Do Babies Get Sore Muscles?

“Do babies get sore muscles when learning a new skill like adults do when exercising?”

Answer: I love this question and to be honest, I’m not totally sure that there will ever be a definitive answer. BUT this is how I think about it….as adults, we often push ourselves to a certain point that results in soreness, and many times it is during a new exercise or a quick increase in reps or weight of a previous one. In babies, they are gradually building tolerance to floor time and hitting many ministones on the way to the big milestone that better prepares and strengthens their muscles, which I believe would hopefully prevent some of that potential soreness as we experience. I say, as long as we are responding to their cues with floor time (moving or repositioning them when fussing), I’d like to think they aren’t experiencing that!

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For developmental questions, tips and guidance related to milestones about tummy time, rolling & sitting, crawling and walking, check out KC’s developmental Masterclasses linked here.

KC is a pediatric doctor of physical therapy, wife and mom of three! She has spent her career working with children and young adults of all ability levels, and currently specializes in birth to three years.