Physical Growth and Development

Infants that are born healthy with fully developed systems allow their bodies to function, such as
the ability to suck, swallow, and breathe. While every baby is different and will grow at his or her
own pace, during the first year infants will change dramatically in five areas of development:
physical, cognitive, emotional, and social, language, and sensory and motor skills.

Therefore, all infants need careful care from loving adults, proper nutrition, and a suitable and
stimulating environment. An infant's physical development progresses rapidly during the first
year of life. It is important for caregivers to understand the different stages of physical
development in infants so that they can respond appropriately to the child's needs.

Infants are born curious about the world around them. Infants often try to transition from these
innate abilities to more movements of the mouth, eyes, and body. Step by step builds the
physical movement of one form on top of another. Infants physically develop from top to bottom,
starting with the head and neck. Infants find it very difficult to lift their heads because their neck
muscles are not strong enough. As infants grow, their determination to master movement,
balance, fine motor skills and gross motor skills remains strong. Rolling and crawling occur as
infants develop skills to use large muscle groups. Grabbing and picking up objects with your
fingers is part of the growth of small muscles.

Influences on Early Physical Growth and Development

There is no exact age at which all infants can grasp objects and raise their heads unaided.
However, many infants experience developmental milestones during similar periods of growth.

Here are some examples of physical development milestones of infants:

Newborn - 2 ● Can lift and turn their head when lying on their
months back
● Hands are fisted, the arms are flexed
● Neck is unable to support the head when the
infant is pulled to a sitting position

3 - 4 months ● Better eye-muscle control allows the infant to

track objects.
● Begins to control hand and feet actions, but
these movements are not fine-tuned. The
infant may begin to use both hands, working
together, to accomplish tasks. The infant is
still unable to coordinate the grasp, but swipes
at objects to bring them closer.
● Increased vision allows the infant to tell
objects apart from backgrounds with very little
 contrast (such as a button on a blouse of the
same color).
● Infant raises up (upper torso, shoulders, and
head) with arms when lying face down (on
tummy).
● Neck muscles are developed enough to allow
the infant to sit with support, and keep head
up.
● Primitive reflexes have either already
disappeared, or are starting to disappear.

5 - 6 months ● Able to sit alone, without support, for only

moments at first, and then for up to 30
seconds or more.
● Infant begins to grasp blocks or cubes using
the ulnar-palmar grasp technique (pressing
the block into palm of hand while flexing or
bending wrist in) but does not yet use thumb.
● Infant rolls from back to stomach. When on
tummy, the infant can push up with arms to
raise the shoulders and head and look around
or reach for objects.

6 - 9 months ● Crawling may begin

● Infant can walk while holding an adult's hand
● Infant is able to sit steadily, without support,
for long periods of time
● Infant learns to sit down from a standing
position
● Infant may pull into and keep a standing
position while holding onto furniture

9 - 12 months ● Infant begins to balance while standing alone

● Infant takes steps holding a hand; may take
few steps alone

There are also factors that can affect an infants physical growth and development
● Prenatal care and development including, genetic inheritance and makeup, family
growth patterns, exposure to drugs and alcohol, and birth experience
● Prematurity (birth before the 38th week of development) and a low birth weight may
result in respiration difficulties, vision problems, feeding, and digestive problems
● Temperament, or other ways an infant approaches and interacts with their world
● Family’s composition, lifestyle, level of education, and housing
● Maturation, or the genetic or biological development that reflects a pattern of growth from
conception through adolescence
● Developmental delays or disabilities, including health and medical concerns
Delays in physical development may affect more than gross- and fine-motor skills. By
recognizing developmental delays during infancy or toddlerhood, early intervention may be
more effective than if the delays are not acknowledged until later in childhood.

Here are also some signs of Impaired Physical Development in Infants according to various
sources
By 2 months ● Does not respond or startle to loud noises
● Does not visually track the movement of
objects
● Does not bring hands to mouth
● Cannot lift head up while on tummy

By 3 months ● Does not notice hands

● Cannot support or hold head well
● Does not smile at people
● Does not follow movement by turning head

By 4 months ● Does not coo or make sounds

● Does not bring objects to mouth
● Does not occasionally push down with legs
when feet placed on a firm surface
● Has trouble moving eye or eyes in all
directions
● Crosses eyes most of the time (occasional
crossing of eyes normal in early months)
● Does not pay attention to faces, or seems
very frightened by new faces or environment
● Difficulty sucking

By 6 months ● Not gaining weight or growing in height

● Not responding to sounds and voices
● Does not bring objects to mouth, and/or has
difficulty getting objects to mouth
● Does not roll over from front to back or back
to front
● Stiff limbs (arms, legs) with tight muscles
● Weak limbs (arms, legs) or body feels floppy
like a rag doll
● Not using hands to grasp or hold objects
● Does not attempt to reach for objects
● Shows no affection for caregivers
● Does not make vowel sounds like “ah” “eh”
and “oh”

By 9 months ● Does not bear weight on legs with support

● Does not sit with help
● Does not babble (“mama”, “baba”, “dada”)
 ● Does not play any games involving
back-and-forth play
● Does not respond to own name
● Does not seem to recognize familiar people
● Does not look where you point
● Does not transfer toys from one hand to the
other

By 12 months ● Cannot stand with help

● Does not search for things you hide
● Does not say single words like “dada” or
“mama”, and does not imitate your sounds
● Does not imitate gestures like waving hands,
clapping or shaking head
● Not pointing to communicate needs or ideas
● Not crawling or sitting on own
● Not picking up small objects
● Loses skills once had

References:

Virtual Lab School. (n.d.). Retrieved October 31, 2022, from

https://www.virtuallabschool.org/infant-toddler/physical-development/lesson-2?fbclid=IwAR
0JFziQn7zmGrn0ubsFZjcU49OSjVn66aG8PcTaJjuvJgjZRGyJuoquk8s#:~:text=As%20infa
nts%20and%20toddlers%20grow,part%20of%20small%2Dmuscle%20growth

U.S. National Library of Medicine. (n.d.). Infant - newborn development: Medlineplus

medical encyclopedia. MedlinePlus. Retrieved October 31, 2022, from
https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/002004.htm