Motor Milestones for Twins
With a new baby come many, many questions and concerns. With twins, these questions and concerns are doubled! Some of the most common questions in the twin parenting community are related to motor milestones for twins. That’s why we brought in Valerie, a physical therapist, twin-mom-to-be, and owner of the blog Two Plus Twins.
Do any of these questions sound familiar?
- Have your kids started sitting yet?
- How come only one of your twins is crawling? Aren’t you worried the other will fall behind?
- They’re not walking yet? My kids started walking at 11 months maybe you should talk to their doctor!
We’ve all been there! It’s so easy to compare our twins to other babies in our life, and it’s even easier to compare our twins to one another! I created this guide of important early motor milestones for twins. Before we get into the thick of motor milestones for twins, there are 2 main things to remember:
1. Don’t Compare Your Twins to Other Babies
We all know twins are a unique bunch. One of the things that makes twins unique is the high proportion of prematurity in twins. In fact, while 1 in 10 babies are delivered before 37 weeks gestation, with twins, this statistic rises to almost 6 out of 10 births! The earlier your babies make their grand entrance, the more likely they are to have motor delays.
There’s also an important thing to know about premature babies. You can’t use their actual birthday to calculate their age! You need to adjust for missed time “in the oven”.
To calculate your twins’ corrected age, you need to substract the number of weeks premature to your baby’s age. For example, a 10 week old baby born 6 weeks premature is actually 4 weeks old! That means you can’t expect that child to be reaching their 10 weeks milestones!
One more thing, your babies’ “corrected age” must be taken into account for the first 2 years of life!
2. Don’t Compare Your Twins to Each Other
When one of your twins is able to sit up by themselves and the other twin is still struggling with this it can be anxiety inducing. After all, they were born the same day so they should acquire their skills at roughly the same time, right?
Remember, babies acquire motor skills on their own time; each is a unique individual. They just happened to be womb mates! When evaluating motor milestones for twins, remember there are ranges for almost everything. The ages given for early motor milestones for twins and singletons alike are more guidelines. Babies can acquire these milestones earlier or later than the ranges given!
Read on and let’s check out the motor milestones for twins.
0-3 Months Motor Milestones (0-12 weeks)
Congratulations on your bundles of joy! As you are adjusting to life with babies on the outside, your twins are also adjusting to life on the outside! During the first three months, they will acquire head control, their first step in their motor skills acquisition!
Important Milestones
- Smiling – 1 month (4 weeks) (be sure to get plenty of pictures of baby’s first smile!)
- Turn head to the side during tummy time – 1 month (4 weeks)
- Reaching for a toy on back – 2 months (8 weeks)
- Rolling from side to back – 2 months (8 weeks)
- Reaching for a toy during tummy time – 3 months (12 weeks)
- Lifting head up during tummy time – 3 months (12 weeks)
- Lifting head up while on back – 3 months (12 weeks)
How to Help
Tummy Time! It’s so important to have lots of tummy time during your twins’ first few months as this will help them gain control of their head movements. Be sure to always supervise your twins during tummy time!
When your twins are on their backs, use high-contrast images and bright toys to encourage them to turn their heads from side to side. You can also bring these toys close to your babies’ hands to encourage grasping.
When to Be Concerned
If you notice your baby has their head tilted always on one side, that can be a cause for concern. It could be sign of torticollis and needs to be addressed straight away. You should also be concerned if you notice a flattened area on your baby’s skull, as this may be plagiocephaly, and also needs to be addressed.
Twins are at a higher risk of developing either one of these complications, since they had less wiggle room in the womb. Lastly, if your baby can’t support their head by 3 months you should contact your pediatrician.
4-6 Months Motor Milestones (13-24 weeks)
At 4 months, your twins will start to notice and acknowledge each other. They just became best friends and will start to interact! This comes at a great time in their development, since they will be acquiring more control of their arms. They’ll start to reach for toys, each other, and yes, mommy’s hair
Important Milestones
- Shaking a toy to make noise – 4 months (16 weeks)
- Holding one toy in each hand – 4.5 months (18 weeks)
- Rolling from stomach to back and back to stomach – 5 months (20 weeks)
- Moving a toy from one hand to another – 5-6 months (20-24 weeks)
- Sit independently – 6 months (24 weeks)
How to Help
Continue with lots of tummy time to help your twins develop arm strength by propping up and reaching forward for toys. Also, start practicing sitting with your babies. Be sure to always have someone sitting behind your baby while you do this, even when using a boppy pillow. This way you’ll be able to catch your baby if they fall backwards.
When alone with the twins, it’s safer to practice sitting one at a time, while the other is working on tummy time. Use lots of colorful toys to encourage reaching, but make sure they’re clean and not too small, because they’ll probably (definitely) end up straight in baby’s mouth!
When to Be Concerned
You should be concerned if you notice your baby only uses 1 arm in play, or has a marked preference for one arm over the other. That said – it’s too early to tell if baby is left or right handed!
You should also call your pediatrician if your baby isn’t able to sit with help by 6 months of age, or if they still haven’t acquired head control by this time. Finally, if they haven’t noticed and interacted with each other by 6 months, this is also cause for concern.
7-9 months motor milestones (25-36 weeks)
Bring out the baby gates, your twins are about to be on the move! Since you can’t possible be monitoring them both at the same time all the time, it’s super duper important to have a safe area where they can play without risking to end up where they shouldn’t! Your twins are working hard on getting strength in their legs at this stage.
Important milestones
- Transitioning to and from sitting independently – 7-8 months (28-32 weeks)
- Banging 2 toys together to make noise – 7-8 months (28-32 weeks)
- Crawling – 8 months (32 weeks)
- Opening a box to get a toy inside – 8-9 months (32-36 weeks)
- Pulling to standing – 9 months (36 weeks)
How to help
Be sure to create a safe space for your twins to practice their newfound skills. Just because they’re starting to experiment with standing doesn’t mean they’ve mastered balance yet!
To encourage pulling to standing with your babies, place toys on the sofa or on a coffee table. They will be more motivated to stand up! Remember, if all the interesting toys are on the floor, your twins won’t have anything to motivate them to stand!
About baby walkers and exersaucers
I do not recommend the use of walkers as they actually don’t teach your baby how to stand properly. They shift their weight forwards instead of keeping their center of gravity over their feet, and they actually have to re-learn how to stand correctly after using them. Plus, they can be dangerous for their hip development, not to mention the fact that they can take a tumble down a flight of stairs!
Exersaucers are safer for your baby, and can be a great way of keeping them out of the way for a little bit while you’re busy with laundry or practicing skills with their sibling, however they should be used sparingly. They also don’t teach good balance and posture.
When to be concerned
You should talk to your pediatrician if your baby isn’t able to put weight on their legs by now. Also, if your baby isn’t able to transition to and from sitting on their own. Another concern is if your baby decides to “skip” the crawling phase and go straight to being upright.
This is because a lot of the important development of core strength that happens when crawling. If you notice your baby skipped the crawling phase, try to encourage activities while baby is on all fours, such as crawling through a tunnel or under an obstacle!
10-12 months motor milestones (37-52 weeks)
While you’re busy planning the perfect birthday party for your twins, your twins are busy learning how to balance on 2 legs! This is an exciting time as they are getting ready to take their first steps! There is still much for them to learn though before they’re able to walk by themselves!
Important milestones
- Standing alone for a few seconds – 10 months (40 weeks)
- Walking sideways holding onto furniture – 10 months (40 weeks)
- Sitting from standing – 10 months (40 weeks)
- Walking while holding onto 1 hand – 10-12 months (40-52 weeks)
- Taking a few steps without assistance – 12 months (52 weeks)
How to help
Focus on safety! Make sure you have your baby gates up and that your twins have a safe space to practice walking without toys in the way! Also, those baby walkers bay be tempting at this stage, but not only are them unsafe, they don’t teach the proper way of walking.
Encourage standing by placing interesting toys on a sofa or coffee table, but let your babies experiment with standing unassisted on their own. Also, when learning to walk, barefoot is best!
When to be concerned
Firstly, let me tell you when NOT to be concerned: don’t be concerned if your twins aren’t walking by 12 months. 12 months is an average, but babies can walk anytime between 9 and 18 months!
You should be concerned if your babies aren’t mobile by this time. You should also be concerned if your twins are standing, but are unable to bend their knees while standing. Lastly, if your twins doesn’t appear at least interested in standing you should talk to your pediatrician.
One last thing!
If you have concerns about motor milestones for twins of your own, or if your twins were born with a specific medical diagnosis (such as Cerebral Palsy, Down’s Syndrome or Very Low Birthweight) they may be eligible for therapies through your state’s Early Intervention Program here.
Remember, not all babies are alike. You can’t compare your second to your first, and you can’t compare your twins to one another (even though it may be tempting to do so!). When you’re evaluating motor milestones for twins, remember that all babies acquire skills at their own pace, and that’s perfectly normal.
Sources
Adjusted age for prematurity
Adjusted age calculator
Dangers of baby walkers, as supported by the AAP
About the Author
Valerie is a physical therapist, with experience treating babies and toddlers between 0-3 years of age. She works with babies with various special needs, and assists families in helping their children thrive and reach their goals in terms of motor skills acquisition. Valerie is also a mom of twins and runs the blog 2 Plus Twins!
Follow her on Facebook and Pinterest
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