Abstract
Motor performance of 53 first-born and 115 subsequent children was evaluated at 4 months of age. First babies had higher scores than subsequent ones. There was no relation between birth order and motor score for ordinal positions 2 to 12. No race or sex differences were apparent. New mothers were questioned regarding their previous experience in baby care, which was found to have no bearing on the infant's motor performance. Within the group of subsequent babies, motor scores made by premature infants were significantly lower than those made by full-term babies; however, no differences were found between premature and full-term first babies. Babies rated abnormal or suspicious neurologically were significantly lower in motor performance. Close agreement was found between difficulty of items on the motor scale and Bayley age norms.
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