What's really happening when your baby gazes at their hands and reaches
Already by this stage, your baby will be enjoying looking at things. You may have noticed them gazing at objects above them, such as a mobile, or even your face when you are comforting them or playing together. You also might have noticed your baby's gaze change when they are looking at objects they are interested in – their eyes may widen when they notice a favourite toy, for example.[1]
Your baby's proprioception and vision
When your baby starts to look at their hands and connect the movement with what they see, they are developing their sense of proprioception. Proprioception helps us to understand where our body parts are in relation to ourselves and our environment. As your baby is developing this skill, you might see them gazing at their hands or feet, and watching them as they move.[2]
They can start to focus on things that interest them
Proprioceptive learning is something that starts developing before birth. Once they are born, your baby becomes more and more aware of their body, how they can move it, and also their environment. This sense gets stronger alongside your baby's visual abilities, as they are increasingly able to focus on what interests them rather than what is just in front of them. As your child grows, their vision is also becoming clearer.[3]
Why reaching out with purpose is a skill to celebrate
Vision and proprioception are two senses that work together to support many areas of development. For instance, for your baby to reach out for an object, they must process where both themselves and the object that they want are, before moving towards it using their proprioception (felt position), working with their vision (seen position) to move to the object.
Seeing these small indications that your child is becoming aware of body parts or movement in relation to their other senses marks a progression in your baby’s proprioceptive system.
This is a major skill in their development, because to do most tasks we need to know where the different parts of our body are, both in relation to each other and to their environment.
Using judgement when making contact with others
The proprioceptive system is important for many reasons, not least because it helps us to locate items in the dark, to move around without bumping into things, to hold a pencil to write and even supports social and emotional development. Playing group games or hugging loved ones requires an understanding of where your body is in relation to theirs, and (crucially for positive interactions) how much strength it is okay to use when your bodies make contact. For toddlers and older children, their proprioception system can be the difference between offering their friends a gentle hand hold or a wrist-wrenching tug when playing!
They'll become more accurate
As your child develops both their vision and proprioception, they will start to reach out for, and grab objects that interest them with increasing accuracy.
References:
[1] Nancy Montgomery. (2021). Is it normal for my baby to stare at his hands?. Available: https://www.babycenter.com/baby/behavior/is-it-normal-for-my-baby-to-stare-at-his-hands_3652465.
[2] NHS Early Years Toolkit. (2021). The Early Years Toolkit - Sensory processing. Available: https://www.berkshirehealthcare.nhs.uk/media/168255/bh_cypittoolkit_sensoryprocessing_pr1.pdf.
[3] Shankar, S., Robertson, B-A., & Bobier, W.R. (2007). Parent/Caregive Narrative: Vision Development (0 - 6 Months). In L.M. Phillips (Ed.), Handbook of language and literacy development: A Roadmap from 0 - 60 Months. [online], pp. 1 - 5. London, ON: Canadian Language and Literacy Research Network. Available at: Handbook of language and literacy development.
[4] Michael S. A. Graziano (1999). Where is my arm? The relative role of vision and proprioception in the neuronal representation of limb positionProc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1999 Aug 31; 96(18): 10418–10421. doi: 10.1073/pnas.96.18.10418