Baby's development?

[Morr]

Scarlet's neck muscles have been really developing.

When she sits up, she can hold her head up by herself and look around.
Her head doesn't flop around like it did during the first 6 weeks of her life.

I am concerned about her hand muscles, though.

We lay her on her belly to have her try to lift her head, and use her arms to push herself up -- But she doesn't.

She lays there, sometimes she lifts her head up using her neck for a few seconds, then puts it back down. She doesn't use her hands to push up at all, unless she is angry and tired of laying on her belly and fusses up.

She'll usually either lay there and lick her hand (lol), or fall asleep, or just look around for a bit (unless she doesn't want to lay on her belly at all and starts crying and fussy immediately).

Is this normal? I am worried that she is not developing her hand and arm muscles right.

Any word of advice?

[Athena-Nadine]

She sounds perfectly normal to me. :) All babies develop on their own schedule. The schedule in the books is nothing more than a guideline and often ends up causing more worry than necessary. If she isn't able (whether she is willing to do it is a different thing--some babies don't feel like it when we want them to :lol: ) to push herself up at around 4 months old, then I would worry a little and consult her doctor.

[Chesna]

I second what AN said!! Liam hated tummy time and as a consequence..he rarely pushed with his arms. Just keep giving her tummy time and it will happen. She is only 2 months old..give her a few months and you will be amazed at how much she can do!!!

Chesna

[Morr]

Thanks ladies!

She totally fell asleep on her tummy now.

I think she is going through a growth spurt.. She had a few days of barely napping during the day and having a hard time falling asleep... Yesterday she wouldn't stop eating... Today she has been napping A LOT for long periods of time.

Aww, my baby is growing.

[Athena-Nadine]

Robert was the same way. He hated tummy time. All he would do was scream and cry the minute you put him on his stomach. Then one day, he just was able to sit up on his own. And a couple of months later, he decided that he was going to be able to sit himself up from a lying position on his own, pull himself up to a stand, and crawl all on the same day!

Trust me, they do what they need to do when they're good and ready, no matter how much we encourage them. :lol:

[Nature's Kiss]

They all develop differently. My neice and daughter are 3 1/2 months apart and together every single day (SAHM). My neice is SUPER SMART and talks a lot. She catches on to words and phrases very fast and is very lively etc... My daughter says dada and mama if she is crying and she just started saying "hi". I think she is learning how to say no, but other than that she doesn't talk and it's rare when we get her to say anything on command. At first I was worried, but then I took a step back and saw how alike my neice is to my sister and how my daughter is to me. I'm quiet and shy and my sister is loud and very talkative. Go figure. We're all different. Don't worry.

[RainInanna]

I went by "Your Baby's First Year for Dummies" and the "Let's Grow!" newsletters we used to get - the former says lifting and resting on forearms is typical when they're 3 months old. A free site that lists some common milestones and ages is at http://parenting.ivillage.com/baby/bdevelopment/0,,42cn,00.html There's another list at http://www.thenewparentsguide.com/baby-development-month-1to3.htm

Of course as everyone pointed out, they all do stuff at their own pace, but I liked to have some idea what we could look forward to.