Co-ordination in babies
During the first six weeks your baby's hands will be held in fists, although they'll probably open and close when he cries. By about eight weeks, your baby's hands will be open more often, and the grasp reflex will be replaced by a voluntary movement on your baby's part.
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Some parents worry at this stage because their baby doesn't hold on to objects as tightly as before. Don't worry - your baby is simply learning a new skill, which he will perfect within a couple of months.
Up to this age, he won't have tried to co-ordinate the movements of fingers and hands. Instead, he'll spend a great deal of time discovering how they look, feel and move; he'll hold them open most of the time and will move his fingers and watch them closely. It's as though he's assessing his powers before starting to use them.
Developing control in babies
Between four and five months old he'll have voluntary control over reaching - he'll probably move both arms towards an object and grasp it between his two hands. At about six months old your baby will try to hold an object, either between two hands, or in one hand by squeezing it between the palm and fingers; there's no fine control.
However, he'll be able to differentiate between large and small objects and will open his hand accordingly. He'll love the feel of things, so provide lots of different textures to clutch and handle, as well as different shapes. When he's lying down he'll probably reach out, grab a foot and put it in his mouth. He won't know exactly what to do with all objects, so if you offer a cube he may hold on to it, but if you offer a second one, he'll drop the first without thinking. At around this time he'll start to explore how he can use his hands in feeding. Hand-eye co-ordination will be sufficient for your baby to pick up finger foods and start feeding himself, although it is anything but accurate.
Learning how to let go
At about eight months old your baby will hold something out to you but will not yet have learnt how to let it go and give it to you. He will not reach this milestone until he's about a year old, when dropping things deliberately from his highchair or buggy becomes a very entertaining game. From now on your baby's ability to grasp becomes more and more refined. By the time he is nine months old he'll have stopped holding an object in the palm of his hand and will hold it between his thumb and the side of his index finger, and once he's a year old he'll be able to pick up quite a small object between the tips of his finger and thumb, and will usually point at it with his index finger before picking it up. He'll be able to pass an object from one hand to another, and hold two objects at once, one in each hand.
Manipulation in babies
Between eight and ten months your baby really learns to manipulate. He squeezes things, slaps, slides, pokes, rubs, scrapes and bangs them. He explores every new substance with his hands, including food, and will mix, smear and splash anything that is liquid or runny. Most objects find their way straight to his mouth, whether they're feet, fingers, plastic lids or toys. As he gets more skilled at manipulation the fascination of putting things in his mouth begins to wane, and he begins to play games like pat-a-cake. He'll also have developed the social skill of being able to wave goodbye.
Right- and left-handedness co-ordination
If both you and your partner are left-handed there's a one in three chance that your children will be left-handed; the chances of this happening with two right-handed parents is one in ten. There is no natural law that states that one hand is superior to the other so it should never bother you if your child is left-handed.
Your child has no control over which of his hands is dominant; it is decided by the developing brain. Think of the brain as two linked halves, each of which controls different activities. One of these sides becomes dominant as your baby's brain develops. If the left side dominates, the baby is right-handed and vice versa.
In the first months your baby may seem to have no preferences, but in fact most newborns turn their heads more to the right than to the left. As your baby's co-ordination improves, you may find that he starts to use one hand more than the other. Don't be worried if he doesn't do this; a baby will develop at his own speed.
Never, ever, try to dissuade your baby from being left-handed. You could risk causing psychological side-effects like stuttering as well as reading and writing difficulties by altering what your baby's brain naturally wants to do.
New Babycare
Copyright © 2009 Dorling Kindersley
Text copyright © 2009 Miriam Stoppard
Posted 03.11.2010
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