All children develop at different rates, so keep in mind that the milestones above are simply the average ages at which specific skills are observed.

Certain conditions must exist for an infant or toddler to grow and develop. A young child’s basic physical needs, include:

• Food (nutritious and age-appropriate)
• Shelter (protection from harm)
• Warmth
• Clean air and environment
• Health and dental care
• Activity and rest

We also know that the way we ourselves were raised is important to our understanding of how and in what contexts children develop. The values and beliefs held by our family and culture contribute to our knowledge of growth and development.

Culture Affects How We See and Interpret Behaviors and Development

Understanding the practices, beliefs, and values of the families you support can help you understand how culture shapes so many parts of an infant’s and toddler’s development. Without this understanding, it is difficult to interpret the infant’s or toddler’s behaviors and development. For example, you may believe it is important to help toddlers learn to become independent and begin to feed themselves using their fine motor skills. A family, however, may not view independence as important because they believe it is more valuable to depend upon one another.

Other influences on infant and toddler physical growth and development are:

• Prenatal care and development including, genetic inheritance and makeup, family growth patterns, exposure to drugs and alcohol, and birth experience
• Prematurity (birth before the 38th week of development) and a low birth weight may result in respiration difficulties, vision problems, feeding and digestive problems
• Temperament, or other ways an infant or toddler approaches and interacts with their world
• Family’s composition, lifestyle, level of education, and housing
• Maturation, or the genetic or biological development that reflects a pattern of growth from conception through adolescence
• Developmental delays or disabilities, including health and medical concerns

Review the handout, Infant and Toddler Physical Development located below in the Learn activities section to learn more about important milestones in physical development, as well as variations in the rate of physical development for infants and toddlers.

The Brain’s Role in Physical Development

You can easily observe infants making movements with their bodies and refining their motor skills. Thanks to advances in research and technology, we can now also see how the brain changes and grows as young children develop. At birth, the brain is 25 percent of its adult size, and by age 5, it reaches 90 percent of adult size. Infants’ and toddlers’ early-life interactions and experiences help them make sense of the world and form connections between different parts of the brain.

These supportive experiences and connections help improve coordination and strengthen muscles. As infants repeat and practice different movements, such as turning their heads, rooting, or reaching for an object, they build and maintain connections between brain cells. In essence, the brain is busy making sense of surroundings and learning from experiences.

It is important for infants and toddlers to have time for these new experiences and to explore the world around them with a trusted and caring family child care provider. Repeated exposure to experiences with trusted caregivers allows children to feel safe and secure, and allows them to focus on experimenting, developing, and mastering new skills. The safe place that you create for their exploration ensures that their brains are able to focus on learning, developing, and making connections. If infants and toddlers do not have nurturing and responsive adults to help make them feel safe, their brains will instinctually focus on survival. This kind of stress on a child’s brain may make them more hesitant to engage in exploration, and experimentation; causing them to have less opportunities to create and strengthen connections in the brain that further their growth and skill development.

Supporting Physical Development for All Learners

Physical development, including gross and fine motor skills, consumes the interest of infants and toddlers as they practice learned skills and look to develop new ones. Healthy physical development is dependent on adequate nutrition, brain development, the central nervous system, muscles, bones, and the interactions and experiences offered to infants and toddlers. All children develop at their own pace but recognizing signs of possible developmental delays during infancy or toddlerhood allows early intervention to be more effective than if the delays are not acknowledged until later in childhood. Below are some characteristics of possible physical concerns and developmental delays by various sources:

Delays in physical development may affect more than gross and fine motor skills. For example, if an infant is unable to smile at parents or lift their arms to be picked up, this could affect social and emotional development in terms of relationship building. Recognizing some of the delays listed above can be critical to a child’s development. The connections in a baby’s brain are most adaptable in the first three years of life. These connections, also called neural circuits, are the foundation for learning, behavior, and health. Over time, these connections become harder to change. Early intervention can help children improve their abilities and learn new skills.

If you have concerns about an infant’s or toddler’s physical development, be sure to speak with your coach, trainer, administrator and/or the child’s parent. They may wish to share your concerns with the child’s health-care provider. Early intervention can help children improve their abilities and learn new skills. To find your state or territory’s early intervention contact information, go to: https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/actearly/parents/states.html

For more information, including what to say when you contact early intervention and how to get support for your family, visit:  https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/actearly/concerned.html

See

Do

How can you make sure you are providing age-appropriate experiences to support infant and toddler physical development? Take a moment to read and review the sets of guidelines on the following webpage from SHAPE America (Society of Health and Physical Educators, formerly known as the National Association for Sport and Physical Education, or NASPE): https://www.shapeamerica.org/standards/guidelines/activestart.aspx.

Next, try one or more of the following activities with the infants or toddlers in your care:

• When an infant is awake and active, offer tummy time — lay the baby on the floor on his or her tummy while you interact with the infant. Provide stimulating and high contrast toys or pictures for the infant to look at. Because suffocation is swift and silent, remember to never leave an infant alone when they are on their stomach—not even for a second.
• Hold an infant or dance with a toddler to music. Toddlers can also swing colorful scarves in the air, dance, or play maracas while the music is playing.
• Encourage imitation of gestures and other movement experiences in which mobile infants and toddlers can use their bodies to interact and play.
• Have toddlers experience kicking, catching, rolling, and bouncing balls.
• Encourage toddlers to scribble on paper with crayons.

Incorporate daily physical play into your daily routines. Infants and toddlers enjoy being active!