Watching and turning when something sparks their interest
Your baby has been looking with increasing interest at objects that are close to them. They are now developing control of their movements and will be able to turn their head to continue watching a moving object.
Your baby is getting skilled at connecting now
Your baby has been listening to a wide range of words while you have been going about your everyday activities. Lots of common words will have been used during these times, like nappy, sleep, kiss and hello. Through hearing these on a regular basis, your baby will be becoming more interested in what you are saying to them as some of the words are beginning to make sense.
Seeing your baby's understanding of words blossom
By now you will have been chatting away with your baby and building a strong bond with one another. You will have naturally talked about some of the important objects in their lives, such as their nappy, bed, their favourite comforter and own name. Your baby will be babbling back to you and very early conversations will have begun!
Babbling is your baby's new voice!
Your baby has been paying attention to the sounds that they are hearing. They may be making eye contact with you and be trying to copy some of your mouth movements. They are becoming more aware they can communicate with you and are beginning to make more sounds and use gestures. They are exploring the sounds that they can make and will begin to experiment with ways to respond to you using their babble.
Try and try again: the process of reaching out for an object
Your baby will have been exploring movements of their arms and hands. They will be beginning to gain more control of these movements and will be able to move their arm so that they can grasp an object with their hand.
What putting their hands together opens up for your curious baby
Your baby has noticed their hands and has been exploring moving them in different ways. Now they can bring their hands together and will hold one hand with the other, exploring movements as they grip and move their fingers.
Looking closer at your baby's hold and control
Your baby will have been watching and moving their hands with more control recently, and you will probably have seen them hold objects towards the outside of their hand using one or two fingers to hold it in place. Now they will curl all of their fingers around an object and hold it towards the centre of their palm – this is knows as a ‘palmar grasp’.
Your baby's foot flexes or curling toes: the plantar grasp reflex in action
You'll see the plantar grasp reflex in your baby’s feet, right from day one. When you put your finger at the base of your baby’s toes, they will curl as if they are trying to grasp your finger.
Why does it happen?
What 'crossing the midline' means for your baby
Your baby’s hand movements may have initially seemed to lack control, but now, you might notice that they can bring their hands together in the centre of the body. This is them 'crossing the midline'.
How your baby 'reads' you and responds
Your baby is born into a complex social world and needs to learn quickly how to engage with it, how to respond to the actions of others, how to direct people towards fulfilling their needs, and how to build relationships.[1] That's a whole lot of learning! Thankfully, your inventive baby will find many ways to engage with you and other people around them.
Your baby has explored ways of using movement to attract your attention and has learnt that you will respond to them. Now, they are beginning to explore a wider range of ways to initiate interactions, testing your responses, and comparing these to the responses of others.
