Hand-eye co-ordination

As your baby develops hand-eye coordination he will try to grab everything. He will play with his feet as well as toys put within his grasp, and everything goes into his mouth.

Month	Skill	How to help
Up to 2	Until he is about eight weeks old your baby won’t have learnt to use his hands. He’ll be learning to focus; the maximum distance at which he’ll be able to focus will be about 20–25cm (8–10in).	Your baby will try to focus on anything which is moving, for instance a highly coloured mobile. However, your face will be the most interesting object in his whole life, so make sure that he sees that often and close. Hang interesting objects within his eyeline, no further away from him than 25cm (10in).
2–2 ½	Your baby will have opened his hands and will watch them with fascination. Focusing distance is not much more than 30cm (12in) so he’ll bring hands and fingers close up to his face so that he can watch them moving.	As soon as your baby’s hands are open they are ready to have things put into them. The most interesting toys are the ones that make a noise, like a rattle. They are also useful because your baby starts to make a connection between what his hands are doing, what his eyes are seeing and what he can hear.
2 ½ –3	Your baby will watch his hands very carefully and with a lot of concentration. Once he does this you’ll know that he has made the connection between seeing and doing. At about this age your baby may make a clumsy movement with either hand to get near an object.	Your baby is learning to judge distances and to move his hands to where his eyes think something interesting is happening. Put a string above his cot or pram with lots of interesting objects hanging from it. Let them swing freely so that your baby can reach up to touch them to make them move and see them move as a result of his action.
3–4	Your baby will touch everything in sight, and will be learning how to measure distances using his hands and eyes. He’ll look at an object and then confirm the distance by trying to reach it. Instead of using an open hand, he tries to make a fist before he connects with it.	Your baby will now be too old for swinging things. If something goes out of reach it will only frustrate him because he is longing to grasp it. Instead of having objects dangling from a string, secure them to the sides of the cot. Alternatively, hold out an object so that he can try to get hold of it. Always wait until he’s touched it before handing it over.
4–6	Your baby’s hand–eye co-ordination will be developing rapidly so he judges distance well and his eyes will be mature enough to focus on objects at any distance. He will also be learning to grasp, so when he reaches out and touches an object he’ll open his fingers and curl them around whatever he wants to hold.	Your baby really needs lots of practice at reaching out and getting hold of things; he’ll also have a great deal of fun doing it. You can encourage him to do this by holding out the most interesting objects you can find, for example anything that makes a noise or is an interesting shape. It could be a plastic bottle, a ball of wool, or car keys.

Dr Miriam Stoppard

New Babycare
Copyright © 2009 Dorling Kindersley
Text copyright © 2009 Miriam Stoppard

Posted 03.11.2010

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