3-min read
2025-08-26
5-min read
Development isn’t a race. It’s a flow.
Every baby—and parent—is figuring it out at their own pace.
Instead of milestones, we encourage you to focus on this amazing moment.
Your baby’s brain makes more than one million neural connections per second in these first three years. Simple, consistent interactions with baby today can have profound, lifelong benefits.
Here’s how baby’s brain is developing this month, and how you can support their progress.
Developmental Highlight
The introduction of food has activated baby’s curiosity, which then activates movement. From tummy time to rolling to sitting independently, baby’s making major physical leaps! Movement holds the key to understanding the world and having more control over their place in it.
Curiosity feeds skill development, and skill development feeds curiosity. Sitting frees up baby’s hands to explore objects, and allows them to see the world from a new perspective. Baby starts to bend forward and reach for things they see, which eventually leads to crawling. This is a HUGE moment in development and a precursor to the explosion of communication in the second half of baby’s first year!
Brain-Building Activity
On a Roll
Routine: Playtime
Rolling is an important step on the road to crawling and then walking. It also presents an opportunity for baby to cross the midline, the imaginary vertical line that separates their body into left and right halves. Crossing the midline requires both hemispheres of baby’s cerebral cortex to communicate with each other and fully engage. This strengthens the networks that will lay the foundation for both fine and gross motor skills.
Have you noticed baby attempting to roll from their back to their stomach or stomach to their back? This is something you can help baby practice.
Back-to-front roll:
- Place baby on their back and sit in front of them with a favorite object, like a rattle.
- Allow baby to track the toy as you move it across their center line. Watch how they twist their body towards the toy.
- Place your hands on baby’s hip without touching their shoulder, and gently shift the hip toward the toy. You want baby to discover how to throw their shoulder over to follow their hip. That’s the secret of the back-to-front roll.
- Practicing baby’s new skill can be exhausting at first, so don’t overdo it. As they get comfortable throwing their shoulder around and flipping onto their tummy, they’ll learn to love this newfound freedom.
Front-to-back roll:
- Once baby masters the back-to-front roll, you can move in the opposite direction. Place baby on their tummy with a favorite object, like a rattle.
- Allow baby to track the toy as you move it across their center line. Watch how they twist their body towards the toy.
- Now gently shift baby’s hip toward the toy without touching their shoulder. Once again, you want baby to throw their shoulder. It’s a little trickier this time, because baby can’t see where they’re going.
- With practice, baby will love this new move, too. Beware: Now you’ve got a roller! Keep a close eye on baby to keep them safe.
You’ve Got This
Everyday tasks and errands can feel new and exciting when seen through baby's eyes. Curiosity abounds! Take a moment to breathe and enjoy the energy and excitement that baby brings to the day to day.
For years to come, baby will need you to find quality time to play with them. It might feel awkward. It’s probably been awhile since you played like this, and baby enjoys doing the same things over and over (and over). Repetition reinforces deeper neural pathways, so while you’re understandably bored, baby’s doing some of their best learning.
Start with just 10 minutes of floor play per day. Over time, it may become something you can do for hours, or at least something you can encourage baby to do for hours.
