If you buy through our links we may receive a commission at no expense to you. Please see our Ethics page.
The joy parents feel upon seeing their precious baby achieving development milestones is unparalleled. On the other hand, it can be very distressing for them if their little ones do not do things they are supposed to be capable of at a given age.
Clapping is one such skill that parents so eagerly await. An average normally developing baby will become able to clap between the ages of 9-12 months.
It will start as an attempt to imitate adults and experiment with various body parts and evolve into a means of expressing pleasure and a way to keep time to a tune or a rhyme.
But if your baby doesn’t clap by the age of twelve months, it could be a sign of developmental delay or something more serious than that.
Therefore, it is important to know how this skill is developed and what factors can cause a baby to be unable to do it by the age of twelve months and what should be done about it. This article will cover all of that.
What Age Do Babies Usually Start Clapping
Before we look into why a baby would not be able to clap by the time he or she is about a year old, it is important to know how this behavior is typically developed.
Also Read: When can grandparents kiss baby
Most babies will start to clap by the time they are about nine months old. Most of them are also able to sit up, pull and push themselves with their hands and crawl by this age.
The upper body strength developed through these activities helps with clapping too.
Clapping starts as an attempt to imitate grown-ups. The baby will learn that adults clap in certain contexts, such as providing encouragement, expressing happiness, or keeping time to a melodic rhythm over time by observing and making connections between clapping and the situation it happens in.
Skills Babies Require For Clapping
Even though it looks like a very simple movement of hands on the surface, clapping is indeed a complex action, especially for a baby, that requires many physical, sensory, and intellectual skills.
Below are the skills they need for clapping:
Motor Skills
A baby needs proper muscle tone and range of movement in the joints of the hands to clap.
Sensory Skills
Good hearing, vision, tactile (touch) sensation, and eye-hand coordination are needed.
Also Read: is hey bear sensory good for babies
Cognitive (Intellectual) Skills
A baby needs good intellectual skills to understand the purpose of clapping and the contexts it can be used in.
Why Is Baby Not Clapping At 12 Months?
If your baby can not clap by the age of twelve months despite all your interaction and prompting, there are a few possible reasons for that.
Developmental Delay
Some babies don’t achieve developmental milestones at the same pace as indicated in the child development charts.
Babies with developmental delay usually catch up to their chronological age in development with some extra stimulation. In case of developmental delay, a baby is likely to be delayed in more than one aspect of development.
Neuromuscular Conditions
A baby might have a condition that affects muscle tone, neurological coordination, and range of movement in the joints or all of them at once, thus making them unable to act.
Cerebral Palsy is one example.
Sensory Problems
Any condition that causes impairment in a baby’s vision, hearing, or touch sensation can make it hard for that baby to clap.
For example, Autistic Spectrum Disorder can make a baby overly sensitive or less sensitive to different sensations at different levels.
Learning Difficulty
Babies with learning difficulties have difficulty learning how to use their bodies and brains to perform various tasks and can have problems paying attention.
This can make learning to clap problematic too.
What Should You Do If Baby Is Not Clapping At 12 Months?
If your baby can not clap at the age of 12 months, it is best not to take it for granted, especially if the baby is showing issues in other aspects of development.
Consulting a pediatrician is your best bet. A pediatrician will look into the baby’s prenatal and neonatal history, assess the baby clinically, and perform other necessary investigations.
Also Read: 2 year old talking gibberish
This will help determine whether there is a developmental delay or any other condition that is making it harder for the baby to clap, and refer the baby to a physiotherapist, an occupational therapist, perhaps even a speech therapist or all of them as needed.
The prognosis will depend on the type and severity of whatever condition that is making clapping hard for your baby.
Final Thoughts
Clapping is a skill a baby acquires and develops from the age of nine to twelve months.
Its really fun to play games with your baby that encourage coordination between the left and rights sides of the body and social interaction.
The infant brain is a fascinating and amazing thing that’s growing all the time and you can do a lot to support your baby to develop skills. Try singing and signing games that will get you and you baby giggling at the same time as supporting language skills.
If your baby is not able to clap by the age of twelve months, it could be due to a developmental delay, or some other condition. Like any other major milestone, if you are aware that your baby isn’t meeting them speak to your healthcare provider as the earlier your child gets help the more that can be done.
It is best to consult a pediatrician and find out why. The type and the severity of the underlying condition, if any, would determine the prognosis.