Holds and shakes a toy

Your Child now can hold objects or shake a rattle — a milestone that makes the little one evolutionarily more human.

Evolutionarily, walking upright on two legs while using our hands sets us apart from our common ancestors. We can stand up and use tools, like a hammer,  and can walk about while eating something, like a banana. Now, while children still need 6 – 12 more months before they can stand, being able to hold objects means they are halfway to this hallmark of human development.

Infants usually learn about their surrounding environment through feeling or touching, and Your Child’s fine motor skills now allow the little one to shake or hold on to toys. Making music or shaking a rattle in a beat is just a few months away.

How to support this development
Allow Your Child to play with various objects or give the little one your finger to hold and press. You can also try to find a baby rattle for Your Child, and show by example how to shake the toy — children learn most effectively by seeing role models and then imitating their actions.

Note: All children develop differently and at their own pace. For children born preterm, the referred timeframe for achieving the various developmental milestones might be incorrect.

Sources: The information and graphs about when children reach specific milestones are taken from various sources, including the United States Center for Disease Control (CDC), the Denver Developmental Screening Test, and the State Institute of Early Childhood Research, Germany (IFP).