The Top 5 Ways to Nurture Natural Development
Although babies don't come with a user manual, there are a few key things that all parents can do to nurture their infant's brain, sensory and motor development. It turns out it is very easy to do, it requires very little stuff and not a lot of effort.
I hope this brings you a sigh of relief!
Here are the top 5 things you can start doing TODAY to ensure your sweet baby gets the best opportunities to develop to their fullest potential.
1 - Put baby on a firm flat surface
One of the best ways that you can nurture your baby's development in the first year of life is to put your baby on a firm flat surface (AKA... the floor).
Did you get 25 blankets at your baby shower? I did (not really, but it was a lot)! Those blankets are perfect for setting up your baby on a nice little spot on the floor.
Somewhere along the way it became more and more popular to use baby furniture. Whether it's a rocker, a bouncer, a swing, or car seat (see #3 below), it seems that babies are spending more and more time in something.
No doubt, sometimes we parents need a break, and just need to put baby down for a minute. We get tired, there are other things to do and other children to attend too. I get it!
But, and this is really important, babies are perfectly safe on the floor, and this is where they need to be (when not in the loving arms of a caregiver, of course)!
If I could shout it from the rooftops I would. If you keep your floors relatively clean (we all do our best, I know) and you keep any rambunctious pets in another room, there is no reason your baby can't be on the floor.
When we put babies in some sort of container we are actually taking away a vital experience that they need to properly develop... MOVEMENT.
New babies do not move much at first, but all of those little movements have a big impact for baby. Baby furniture supports the baby in only one position, which restricts muscle activation and the ability to move.
Also, most baby furniture also props baby in a semi or fully upright position. Babies are not ready to be semi or fully upright until they can get themselves into such a position on their own.
Key sensory systems and muscles get activated when a baby is able to develop a relationship with gravity.
What does that mean? When a baby lies on the floor, any movement they make is in opposition to gravity. Gravity pulls baby down, baby lifts and wiggles up and away.
A special sensory system (the vestibular system) actually relies on this, gets further developed AND triggers specific muscles to start working when baby is perpendicular to the Earth and able to move of their own free will. Wow! All that just from being on the floor.
All sides matter, not just the tummy and not just the back.
When getting lots of time on the floor, eventually your baby will get time on all sides of their body. How exciting! It is for your baby, and they will only get to enjoy these benefits if they are not contained.
If floor time didn't rock your world before, add to it that this is just the beginning. Brain development happens from the bottom up. This is literally from the bottom of the brain (the brain stem) to the top (the cortex).
All the yummy experiences our babies have on the floor nurtures the lower and middle parts of the brain, supports the beginning stages of sensory integration and contributes to the motor development needed to build all other physical, emotional and cognitive skills later on.
2 - Face baby toward you when using a carrier
This one is easy! Whenever you wear your baby, be sure to face them toward you. And continue to do so if you wear them into the toddler years.
The reason is two-fold.
First, facing you leaves them feeling secure. They can rest their little head on your chest, smell you and hug you (my favorite). They are also protected from overstimulation from the outside world. Facing out can actually be scary for our little ones.
Faces of strangers and other sights and sounds can quickly become too much. A baby facing out has no way of tuning out or dampening what they are exposed to.
Once baby is bigger, they will be able to look over your shoulder to see what's going on, and put their head back down if they are scared or tired.
Second, facing in helps protect the development of their spine. The spine moves through a series of shapes from a large C (in the young infant) to a more subtle C (in the crawler), and then eventually to an S shape (for being upright and walking).
When a child is facing out, their spine is automatically positioned into an arch or backward C, which is pretty much the opposite of how it should be. So turn those babies and toddlers in and soak up the love and hugs.
3 - Use the car seat for travel only
The #1 benefit, of course, is that carseats keep your child safe when riding in a vehicle.
However, car seats fall into that category of structured equipment. The shape of them supports baby in a semi-inclined position with almost no wiggle room.
The structure of car seats is how they save lives. But, their convenience makes it far too easy for your baby to spend hours at a time in them.
Driving to the store, putting the seat in the shopping cart, driving to the next store, putting the seat in the next shopping cart... It adds up quickly.
The best thing to do is to use the car seat for riding in the car only. Then carry your baby or wear your baby.
Once they are able to sit up on their own, they can sit in the shopping cart.
Bada bing, bada boom, you've cut your car seat use in half.
4 - Protect baby from overstimulation
Your new baby's sensory systems were already developing in utero, but they still have a long way to go. It takes about the first 7 years of life for the brain to integrate the sensory systems.
Brand new babies and young children are at the mercy of their environment. They need sensory stimulation to develop and integrate their sensory systems. But sensory stimuli that is too much or too fast can do the opposite.
It can lead to sensory dysregulation and inhibit the ability of the brain to effectively process sensory information. It can also trigger a fight-flight response, which is a stress response and one best suited for threatening situations.
Therefore, it is important to protect your new one from too much input. Screens of all kinds are the number one culprit these days of too much sensory input.
Our neural systems work in a stimulation-in-motor-response-out fashion.
When we sit in front of a screen, we get a lot of sensory stimuli going in, but no motor response going out. This is why you may see your child suddenly become wild, agitated or bounce off the walls after watching TV.
This type of input is simply not necessary for natural development to occur. Toys with music, lights, sounds, and movement are also not needed.
So put those screens, noise makers and flashing lights away and stick to a "simple-is-better" philosophy.
Babies need very little stimulation to have their sensory systems activated.
The sound of your voice, people moving through the house, a smooth wooden toy, the shadow on the wall. These are the types of stimuli that will engage your child without the possibility of over doing it.
5 - Take care of yourself
When I first became a mom it took me a long time to get back to me and address my own needs.
Being a mom is demanding, challenging and self-sacrificing work. Of course it is adventurous, hilarious, rewarding and deeply meaningful too. But it will be a lot less of those things if we mom's do not also attend to our own needs.
Taking care of ourselves allows us to get back in there and do all of the mom stuff again the next day, rather than run ourselves ragged.
There are a million ways to do this, so it's all about finding what works for you. The key is to identify what you need in your life, what are meaningful ways to spend your time, what helps you relax and what helps you feel valued.
Then find ways to fit those things into your life. Some might be things you need every day, whereas, others may only need occur weekly or monthly.
The point is to take some time to think about YOU.
Set some boundaries if that would help. For example, house rule #7: nobody in the bathroom when mom takes a shower. It's ok for you to have 15 minutes of privacy while you practice some highly needed self-care.
6 - Bonding
Ok, so there is a surprise 6th. It almost goes without saying… our babies need US! They need to smell, feel, see and hear their parents.
Our children need us to tend to their every need (for real, you cannot spoil a baby) and experience us fully.
After all, what they are asking for are the most basic things that all humans need, love, sustenance, sleep, and comforting when scared or upset. This is how our babies learn they are safe in the world and grow into secure big kids.
So leave the work emails for work time, let the laundry wait, check Facebook later and soak up some sweet time with your precious one.
They're only little for what feels like the blink of an eye.
