Dr. Cristina Padilla | June 2022
Who remembers the first time their baby rolled over? Or how sweet it was when your little one grabbed their toes for the first time? You remember those things because they are HUGE moments in your child’s life.
These moments are known as milestones and they mark a significant change or stage in a child’s development. Milestones within the first year of a child’s life are relatively predictable and are indicators that their development is progressing correctly.
A question that I hear often during my visits with my Thriving families is “is my child hitting their milestones?”
This blog is dedicated to that question! I’m digging into a baby’s milestones within their first year. The milestones I am covering are under normal neurological conditions and relate to muscular and movement development!
Milestones in the first 12 months
6 Weeks Old Milestones: Your baby will move their thumb from inside of their closed fist to outside of their closed fist. They will also establish and maintain eye contact.
3 Months Old Milestones: Your baby can open their fist now. They can also support themselves on their elbows when on their belly and rotate their head independently.
4.5 Months Old Milestones: Your baby can now use that open hand to grasp objects, but they cannot cross their midline with the object. Meaning if they grab an object with their right hand, they cannot bring it across their body to the left side.
6 Months Old Milestones: Your baby can roll from front to back on purpose!
7-8 Months Old Milestones: Your baby can bring their toes to their mouth. They’ll also start to support themselves with one hand in a side plank position. This movement transitions into sitting, kneeling, crawling, squatting and standing over time.
10-12 Months Old Milestones: Your baby will begin to explore things with their hands while they’re standing up. As their stability and core strength increase, they will stand freely, walk between objects and take steps forward!
“But Dr. P, you’re a chiropractor. Why are you telling me about my baby’s milestones??”
Muscular and movement milestones are important to chiropractors because it indicates to us that the brain is communicating with the body. The nervous system is the information railway from the brain to the body. If the communication isn’t happening, the body won’t build its foundational skills in the usual and predictable pattern! These interferences are called “subluxations” and can be fixed with gentle chiropractic adjustments.
When I am visiting my littlest patients, I am looking to see if they’re meeting these milestones. They guide me on how to gently adjust the baby so I can help their body get back to balance. A tiny body in balance is able to work hard to meet its milestones!
If you are concerned that your baby is not meeting its milestones, you have many options.
Talk with someone in your community who is familiar with services for young children in your area, such as your state’s public early intervention program.
Dr. Cristina Padilla Bravo | Mobile Family Chiropractor in Jacksonville, FL
Dr. Padilla’s practice focuses on expecting mothers, babies, and children, creating a supportive and educational space for women and their families. She is certified in BIRTHFIT training, designed specifically to assist women in their motherhood transition.
Thrive Family Chiropractic, LLC was founded by Dr. Padilla in the fall of 2017 with the idea that Chiropractic care should be convenient and accessible to all, with a focus on facilitating care for families, women during pregnancy and children. Throughout her years of practice, Dr. Padilla has seen how challenging it can be for families to incorporate Chiropractic into their lifestyles and make it a priority rather than a luxury. With this thought in mind, Dr. Padilla wants to provide the best, most personalized and individualized Chiropractic care to women during pregnancy and to children of all ages, to help improve their lifestyle, prevent chronic illness and allow them to express their full potential in life, sports, school.