7–9 months old: Gross motor skill development

Gross motor skill development allows your baby to improve their balance and coordination and use their larger muscles. These abilities will help your little one master certain movements, such as turning over, sitting up, creeping, crawling, walking, running, climbing, and jumping. Developing gross motor skills is also an important step towards developing fine motor skills.

Gross motor skill development: 7 to 9 months old

At this age:

• Your baby can move from lying on their tummy to sitting up on on their own and can stay sitting up without support for longer, which leaves their hands free to handle objects. They can also bend over to pick up a toy from further in front of them and turn their head without falling.
• Your baby can move from a seated position back to their tummy using the same movements they used to sit up (without falling forward or backwards).

• From lying on their belly, they can get up on their hands and knees and can rock back and forth. This prepares their muscles for crawling.
• Your baby can easily roll from belly to back and back to belly, from the left and from the right.
• Your baby can move around on their tummy by pivoting with their arms and creeping. A little later, they’ll start to crawl on all fours (moving one arm and the opposite knee at the same time).
• They stretch out their arms to protect themself when they’re sitting up and feel themself tipping forward or to one side.
• Your baby can kneel on one knee with the other leg bent at a 90° angle, as if they were going to stand up, while supporting themself on a piece of furniture.
• They can kneel in front of the stairs and put their hands on the bottom step.
• They can move from sitting down to all fours and back, all by themself, around the age of 9 months.
• Around 9 months, they sometimes stand up on their own, using furniture for support.

Over the next few weeks, your baby will begin to do the following:

• Get around more quickly on all fours
• Control their descent when squatting from a standing position
• Want to climb on furniture and people; then, once they can stand, they’ll try to climb the stairs on all fours
• Step sideways while holding onto a piece of furniture

How can you help your child progress?

Every child is different and develops at their own pace. That said, you can help foster your little one’s development by using the Comfort, Play, and Teach parenting approach, which is designed to easily integrate in your daily routine. The table below outlines small, age-specific actions you can take that will benefit your child’s gross motor skill development.

Scientific review: Josiane Caron Santha, occupational therapist Research and copywriting:The Naître et grandir team Updated: November 2025

Photo: GettyImages/mediaphotos