Baby Week 40

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Physical Development

Your baby is 40 weeks old today and she has already learned many skills since her birth.  There is a common theme that I’m sure you’ve noticed – each area of development started off with very basic skills. Every subsequent skill worked like building blocks that resulted to the more complex skill she has just achieved. 

Your baby’s physical development started when you were pregnant with him. I can attest to that because when I was pregnant with my daughter, my husband and I watched an ultrasound and actually saw her doing somersaults!  However, when we look at gross motor skills we see more complex movements made possible by large muscle groups. 

As a newborn, your baby’s movements started off as reflexes.  A few examples are the startle reflex and stepping reflex.  The startle reflex is your baby’s natural reaction to a loud noise or to the feeling of falling. The stepping reflex can be described when you hold your baby up and put her feet on the ground, she will put one foot in front of the other. It looks like she is taking steps, but that is clearly not the case. These reflexes will turn into more complex skills such as head control, rolling, reaching, sitting, crawling and, well, you get the picture! 

Your baby has been crawling and pulling herself up to stand. She is now able to walk with support.  You are able to see this if you stand in back of her and let her grab a hold of your hands.  She takes steps, one foot in front of the other – again, your baby’s leg and back muscles (to name a few) should be strong enough to support her weight.

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