Watching your child grow and master new skills is one of the best parts of being a parent.
From rolling over for the first time to taking those wobbly first steps, every milestone feels like a victory.
But sometimes, development doesn’t follow the timeline we expect — and that’s okay.
In this article, we’ll break down what physical therapy milestones are, what skills your child might reach at different ages, and how pediatric therapy for motor skills developmental delay can help if they’re having trouble keeping up.
You’ll also learn why early intervention matters and how pediatric physical therapy can support your child’s strength, coordination, and confidence.
At Little Feet Therapy, we specialize in helping children reach their milestones through play-based, compassionate care — so they can move, explore, and grow at their own pace.
What Is A Physical Therapy Milestone?
Physical therapy milestones are general ways to measure your child’s development.
If you’re noticing that your child isn’t reaching these milestones, it may mean your child could benefit from pediatric therapy services.
Children are all different from each other, so if your child is a couple of weeks behind but still seems to be making progress, that’s not cause for concern.
However, if they’re late reaching their milestones by more than a couple of months and your child doesn’t seem to be making any progress toward them, it may be a good idea to seek out physical therapy.
According to Rady Children’s Health, physical therapists can help children reach their developmental milestones by improving their gross motor skills.
It’s important to do this at a young age, since early intervention pediatric physical therapy tends to be more effective than the “wait and see” approach.
The earlier you get your child the help they need, the less time they have to learn bad habits that they’ll have to unlearn later.
Pediatric Physical Therapy Milestones
Here we’ll provide a guideline for pediatric physical therapy milestones so you can get an idea of how your child is developing.
Remember that these milestones are only a guide and not a rulebook.
3 Months Old
By 3 months old, most babies can lift their head, move their limbs, and wave their fingers.
Signs of difficulty at this age might look like:
- Your baby’s head tilting to the side
- Your baby’s hands are always closed into fists
- Your baby stiffening up when you hold them
This could indicate poor muscle development which could affect their locomotion.
It could also indicate they would benefit from physical therapy to treat torticollis.
RELATED ARTICLE: How To Prevent Torticollis In Your Baby
By 4 Months
By four months old your baby should be able to flex and extend their arms, tolerate tummy time for extended periods, and roll over.
Once your baby can roll from back to belly and belly to back again, they will sleep better, so this milestone is especially vital.
RELATED ARTICLE: Why Is Rolling Such An Important Developmental Milestone?
If they don’t meet these milestones, your baby may have trouble learning to play independently.
By 10 Months
By 10 months old, most babies can sit without arm support, reach and grab objects, start to crawl, and use both of their hands.
RELATED ARTICLE: Why Is Crawling Important For Child Development?
You might notice delays with these developmental milestones if your baby has trouble reaching for objects, sits with a hunched back, or has difficulty moving from sitting to laying down.
If your baby doesn’t meet these milestones, they may have increased difficulty with muscle development.
Now, with babies, movement and sensory development go hand in hand.
They learn how to navigate the world around them by interacting with it.
If their movement is restricted due to delayed motor skills development, it can slow down their sensory development as well.
By 12 Months
By 12 months old, most babies can pull themself up to stand, cruise along furniture, support themselves with their legs without help, and easily transition into different body positions like sitting and laying down.
Challenges meeting these milestones may look like:
- Difficulty crawling
- Favoring one side of their body
- Difficulty sitting independently
- Difficulty supporting their weight without help
By about 15 months, most babies can walk on their own as well.
Not meeting these milestones may indicate delays in play skills, mobility, and sensory development.
By 24 Months
By 24 months old, most children can walk up and down steps independently with a railing, jump with two feet together, and catch and throw medium sized balls.
Difficulty during this phase may look like:
- Being unable to kick a ball without losing balance
- Jumping with split feet
- Difficulty running
- Toe walking
RELATED ARTICLE: What Causes Children To Walk On Their Toes?
If your child experienced delays meeting these milestones, they may not be able to play independently or interact with their environment properly.
This can have a serious impact on their social and emotional skills development.
Toe walking in particular can be a sign of autism.
RELATED ARTICLE: How Does Autism Affect Motor Skills Development?
That can cause wide ranging differences as well, but early intervention autism spectrum disorder pediatric treatments can help mitigate these challenges.
By 36 Months
By 36 months, most children can balance on one foot, jump with two feet together, and walk on tip toes.
At this age, developmental delays may affect your child’s confidence, decreasing their social opportunities.
They may not be able to use playground equipment, plan effectively, or feel confident socializing with other children their age.
By 4 Years
By 4 years old, most children balance on one foot for 10 seconds, walk up and down stairs alternating feet without a rail, hop on one foot, and have enough coordination to do things like skipping, jumping jacks, and galloping.
If your child has difficulty with these milestones at this age, it might look like:
- Difficulty walking in a straight line
- Difficulty walking up and down stairs without using a railing
They may have a lack of interest in playground equipment as well, because it seems too hard or scary for them.
Having trouble with developmental milestones at this age could mean decreased confidence while playing movement based playground games.
By 5 Years
By 5 years old, most children can walk backwards, jump side to side, and learn how to do motions like skipping or hopscotch.
If they’re having difficulty at this age, they may not be able to catch and throw a tennis ball or hang from a bar for at least five seconds.
At this age your child will really start comparing themself to their peers, leading to difficulties participating in group activities if they can’t keep up.
What If My Child Isn’t Meeting These Physical Development Milestones?
If it’s only a few weeks beyond a certain developmental milestone, it’s usually not a big deal.
Children all grow at different rates and there’s no exact schedule for learning.
This is especially true if they seem to still be making progress toward that goal.
However, if you’re noticing that your child is falling behind significantly or not making much progress toward new milestones, it may be an indication that they have an underlying condition.
If that’s the case, it may be a good idea to look into pediatric physical therapy.
Underlying conditions can be anything from cerebral palsy to ADHD to sensory processing disorder, among many others.
Developmental delays are a common childhood experience.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 1 in 6 American children will face at least one developmental delay.
Thus, physical therapists have a plethora of experience working with children facing developmental delays and helping them reach their milestones.
No matter what the condition, a pediatric physical therapist will be able to assess your child’s unique needs and come up with a plan.
Book Your Appointment With Our Pediatric Clinic Today
Every child develops at their own pace — but if your child is struggling to meet physical milestones, early support can make a world of difference.
Pediatric physical therapy helps children build the strength, balance, and coordination they need to thrive at home, in school, and on the playground.
At Little Feet Pediatric Therapy, we create personalized, play-based treatment plans that support your child’s motor development and boost their confidence.
We also address a wide range of developmental differences.
For example, speech-language therapy can support your child in reaching important communication and language milestones.
The earlier we begin, the more meaningful progress we can make — together.
Book your appointment today and take the first step toward helping your child reach their full potential.
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Founded in 2019, Little Feet Therapy offers on site pediatric physical and occupational therapy treatments for children from 2 months to 18 years old with physical and developmental concerns. Our clinics focus on providing therapy in a child’s natural setting where your child is in familiar surroundings, it puts their mind at ease and helps them focus more on the work they’re doing with their pediatric therapist. Our therapists will work with your child at your home, at school, at daycare, or another place in the community where they feel most comfortable.