The pincer grasp is a term that refers to the ability to hold a small (or not) object using the thumb and index finger. It’s a milestone in the fine-motor development department! It’s actually one of a baby’s first milestones that is reached somewhere between 9 and 12 months. It’s a significant milestone that paves the way for self feeding and other important milestones in the near future like drawing, writing, getting dressed, and many more basic life skills! 

Building Up to the Pincer Grasp

Before your baby can master the pincer grasp, they’ll go through a series of smaller milestones:

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• Palmar Grasp reflex: Babies are born with this reflex and they hold on tightly to whatever is put in their hand.
• Batting: After they discover their hands at around 3-4 months they will begin to use their arms and hands to bat at objects that are nearby.
• Whole-hand Grasp: At 4-6 months they will start to actually and intentionally grasp objects using their entire hand, and usually both hands.
• Raking Grasp: This is when your baby uses their whole hand to scoop up objects, they start doing this at around 5-6 months until 9 months.
• Pincer Grasp: Usually accomplished at around 9-12 months.

Encouraging the Pincer Grasp

Here are some fun activities to help your baby practice their pincer grasp:

• Offer Finger Foods: Let your baby practice picking up small pieces of food, like peas, cereal or blueberries.
• Play with Toys: Provide toys with different textures and sizes, like small blocks, beads, scarves, touch and feel books, board books, and even raw spaghetti!
• Sensory Play: Activities like playing with playdough or finger painting can help strengthen their finger muscles. Check out these sensory ideas in our catalog: Edible Play: Chia gel, Colorful Spaghetti, Edible Sandbox.
• Offer Small Objects: Provide your baby with age-appropriate small object activities, like pompoms in a whisk or filling up a bottle with beads.

When to Worry

The pincer grasp is a milestone that is not as obvious to the eye as other motor milestones like crawling or rolling over. Many parents aren’t too aware of their baby’s progression through this fine motor skill because it sometimes goes unnoticed while you are busy focusing on the gross motor skills, or just happily watching your baby play and interact with objects. When you are aware of this milestone, you can watch your baby progress through the different types of grasps and begin to offer different toys or materials to promote their pincer grasp. And while most babies develop their pincer grasp between 9 and 12 months, some red flags previous to this milestone could indicate a delay:

• Doesn’t grasp objects by 4 months.
• Doesn’t bring objects to mouth by 4 months.
• Hands continue to be in a fist at 6 months.
• Doesn’t reach for objects by 6 months.
• Doesn’t bring both hands to their midline by 10 months.
• Doesn’t intentionally release objects by 12 months.
• Uses only one hand to eat, play, touch, grasp, etc.

Remember, every baby develops at their own pace. However, if you have any concerns about your baby’s development, it’s always best to consult with your pediatrician.