Watching your baby grow and learn new skills can be one of the most exciting parts of their first years of life!
One month they may be working on holding their head up, and before you know it, they are rolling, sitting, crawling, pulling themselves up, and eventually taking their first steps. While these milestones are exciting, they can also bring questions. Is my baby developing at the right pace? Should they be sitting by now? Is it normal that they are not crawling yet? When should I be concerned about a developmental delay?
Every baby develops differently. Developmental milestones provide helpful guidelines, but they are not deadlines that every child must meet on exactly the same day or month. Some babies reach certain milestones earlier while taking longer to develop others. However, there are situations when delayed or unusual movement patterns may be worth discussing with your child’s health care provider or a pediatric physical therapist.
Understanding what developmental delays can look like and knowing what signs to watch for can help you determine when your baby may benefit from additional support.
What Is a Developmental Delay?
A developmental delay occurs when a child takes longer than expected to develop certain skills compared with typical developmental ranges. Development involves many different areas, including movement, communication, learning, social interaction, and daily activities.
Physical therapists primarily work with gross motor development, which involves the larger movements babies and children use to explore and interact with their environment. Gross motor skills include holding the head up, rolling, sitting, crawling, standing, walking, running, jumping, and maintaining balance.
A baby may show a delay in one area while progressing as expected in others. For example, a baby may be very engaged socially and developing communication skills while having difficulty learning to sit independently.
A developmental delay does not tell you why a baby is having difficulty with a skill. An evaluation helps determine what may be contributing to the delay and whether additional support could be helpful.
What Are Developmental Milestones?
Developmental milestones are skills that most children develop within a general age range. They provide parents and health care professionals with a way to monitor a child’s progress over time.
During infancy, many of the milestones parents notice involve movement. Babies gradually develop the strength, coordination, balance, and body control needed to move independently.
Early motor development includes skills such as improving head control, pushing through the arms during tummy time, rolling, sitting, moving across the floor, pulling to stand, cruising along furniture, and eventually walking.
These abilities build on one another. Early movement experiences help babies develop the strength and coordination needed for more advanced skills later.
However, milestone charts should be used as a guide rather than as a way to compare babies. Your child’s pediatrician or pediatric physical therapist can help you understand whether your baby’s development falls within an expected range.
How Do I Know If My Baby Is Developing Normally?
Rather than focusing on a single milestone, it can be helpful to look at your baby’s overall progression of movement skills.
Is your baby gaining new abilities over time? Are they becoming stronger and more confident with movement? Are they using both sides of their body? Are they interested in exploring their environment?
Progress can look different for every baby. One baby may spend a long time working on sitting and then quickly progress to crawling. Another may move through several milestones gradually.
What matters is that your baby is continuing to develop new skills and becoming increasingly independent with movement.
If your baby seems to have stopped progressing, consistently struggles with certain movements, or uses their body in a way that seems noticeably different from other movements they perform, an evaluation may be helpful.
What Are Signs of a Gross Motor Developmental Delay?
Parents often notice subtle differences in their baby’s movement before anyone else. You spend more time watching your baby play, move, and explore than almost anyone.
Some signs that may be worth discussing with a health care provider or pediatric physical therapist include:
- Difficulty holding the head up or controlling head movement
- Consistently turning the head toward only one side
- Difficulty tolerating tummy time
- Not progressing toward rolling or sitting
- Difficulty sitting without significant support
- Consistently using one side of the body more than the other
- Limited interest in moving or exploring
- Difficulty bearing weight through the arms or legs
- Unusual stiffness or very floppy movements
- Difficulty progressing toward standing or walking
- Loss of a movement skill your baby previously demonstrated
This list does not mean that a baby displaying one of these signs definitely has a developmental delay. Development should always be considered within the context of the individual child. An evaluation can help determine whether your baby’s movement is appropriate for their stage of development.
When Should My Baby Hold Their Head Up?
Head control is one of the earliest motor skills babies develop. Newborns naturally need significant support for their heads and necks. Over the first several months, babies gradually develop the strength needed to control their head during different positions and activities.
Tummy time plays an important role in developing head, neck, shoulder, and upper body strength. As babies become stronger, they begin lifting their head higher and maintaining the position for longer periods.
If your baby seems to have significant difficulty controlling their head, strongly prefers looking in one direction, or consistently tilts their head to one side, consider discussing your concerns with a health care provider or pediatric physical therapist.
These movement patterns may sometimes be associated with conditions such as torticollis, which can affect head position and movement.
What If My Baby Hates Tummy Time?
You are certainly not alone if your baby does not seem to enjoy tummy time. Many babies initially become frustrated when placed on their stomach because the position requires more effort than lying on their back.
However, tummy time provides important opportunities for babies to develop strength and movement skills. It encourages babies to lift their heads, push through their arms, shift their weight, reach for toys, and eventually prepare for skills such as rolling and crawling.
If tummy time consistently feels extremely difficult for your baby, a pediatric physical therapist can help determine why.
Sometimes changing the position, amount of support, surface, or activity can make tummy time more comfortable and successful. Pediatric physical therapy can also teach parents strategies for incorporating movement practice into everyday play.
When Should My Baby Roll Over?
Rolling is an exciting milestone because it gives babies one of their first ways to independently change positions.
Babies typically develop rolling skills gradually. They may accidentally roll before learning to intentionally control the movement. They may also learn to roll in one direction before mastering the other.
Rather than focusing only on the exact age your baby begins rolling, pay attention to whether they are developing the strength and movement needed to progress toward the skill.
If your baby is not showing progress toward rolling, strongly avoids moving in one direction, or consistently uses only one side of the body, a pediatric physical therapy evaluation may provide useful information.
When Should My Baby Sit Independently?
Sitting requires a combination of core strength, balance, head control, and coordination. Babies often begin by sitting with significant support and gradually need less assistance as their balance improves.
During this process, babies may use their hands on the floor for support before learning to sit and play with their hands free.
If your baby has difficulty maintaining an upright position, consistently falls in the same direction, or is not progressing toward independent sitting, there may be an underlying strength, balance, or movement issue worth evaluating.
A pediatric physical therapist can assess how your baby uses their trunk, arms, and legs during sitting and other positions.
What If My Baby Is Not Crawling?
Crawling often causes parents a lot of concern, particularly when they see another baby of a similar age moving across the floor.
Babies can develop different strategies for moving. Some may crawl on their hands and knees, while others may use different patterns as they learn to explore.
Instead of focusing only on whether your baby is crawling, consider how they are moving and whether they are developing new ways to explore independently.
A pediatric physical therapist may look at your baby’s strength, coordination, ability to bear weight through the arms and legs, transitions between positions, and use of both sides of the body.
If your baby consistently drags one side, avoids putting weight through an arm or leg, or seems unable to progress toward independent movement, an evaluation may be appropriate.
When Should My Baby Start Walking?
Learning to walk is one of the milestones parents anticipate most. Before babies walk independently, they typically develop many other skills that prepare their bodies for upright movement.
These may include sitting, transitioning between positions, pulling to stand, standing while holding onto furniture, moving sideways along furniture, and briefly standing without support.
There is a range of ages when children begin independent walking, so comparing your baby directly with another child may cause unnecessary worry.
What is more important is whether your child is progressing toward independent mobility. If your baby is having difficulty bearing weight through their legs, standing, balancing, or progressing toward walking, talk with your child’s health care provider or a pediatric physical therapist.
What If My Baby Uses One Side More Than the Other?
Babies should gradually learn to use both sides of their bodies during movement and play. Occasional preferences can happen, but consistent asymmetry may be worth evaluating.
For example, you might notice that your baby always rolls toward the same side, reaches primarily with one arm, consistently shifts their weight toward one side while sitting, or moves one leg differently while crawling.
A pediatric physical therapist can observe these movement patterns and determine whether there are differences in strength, mobility, coordination, or positioning that should be addressed.
Early identification can help provide babies with opportunities to practice more symmetrical movement patterns as they continue developing.
Can Babies Catch Up After a Developmental Delay?
Many parents worry that a delay means their child will always struggle with movement. That is not necessarily the case!
The outcome depends on the child and the reason for the delay. Some babies simply need additional opportunities to practice a skill. Others may have strength, flexibility, balance, coordination, or positioning challenges that make certain milestones more difficult.
Early support can give babies additional opportunities to develop important movement skills.
A pediatric physical therapist can identify areas where your baby may need assistance and create activities designed to encourage development through age appropriate play. The typical expectation with physical therapy is that your child will gain 2 months of skills within 4 weeks. So, about twice the speed, to try to catch them up to their peers.
How Can Pediatric Physical Therapy Help a Baby With Developmental Delays?
Pediatric physical therapy focuses on helping babies and children develop the movement skills they need to participate in everyday life.
For babies, therapy often looks like play. A therapist may use toys, positioning, reaching activities, tummy time, supported sitting, transitions, standing activities, or other movements to encourage specific skills.
Treatment depends entirely on what your baby needs. A physical therapist may work on strength, flexibility, balance, coordination, head control, body awareness, positioning, or gross motor development.
Parents and caregivers are also an important part of pediatric physical therapy. Your therapist can show you activities that can be incorporated into playtime and daily routines at home.
This does not mean turning your home into a therapy clinic. Simple changes in how you position your baby, where you place toys, or how you encourage movement can create valuable opportunities for practice.
Why Can Early Evaluation Be Helpful?
One of the benefits of evaluating movement concerns early is that babies are constantly learning and developing.
If a baby is having difficulty with a movement, they may begin finding alternative ways to accomplish the task. Sometimes those strategies work well. Other times they may reinforce movement patterns that make future skills more challenging.
Early evaluation allows a pediatric physical therapist to identify potential concerns and provide guidance while your baby is actively developing new skills.
An evaluation also does not automatically mean your baby needs ongoing physical therapy. Sometimes parents simply need reassurance or a few strategies to encourage development at home.
The purpose is to better understand your baby’s movement and determine whether additional support would be beneficial.
Should I Wait and See if My Baby Catches Up?
It is understandable to wonder whether you should simply give your baby more time. Because development occurs across a range, there are situations where monitoring progress may be appropriate.
However, if you have a persistent concern, you do not need to wait for your baby to fall significantly behind before asking for an evaluation.
Parents may be especially interested in seeking additional guidance when a baby is not progressing toward new skills, shows noticeable differences between the two sides of the body, seems unusually stiff or floppy, has difficulty bearing weight, or loses a skill they previously demonstrated.
Your child’s pediatrician can also help determine whether further evaluation is appropriate.
What Happens During a Pediatric Physical Therapy Evaluation?
A pediatric physical therapy evaluation is designed to learn about your baby’s development in a comfortable, age appropriate way.
Your physical therapist may ask questions about pregnancy and birth history, previous milestones, your baby’s daily routines, and the specific concerns you have noticed.
The therapist will then observe your baby’s movement and may assess strength, flexibility, balance, coordination, posture, head control, movement symmetry, and gross motor skills.
Because babies may behave differently in an unfamiliar environment, parent observations are extremely valuable. Tell your therapist what you see at home, including which movements seem difficult and what changes you have noticed over time.
The goal is to build a complete picture of your baby’s development.
Trust Your Questions About Your Baby’s Development
Parents are often hesitant to bring up developmental concerns because they worry they are overreacting. You may hear comments such as, “Every baby develops differently,” or, “They will do it when they are ready.”
It is true that every baby develops at their own pace, but that does not mean you should ignore persistent concerns.
Asking questions does not mean something is necessarily wrong. It simply gives you the opportunity to learn more about your baby’s movement and development.
If you repeatedly find yourself wondering whether your baby should be rolling, sitting, crawling, standing, or walking differently, a pediatric physical therapy evaluation can help provide clarity.
Pediatric Physical Therapy at Empower Physical Therapy
At Empower Physical Therapy, our pediatric physical therapy team works with babies, children, and their families to support movement and gross motor development.
We understand that developmental concerns can bring a lot of questions. Our goal is to evaluate your child’s individual movement, identify areas where they may need additional support, and help families understand what they can do at home.
Whether you are concerned about tummy time, head control, rolling, sitting, crawling, standing, walking, balance, coordination, or another gross motor milestone, our pediatric physical therapists can help determine the appropriate next step.
You do not need to know whether your baby officially has a developmental delay before asking for help. If something about your baby’s movement or development concerns you, an evaluation can give you more information and help you understand what to watch for moving forward.
Empower Physical Therapy offers pediatric physical therapy in Andover, West Wichita, and Newton, Kansas.
📍 Andover
826 E. Founders Pkwy STE 100
Andover, KS 67002
📞 Phone: 316-348-2766
📍 West Wichita
10330 W. Central Ave #160
Wichita, KS 67212
📞 Phone: 316-640-3074
📍 Newton
715 Medical Center Dr. STE 300
Newton, KS 67114
📞 Phone: 316-283-7187
Click here to schedule a pediatric physical therapy evaluation with Empower Physical Therapy.
