Infant Psychomotor Development

Psychomotor development occurs when a baby is able to connect her thoughts with her muscle movements. A child develops many skills as he grows in his psychomotor development. Pediatricians measure these skills as milestones to track the baby's development.

  1. Early Infancy

    • A young infant should be able to look at his own hand at 12 weeks, grasp objects at 20 weeks, and roll from back to front at will at 24 weeks. These are all stages in the psychomotor development process.

    Older Infants

    • Older infants experience continuing stages in psychomotor development. For instance, a baby should be able to crawl at around 11 months of age, walk at 15 months, and use a vocabulary of 300 or more words at 24 months.

    Children's Development

    • Even after infancy, children continue to develop their psychomotor skills. A three-year-old can ride a tricycle, a four-year-old can throw and catch a ball, and a five-year-old can tie shoelaces.

    Measuring

    • The Bayley Scales of Infant Development assess infants in their psychomotor skill developments as well as other criteria. Doctors use these scales to track a child's progression and plan intervention for any child not developing on a typical schedule.

    Monitoring

    • Parents and pediatricians should work together to monitor a child's psychomotor development. If a child misses one milestone, that doesn't mean he isn't developing appropriately, but in general most milestones should be met near their designated time. If not, parents and pediatricians can assess the situation and plan for future courses of action.

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