Personalized Care for Your Baby’s Important Firsts
Watching your baby discover new ways to move can be exciting. One day, they’re reaching for their toes, and before long, they’re rolling across the floor or pulling themselves upright. But when these skills seem slow to emerge, it’s natural to have questions. Fortunately, EMpower can help navigate infant milestone delays in areas of New York, NY below 110th Street and parts of Brooklyn (Cobble Hill, Boerum Hill, Prospect Heights, Park Slope, Williamsburg).. We provide personalized, in-home support to help your baby develop movement skills through play and everyday activities.
What Are Infant Milestone Delays?
Developmental milestones are skills that most children begin experimenting with and eventually master. These milestones each are associated with an expected age range. Every baby develops at their own pace, so reaching a skill later than another child doesn’t automatically indicate a problem. However, if your baby has been stuck working on the same milestone for longer than 4 weeks, they are completing a milestone on one side but not the other, or they have lost milestones that they previously acquired, it may be time to get some help.
Common gross motor milestones include:
- Rolling: Rolling requires babies to coordinate their head, trunk, arms, and legs. Limited strength, difficulty shifting weight, or a strong preference to look or move toward one side can make rolling more challenging. Our goal is for babies to roll right and left, to and from their back and belly, by 6 months of age.
- Sitting: Independent sitting depends on core strength, balance, and the ability to use the arms and body to respond to changes in position. Our goal is for babies to sit while leaning on their hands by 6 months and sit with their hands free to play with toys by 7 months.
- Crawling: Although crawling has been removed from some milestone charts, we believe crawling is an important skill to prepare infants for so many milestones later on! Crawling plays a vital roll in coordination, core strength, posture, vision, and reflex integration. Our goal is for babies to crawl around 10 months.
- First Steps: Walking brings together balance, strength, coordination, and confidence. Before independent steps emerge, babies often practice standing, shifting their weight, and moving while holding onto furniture.
Why Might a Baby Reach Milestones Later?
There is no single reason for delayed motor development. Some babies simply need additional time and opportunity to practice, while others may have physical or developmental factors affecting movement. Some of these factors might include:
- Premature birth
- Low or high muscle tone
- Muscle weakness
- Limited opportunities for floor play
- Differences in muscle or joint function
- Neurological conditions
Sometimes, the reason is not immediately clear. That’s why an individualized assessment matters. Instead of focusing solely on whether a milestone has occurred, EMpower looks at how your baby moves, plays, and interacts with their environment.
Helping Little Bodies Learn New Skills
Treatment for infant milestone delays should look very different from rehabilitation for an adult. Babies learn through movement, exploration, repetition, and play. At EMpower, care is tailored to your baby’s abilities, needs, and personality. Depending on the evaluation, treatment may include:
- Positioning strategies that promote varied movement experiences
- Age-appropriate strengthening through natural play
- Balance and postural control activities
- Guided practice with transitions, such as moving from sitting to lying
- Activities that encourage coordinated use of both sides of the body
- Caregiver education for incorporating movement opportunities into daily routines
Because therapy takes place at home, your child can practice skills in a familiar environment using toys, furniture, and routines that are already part of their day.
Give Your Baby More Opportunities to Grow
You don’t have to wait until a concern becomes more noticeable to ask questions about your baby’s development. If your child is having difficulty with rolling, sitting, crawling, standing, or taking their first steps, a pediatric therapy evaluation in New York, NY below 110th Street and parts of Brooklyn (Cobble Hill, Boerum Hill, Prospect Heights, Park Slope, Williamsburg) can provide valuable insight.
Contact EMpower today to learn how personalized in-home therapy can support your child’s movement, participation, and development.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I be concerned if my baby reaches a milestone later than another baby?
What happens during an in-home developmental assessment?
How can parents support motor development between therapy visits?
Your Next Steps…
- Schedule a Consult Call to Discuss
- Meet your Therapist and Complete your In-Home Evaluation
- Receive A Customized Plan of Care and Home Exercise Program for your Baby
- Watch your Child Blossom into an Independent and Mobile Little One
