At two months, your baby continues to show off different motor skills. It means that she already has more control over her body. She could hold her head a little steadier while lying on her tummy which means: stronger neck!
Your baby’s neck is fragile and weak just like her head. However, some observations say that as early as the age of 1 month, the baby usually starts trying to lift her head and turn side to side briefly. Most attempts are unsuccessful (with her head enormously unproportioned to its body) until the baby is 2 month old. By second month, you will start noticing that your baby tries to slowly do the gesture of popping up her head during tummy time.
Tummy time is placing your baby on his or her stomach while awake and supervised. Tummy time can also prevent the back of your baby's head from becoming flat. In this position, your baby wouldn’t be able to hold for so long and it’s going to be somewhat shaky. If you see resistance every time you put baby on her tummy, try not to stop the practice.Tummy time is very helpful for the development and growth of your baby’s strong head, neck and shoulder muscles and promote certain motor skills.
Neck development in babies is very significant. It will largely help preceding milestones to take place. Good head control is needed before a baby can sit up, roll over or crawl. Properly developed neck muscles also help a baby learning to eat solid foods, since they are needed for swallowing.
Knowing when do babies hold their head up is not enough, it helps to know how baby's head control develops so that you can do the right thing to encourage her to hold up her head. Mommy, check out your baby’s neck and head development in the following months:
Three months to four months
By this time, she’s going to show improvement in her head control whereas she can pop up her head up to 45 degrees while doing tummy time! Plus, it won’t be so brief and shaky, she can actually hold it up longer and steadier!
Try a fun game that will help to develop your baby's neck muscles. Put your baby on her back on the floor, and slowly pull her up by her hands to a sitting position. Slowly ease her back down, and repeat. She should be able to hold her head more or less in line with the rest of her body as you pull her up.
Five months to six months
By five to six months, your baby should be able to hold her head steady and upright. Her head shouldn't lag behind her body as you pull her up to sit.
Parents don't have to do specific exercises to develop a baby's neck muscles, since they will develop naturally on their own. If you want to, though, there are a few things that may help speed up the process and one is: tummy time! Let’s talk about tummy time on the next article for baby’s milestone. Tune in!
