Your Infant's Grasp and Hand Manipulation Skill Development

Understanding your infant's grasp pattern development and abilities will help you to know what  toys and items your baby is ready to explore with.  Your newborn's grasp is controlled by his involuntary grasp reflex pattern. Your baby will grasp any small item placed in his hand and will continue to hold on to that item without a real awareness that anything is in his hand. It's a good idea to stimulate this grasp response by encouraging your baby to hold your finger while you shake his hand and by providing ring like toys and rattles for your baby to hold. This involuntary response will help prepare your baby for the next stage of purposeful grasp which should happen at about 3 months.  Your baby will start to control and understand that something has been placed in his hand even though he is not yet reaching for items himself. At 5 months, your baby can reach and grasp items independently. By 7 months old your baby will be able to reach and grasp items with his full hand and will explore these items with his mouth and eyes. At this point your baby has developed the ability to grasp items voluntarily as well as release these items to let them fall when he wishes.  It is around this time, when your baby can hold items in each hand, that he will begin to problem solve how to retrieve a third desired item if both of his hands are occupied. At 9 months your baby should begin to pass small items from one hand to the other. With this new found hand manipulation skill your baby will begin to actively engage with toys and items in his environment.