Today Tile Triggered Content

At first, your baby may be comforted by being wrapped or swaddled, so you might only see movements of arms and legs during dressing or nappy changing. But before long they'll turn into a professional wriggler.

The pincer grip simply means the ability to pick up objects using the thumb and index finger. This enables your baby to pick up small objects and move them around. They may not be successful with every attempt, and this is to be expected.  

Your baby's fine motor movements are gradually becoming more controlled. They are most likely better at coordinating movements in their arms and hands, which allows them to reach for objects. Each movement your baby makes increases brain connections – and your baby is learning at a rapid rate! 

Baby gyms are great for encouraging babies to reach out and grab at what is in front of them. This early skill, although led by their gross motor movements, will support their fine motor skills as they learn that they can use their fingers to grab and bring an object towards them.

Pointing is one of those skills that most of us probably don’t think about much. But you might notice it’s mentioned in different ways in the app. That’s because pointing is pretty amazing – not only does your baby need to understand why they might want (or need) to point, they also need to be able to move one finger without moving the others – pretty skillful, we think!  

When your baby points they are showing that they have developed their hand and finger strength.  

Newborn babies are born with reflexes: primitive responses that we would have needed thousands of years ago to protect ourselves.  

What do scientists mean when they talk about your baby using a tool? Don't worry, it doesn't involve you letting them loose on your hammers and screwdrivers! 

Using an object rather than your body 

We don’t think children need lots of toys, but we are big fans of stacking blocks because as your child grows they will use them in lots of different ways and learn multiple things from them, including cause and effect.  

Most of us wonder what we need to do to help our children to develop and learn, and this is something that interests researchers too! There is lots of evidence about the importance of responsive interactions, so adults noticing and responding to children’s interests and emotions. 

You'll have probably noticed during the last few months that your baby is becoming more focused as they explore and play with toys and objects. As you watch them you might be able to see what their goal is, and that they seem more focused on achieving what they have in mind.  

If you haven’t started reading to your baby, you could think about fitting storytime into your daily routine. Research suggests that reading to your baby regularly supports their language and social development, especially if you chat to them as you read and respond to their interests as you share a book together.