The development of babies in their first year of life is one that we find fascinating, because great changes and advances happen in a short time . And it is that it is a stage of accelerated growth, in which it reaches various important milestones in its development.
Although in his first weeks and months of life there are still many things he cannot do on his own, such as sitting or crawling, there are other important developmental milestones. We tell you at what age the baby holds and lifts his head .
Note: Let’s remember that each baby advances at their own pace, so although we speak of certain ages, each baby reaches each milestone at different times.
When does the baby lift and hold its head?
As we mentioned at the beginning, in the first few months the baby grows and develops rapidly. Specifically speaking of psychomotor development , we find that gross motor skills are the first to make their appearance.
From two months of age, the baby begins to hold his head for a few seconds and when we place him face down, on his tummy, he is able to lift his head.
Around three months, we can observe that the baby can support his head for a longer time, and when he is on his stomach he lifts his head and the upper part of his chest .
At four months, the baby is already able to keep his head stable when he is held in his arms , and when he is placed on his tummy he can raise his head and chest, supporting himself with his elbows or forearms to do so.
Is it necessary to exercise or stimulate him?
The current recommendation is for the baby to sleep on his or her back , however, pediatricians and experts recommend that he spend a few minutes a day on his tummy when he is awake. This is known in English as ” tummy time ” , and its objective is to help the baby to strengthen the neck muscles, as well as to avoid positional plagiocephaly.
When they are still very young, or they don’t feel like being on the ground, we can try holding them in the arms in the face down position, holding their tummy , so that they begin to look around while exercising their muscles.
A simple exercise that we can do later is to place him face down on a blanket that has textures , so that in addition to strengthening his neck, he can experience various sensations with his little hands.
When we see that he can already lift his head and chest when placed on his stomach (regularly between three and four months), we can place some toys in front of him so that he tries to reach them.
We must clarify that we should never force or force the baby, and we must be attentive to the signals that he gives us, respecting his rhythm and his wishes . If we see that he is not receptive, that he protests or that he seems uncomfortable, it is better to leave it for another day.