How to Encourage Healthy Infant Development

Encouraging healthy infant development is a hot topic, especially with the rise in online educators, toy subscription boxes, and tons of information at our finger tips.

Development begins from day one and is crucial in our babies becoming functional adults. We can encourage our infant’s development in a variety of ways and there are several areas of this development. These areas of baby development may include gross motor, fine motor, social and emotional, sensory, and cognitive & language development.

Our babies are so important to us and we want to best for them. Encouraging our infant’s development not only benefits our baby, but also us as parents.

Encouraging our infant’s development and knowing what activities to complete with our baby, gives us a peace of mind because we know what to expect and how to encourage this development. This information and understanding may reduce the risk of anxiety around milestones and may make development less stressful for us, as parents.

For more information on how to support your baby's development at home, join the Bloom by Infant Insights membership with resources that have helped over 1500+ parents & babies find peace & helpful resources to support their baby.

Encouraging our baby’s development also benefits our baby. By encouraging our infant’s development, we are setting our baby up for learning and success through play and exploration. We want our babies to develop and meet milestones on the developmental continuum and knowing how to encourage these milestones supports our baby’s ability to do that.

Knowing what milestones to expect from our baby is step one. Encouraging those milestones to support health infant development is step two. Here are a few things you can expect from your baby through the first year.

Newborn Phase (0-2 months)

• Opens eyes intermittently

• Can see ~8-12 inches away and high contrast items

• Shaky, tremor-like movements at times

• Begins to quiet when hearing mother's voice

• Rooting reflex present - turns toward nutrient source when cheek is stroked

• Tolerates modified tummy time with elbows underneath body

• Hands are closed and reflexive grasp is present

• May life head intermittently to 90* on tummy towards end of this stage

Early Mover (2-5 months)

• Begins to see mother or caregiver across the room

• Baby beings to keep hands more open and grasps toys more purposefully

• Uses hands together and begins to explore with mouth

• Begins to have arms straight on tummy and may exhibit Landau reflex (swimiming)

• Begins to track with eyes while head stays in midline in addition to tracking with head turning

• Attentive to high contrast, bright and light up items

Roller & Sitter (5-9 months)

• Begins to initiate purposeful movement to achieve desired action (ex. roll over to retrieve desired toy, hand to mouth in feeding)

• Beings to sit with straight back and tall posture and use hands during sitting

• Begins solids and less bottle feedings once starting solids

• Begins to prop sit with hands on floor initally

• Has preferences to toys and people

Crawler & Walker (9-17 months)

• Begins to rock on all fours in prep for crawling

• Begins to assume various positions into play independently (on knees, one knee up, on all fours, etc)

• Begins to notice other children in environment

• May clap hands and initiate game of peek-a-boo

• Able to place small items into small slots (ex. pegs into openings)

• Begins to stack blocks towards end of this stage

• Begins to transition from sitting to all fours

Download a more detailed developmental chart here.

Now let’s talk about how to encourage your baby’s development throughout these various stages.

Encouraging your baby’s development in the newborn phase (0-2 months)

When bringing our baby home from the hospital, we can be intimidated by this tiny human and the responsibility we now have. We can also be cautious to move our baby or play with them in certain ways because we feel they are fragile. The reality is your newborn is not as fragile as you think and you can begin to encourage their development from day one.

Download this tummy time guide here to help you find comfort & confidence to navigate tummy time from birth and beyond.

Encourage visual development in your newborn by having them view high contrast cards during play time. These include cards that have black and white print because, at the 0-2 month mark, your baby can only see black and white figures. Your baby can also only see approximately 8-12 inches in front so placing these high contrast cards close is going to allow your baby to see best. You can also encourage your baby’s visual development by having them track toys from one side of their body to the other. At this age, your baby will move their head and eyes together while tracking. Lastly, you can encourage your newborn’s visual skills by having your baby view a light up toy in a dark room for sensorimotor play and development.

Encourage motor development with your newborn by having them complete tummy time on your chest, in a baby carrier, or over a nursing pillow. You can also complete tummy time on the floor. This will encourage head control, which is the first motor development in a baby. Tummy time also reduces the risk of flat head syndrome in your infant. You can also encourage head control by holding your baby over you shoulder to encourage intermittent lifting of the head. You can encourage early rolling skills by having your baby roll from belly to back and back to belly as you change them or roll them in and out of tummy time. At this age, you should provide support at both the shoulders and hips when rolling your baby and be sure to protect the head.

Encourage early social, emotional, language, and sensory development by having your baby look at you in your eyes and gently speak or sing to your baby. Read books to your baby during bedtime routine to encourage these early skills to development. You can also imitate any motions your baby makes with their face and mouth to encourage social and language development. Soothe your baby when they are upset during this newborn stage to encourage emotional development and bonding. You can also complete infant massage with your baby to encourage bonding, attachment, and social development. Infant massage is also a great sensory activity for your baby as they are introduced to a variety of touch, pressure, and body movements through the massage.

Find tons of developmental toys for this age here!

Download this tummy time guide here to help you find comfort & confidence to navigate tummy time from birth and beyond.

Encouraging your baby’s development in the early mover phase (2-5 months)

As your baby begins to approach the 2-5 month mark, they are becoming more aware of their surroundings. They are noticing their caregiver’s across the room, becoming more engaged in play, and beginning to develop more purposeful social skills. There are, of course, a lot of activities you can complete with your 2-5 month old to encourage healthy infant development.

Encourage visual development in your early mover by continuing to introduce high contrast cards during play time. You can also begin to introduce more colored objects and light up toys to encourage visual attention and visual skill development. Your baby can see father away now and may look at you from across the room. When your baby notices you across the room, speak to them and engage with your baby to encourage visual and social development. At this age, your baby is also beginning to track with only their eyes while their head stays in midline. You can encourage these visual tracking skills by having them track toys from one side of their body to the other encouraging your baby to keep their head in midline while viewing objects.

Encourage motor development with your 2-5 month old by having them continue to complete tummy time on your chest, on the floor, in a baby carrier, or over a nursing pillow. This will encourage continued head control and will encourage your baby to keep their head up longer in tummy time. You may also begin to encourage your baby to complete more tummy time on the floor at this age because their head is becoming stronger and they will tolerate this position more. Tummy time encourages rolling skills, but also continues to reduce the risk of flat head syndrome in your infant. You want to ensure your baby does not have any flattening on their head by completing gentle neck stretches, monitoring time in containers, and taking bi-weekly photos of your baby’s head to monitor shape. You may use a container with your baby and that’s okay! These items are convenient, but they do not promote motor development. 

Download this rolling & sitting guide here to help you find comfort & confidence in encouraging these milestones with your baby!

Your baby may roll at this age from belly to back from elbows and you can encourage this skill by ensuring your baby’s elbows to be underneath their chest during tummy time. Your baby may also begin to roll to their side from their back so back play is a great play position. You can encourage your baby to grasp easy-to-hold toys, like an O-Ball toy, to encourage hands in the middle during back play. This will also encourage back to belly rolling development. Find developmental toys for this age here!

Encourage early social, emotional, language, and sensory development at this age by encouraging eye contact during play, smiling at your baby when they smile at you, and reading books to your baby. You can introduce crinkle, or textured, books when reading to encourage sensory development. You can also introduce touch and feel books to your baby at this age by taking your baby’s hand and manipulating the aspects of the book. Your baby will begin to bring things to mouth at this age and this is a great way for them to explore through play and encourage oral motor development needed for language. Reading to your baby, smiling at your baby, singing to your baby all are great ways to encourage social development. You can also make faces in the mirror with your baby for more social development activities as your baby approaches the 4-5 month mark. Continue to soothe your baby and speak calmly when they are upset for continued encouragement of emotional development and bonding.

Encouraging your baby’s development in the roller and sitter phase (5-9 months)

As your baby begins to approach the 5-9 month mark, they are becoming more mobile and are exploring their environment in many more ways. They are able to move their body more, use their hands more functionally in play and feeding, communicate through babbling, giggling, and they are beginning to express their emotions & opinions. Here are some activities you can complete with your 5-9 month old to encourage healthy infant development.

Download this rolling & sitting guide here to help you find comfort & confidence in encouraging these milestones with your baby!

Encourage visual development in this phase by having your baby explore and open a board book, place objects in large boxes or toys, manipulate toys with increased hand eye coordination, and track objects from far distances. You can encourage these visual skills by having your baby completed a variety of play activities for their age range. You can assist your baby with placing items into the openings or manipulating a book by assisting them in opening a board book. Find developmental toys for this age here!

Encourage motor development with your 5-9 month old by having them continue to complete tummy time but focus on their arms in front during this activity. This will encourage your baby to roll belly to back by dropping their shoulder and rolling over. You also want to encourage your baby to grasp their feet by placing rattle socks on your baby to bring attention to their feet. This will be a precursor to rolling back to belly and may happen around the 5-6 month age range. You also want to begin to introduce sitting at this age. You can have your baby sit between your legs in play for sitting support or place a toy between their legs chest support. You can also begin to place your baby in a feeding device for starting solids around 5-6 months, depending on the baby and their skill level. Learn more about starting solids with your baby here! The UPSEAT is a great feeding device and is very supportive for babies 5-9 months. You can enjoy 10% off the UPSEAT using code “INFANTINSIGHTS10” at check out. See products here! At this age, you want to begin to introduce play activities to encourage rolling & sitting in preparation for your baby to crawl in the future. You also want to prioritize these sitting skill developments for safety when starting solids. 

Download this first foods guide here to help you find comfort & confidence to navigate staring solids with your baby.

Encourage early social, emotional, language, and sensory development by encouraging and imitating giggling/laughing, babbling, and begin using baby sign language with your baby to encourage early communication. You want to ensure your baby is continuing to development social and language skills by singing to your baby often and reading at least one book a day to your baby. When engaging in play with your baby, verbalize simple words like “dog,” “mama,” or “more” to encourage early language development. Encourage cognition by giving your baby manipulating toys and letting them problem solve placing items in, removing items, opening and attempting to turn page in books, and processing more complex effects based on their action. You want to encourage positive emotional development by soothing baby when they are hurt, tired, or upset, but also encouraging them to self regulate by giving them time to self-soothe. This may look like not intervening immediately when your baby becomes upset, but waiting to see how your baby will respond.

Encouraging your baby’s development in the crawling & walker phase (9-17 months)

As your baby begins to approach the 9-17 month mark, they are on the move! They are able to roll and sit independently, eat solids during meal times, transition from sitting to a variety of positions, roll to reach desired toys, engage in parallel play with other babies, imitate simple sign language, respond to their name, follow simple directions, and execute many desired activities.

Encourage visual development in this phase by having baby begin to stack blocks. You can use large silicon blocks initially, like these found here around the 9 month mark, then you can encourage stacking with smaller blocks, like these found here, around 12 months. You can also continue to encourage baby to open board books, but also now turn pages during reading time. You can also introduce fine motor based toys to encourage hand eye coordination and precision by having baby place small items into openings. Find tons of toys here to encourage these skills!

Encourage motor development with your 9-17 month old by encourage crawling, independent standing, then walking development. We want to see mature crawling skills before walking, so encourage your baby to crawl on their hands and knees. Get all the tips here to facilitate this milestone! While working on crawling skills, you can also work on independent standing skills. Have your baby stand with their back up against the wall or large item to encourage stability and independent standing. Walking is a HUGE milestone but I want to ensure baby exhibits mature crawling skills prior to walking. See recent post on why crawling is important in your baby here. To encourage walking, you can have your baby step up onto small steps or toys once they are well balanced in standing. Fine motor skills are also huge and we want to look for your baby pointing with their index finger at this age. Encourage pointing while reading books and interacting with a variety of items in your baby’s environment. We also want to encourage a pincer grasp, which is using the index finger and thumb to retrieve items. You can encourage this skill development in your baby by having them pick up tiny items during self feeding tasks to increase fine motor skills. Please monitor baby for choking hazard when playing with small items.

Download this crawling guide here to help you find comfort & confidence in encouraging these milestones with your baby!

Encourage social, emotional, language, and sensory development at this age by scheduling play dates with others babies to encourage cooperative play development. We want to see your baby attend to the other children in their environment and possibly play alongside them with the same or a nearby toy. Emotional skills are increasing at this age and we want to focus on the importance of self regulation. We want baby to be able to regulate their emotions and having your baby practice these skills will encourage this development. Teaching your baby simple sign language and encouraging early verbalizations will increase your baby’s ability to self regulate. Continue to pause before intervening when your baby is upset. Sensory development also continues to development at this age and introducing your baby to a variety of textures through feeding activities is a great way to do this! You can also introduce more playground activities, like swinging and safe sliding with supervision for more sensory development.

I am so excited for you to have the tools to encourage your infant’s development through the first year! There are so many activities you can complete with your baby to encourage their development in the areas of gross motor, fine motor, sensory, social, emotional, cognitive and early language!

Interested in more information on how to encourage this development? Grab some freebies here and check out our courses!

Thanks for reading friend! I am SO happy you’re here!

Brooke, OTR/L

Download this walking guide here to help you find comfort & confidence in encouraging these milestones with your baby!