Your baby may have been experimenting with pushing themselves up using their arms whilst playing on their tummy. Their arms, core and neck and becoming stronger, giving them more control over their body and movements.
The ability to move themselves to their hands and knees may now be becoming more visible to you as you watch your baby push up with straight arms. Your baby may be getting better at defying gravity and can now hold their body in an elevated position for a short time.
The Symmetrical Tonic Neck Reflex was first used when your baby was born. It is an involuntary movement pattern that is one of the many infant primitive reflexes. It is now that this reflex re-appears to support your baby in pushing themselves up from the ground. [1] The Symmetrical Tonic Neck Reflex helps your baby learn to move the top and bottom halves of their body independently from each other. It will help your baby to push up onto both their hands and their knees and sometimes known as the crawling reflex.
Whilst the Symmetrical Tonic Neck Reflex offers your baby the ability to move their body upwards, their neck will also guide their arms and legs in moving. When your baby lifts up their head, their arms will straighten and their legs will bend, when they move their head towards the ground, their arms will bend and their legs will straighten. These are skills necessary for when your baby starts to crawl.
When your baby starts to push up on all fours, their visual skills will also begin to develop [1]. Initially, when their heads face down they will look at things that are close by. Once they become sturdier in this position, they will be able to lift up their heads and see objects and people further away. These skills will be greatly beneficial when your baby makes a shift to moving when in the crawling position.
Your baby will gain more strength and they may start to stay on all fours for longer periods of time. This stage shouldn’t be rushed as it is important that they gain stability before they start to move forward or backward. Your baby may not have enjoyed tummy time so this skill might be something that will be new to them. To support your baby, play on hands can be encouraged by placing your baby between your lower legs and gently placing one of your legs over your baby’s feet. By placing a toy within reach, they will be able to practice maintaining their balance on their arms and shoulders.
As the ability to hold themselves in a stable position improves, your baby may show more signs of wanting to move. You may see them rocking backwards and forwards and experimenting with lifting arms and legs. Their cross lateral movements will begin to develop and both sides of the body will start working together to form a crawling movement. [2]
References:
[1] S.G Blythe (2017) Attention, Balance and Coordination: The A.B.C. of Learning Success Second Edition. Wiley Blackwell
[2] C. Hannaford (2005) Smart Moves, Why Learning is not all in your Head. Great River Books