – 14 months – Your baby should be able to pick objects now, able  to hold the spoon and feed himself with some efforts. By this time he will start the journey of determining the more left or right handedness which can change as he gain more coordination in grasping things. You can help your baby during this phase by showing him how to hold a spoon and fork and how to use it to put object in his mouth. Obviously it wont be perfect yet due to the lack of coordination but he should be close to majoring a very important development milestone. Make sure to give him sufficient tries every time before starts feeding yourself. Patience is the key because your baby is going to be spilling a lot on food over himself.

How you can help

Stimulate reflex by putting colorful toys in their reach, Keep objects in close proximity and make sure they are noticeable enough. Give them only soft food that is not hard enough which can result in choking if in case you take your eyes off from them. Use boiled vegetables such as peas and carrots to feed them. Make sure your home is child proof against small objects to avoid choking hazards.

What to do if your baby hasn’t started grasping

if your baby isn’t showing enough interest in toys, do not attempt to touch and feel it by 3 months, or can’t grasp object during is 5-8 months, discuss with your doctor about the necessary actions to be take. Also don’t panic, keep in mind that babies have different timetables, if your baby is premature then its fine if he is behind his peer. For premature babies, as suggested by the doctors, you should date their milestones from your due date.

What to expect next

• Throwing things
• Hiding objects
• Stacking blocks to make tower
• banging on table
• Drawing – attraction towards crayons