Cutting with Scissors: An Important Milestone?

I admit it-- I'm the world's most over-interested "milestone mom." Since the day my daughter was born, I've kept track of every single "first," from her first smile, to her first clap, to the day she spouted a nine-word sentence. Although my interest may seem a bit neurotic, it helped me to identify several mild setbacks in my daughter's development, so I was able to address them promptly to prevent them from becoming bigger problems.

Of course, as a mom, I tend to worry. So, when I read that most toddlers can use scissors at age 2, I started introducing my toddler to safety-scissors. A milestone chart said normal children should all be able to cut before 30 months, but-- not wanting to be "that mom" again, I continued postponing a fine-motor evaluation, but encouraged my toddler to keep practicing.

At 33 months, when my daughter had still made little progress in her ability to cut with scissors, I spoke to the occupational therapist at the center where my daughter received speech therapy. Several of her fine-motor milestones were a tad bit behind her peers, so I suspected that she might need a little extra help.

The occupational therapist smiled and shook her head when I told her about the milestone list saying that todders should be able to cut with scissors no later than 24-30 months of age. She said that, in her opinion, cutting with scissors is like crawling-- it's a milestone that has nothing to do with a child's overall mental or physical development. Until recently, most children were never introduced to scissors until kindergarten.

Experts vary about when they think a child should reach the milestone of cutting with scissors. Some say that cutting with scissors should generaly occur around a child's second birthday. Others are far more liberal; they feel that any time before age 5 is completely acceptable. You probably don't need to worry if your toddler or prescooler hasn't reached this milestone. However, if your preschooler is behind on several other fine-motor milestones, it can't hurt to have a developmental evaluation.

The occupational therapist gave my daughter a clean bill of fine-motor health, noting that some of her skills were remarkably advanced, and that the milestone delays were relatively minor and not serious enough to warrant therapy. For now, I'm content to continue encouraging her to exercise her fine-motor skills.