The Vital Infant Milestone
Almost Every Parent Ignores

Name any one infant milestone.

Go on… name even two.

Chances are extremely slim that you've identified head control as one of them. In fact, I'm willing to bet that without exception everyone will say sitting, crawling or walking.

So, if no one sees head control as one of the important infant milestones, why is this so vital?

Let's see.

Head control is the very first milestone any baby reaches. And it greatly influences your baby's further development, especially other baby developments such as sitting, crawling, standing and walking.

First off, head control is associated with many reflexes.

Some of the reflexes you'll notice your baby do is turning the head when put on his tummy. And when the head is turned the arm automatically moves out. Both of these are primitive survival reflexes.

Add to this that the head is a major strategic point for movement. This means that the head starts many other movements. Let's look at an example…

When your baby lies on his back he will often follow a moving object with his eyes until the point is reached where the arm and shoulder is automatically turned to keep on following the object. This movement usually ends in your baby rolling over.

If you really think about it… you'll find that it's probably your child's eye focus and the stimulation of the object your baby looks at that triggered the movement.

Most babies react spontaneously to any visual or audio triggers. These means are also 2 of the most powerful things to use to stimulate your child to reach the various infant milestones.

It's also important to note that none of these movements are possible without proper head control.

In short...

Head control is the starting point and the basis on which all the other infant milestones build. Proper sitting, crawling, or even walking is simply not possible without good head control.

From experience I've seen that poor head control at around 6 weeks is most often one of the very first indicators of infant development problems. But please note: poor head control at around 6 weeks is definitely not adequate confirmation for development problems. However, it's a very good trigger to closely watch your baby's further development, especially if you suspect that something may be wrong.

A baby growing up is very similar to following a road map to a specific destination. You know where you want to end up, but you'll still need the map to measure progress from time to time.

I suggest that you use head control as the first really important infant milestone to measure and ensure your baby is developing according to plan.

Here's a link to a specific infant milestone and other baby development information