Helping Your Child Move, Play, and Explore
The toddler years bring a burst of movement. Kids start exploring their world, attempting stairs, and finding creative ways to climb onto just about everything. If these skills seem harder for your child, you may wonder whether they simply need more time or could benefit from extra support. For families concerned about toddler milestone delays in New York, NY, Empower provides personalized, in-home pediatric therapy focused on helping children build skills for everyday life.
What Do Toddler Milestone Delays Look Like?
Development doesn’t follow the exact same schedule for every child. Toddlers gain new abilities at different rates, and some variation is completely normal. Some common delays that children often see a physical therapist are listed below.
- Frequent Falls: Falling is part of learning to move, especially for new walkers. However, frequent falls may be related to difficulties with balance, strength, coordination, body awareness, or the way a child uses their feet and legs during movement. Our goal for 3 year olds is to be able to stand on one leg for 3 seconds. Our goal for 4 year olds is to stand on one leg for 5 seconds.
- Stair Climbing: Going up and down stairs requires balance, leg strength, coordination, and the ability to shift weight from one side to the other. Some toddlers rely heavily on an adult or railing, avoid stairs, or have difficulty progressing to more independent stair climbing. At 3 years old we aim for children to ascend stairs without support from an adult or railing, while placing 1 foot on each step. At 4 years old we aim for children to ascend and descend stairs without support from an adult or railing, while placing 1 foot on each step. We recognize that many toddlers and pre-schoolers meet stair climbing goals later on because this is an elevator city!
- Jumping: Jumping requires both legs to work together while the child generates enough force to leave the ground and maintain balance upon landing. Difficulty jumping may point to challenges with strength, coordination, motor planning, or balance. At 3 years old we aim for children to be able to jump off an 18 inch step and jump forward about 2 feet. At 4 years old we aim for children to jump off a 24 inch step and jump up in the air about 3 inches.
- Playground Skills: Climbing steps, moving across uneven surfaces, getting onto equipment, and keeping up with other children combine many motor abilities. Trouble with these activities may make a child less confident about joining active play.
Why Are Some Movement Skills Harder to Learn?
Toddler milestone delays can have many possible causes. Some children need additional opportunities to practice a skill. Others may have differences in muscle tone, strength, balance, coordination, or motor planning. In some cases, there is no obvious underlying cause. Other times, certain factors might affect how milestones emerge, including:
- Premature birth
- Orthopedic differences
- Neurological conditions
- Developmental conditions
- Earlier motor delays
An individualized evaluation helps determine what may be getting in your child’s way. Rather than looking at one skill in isolation, the team at EMpower considers how your child moves, plays, explores, and participates in daily activities.
This approach allows therapy to focus on their specific needs rather than simply practicing a milestone over and over.
Make More Room for Confident Movement
If your toddler seems to struggle with movement, play, or keeping up with age-appropriate activities, you don’t have to figure out the next step alone. Our pediatric therapists servicing in New York, NY below 110th Street and parts of Brooklyn (Cobble Hill, Boerum Hill, Prospect Heights, Park Slope, and Williamsburg work alongside families to understand each child’s strengths and challenges, then build therapy around skills that matter in daily life. Contact EMpower today to learn how in-home pediatric therapy can help your toddler move, play, and explore with greater confidence.