We all want the best for our babies and will do anything to help with their growth and development. We know that babies are very delicate and you might be scared to do exercises with them, but it is very important. By doing exercises with your baby, we don’t mean making your baby do squats or push-ups, because let’s be honest it’s hard even for us. Infant exercise can help strengthen the baby’s neck, help develop their hand-eye coordination and help the baby learn to walk. In this article, you can read about how to support your baby’s development in the first months of their life.
Caressing
Start with caressing the baby, your little one needs to feel welcomed and loved. Gentle caresses all over the body help to make contact with the infant and give the infant a feeling of security and closeness, which the little ones especially need. Caressing has many positive physiological effects, but it also strengthens the immune system, stimulates metabolism and is good for blood circulation. It also has a good effect on sleep quality and appetite.
Movements with arms and legs
Movements with arms and legs ensure the mobility of the joints and have a beneficial effect on muscle tone. Movements with the legs help to relieve the baby’s gas pains, and hand movements help to acquire one of the baby’s primary skills, bringing the arms to the midline.
Make cycling movement with your baby’s feet. If your baby is suffering from gas pain, the best exercise to relieve gas pain is to bring both legs bent at the abdomen (do not put too much pressure) and then smoothly bring the legs back to the original position.
The best exercise to keep baby’s hip joint moving, is to do hip circles. If the little one does not let you do the hip circles, then you can alternately do one leg at a time. Should your baby resist any movements, you should stop the exercise and relax baby’s muscles by shaking lightly.
One of the baby’s primary skills is to bring their arms against the gravity to their midline. In order to train this skill, it is good if you give your baby a feeling of the centerline with their hands, for example, bringing his/her arms to the centerline by yourself. One good exercise is making your baby clap to get the feeling of the centerline.
Neck muscle training
It is very important to train your baby’s neck muscles so they could hold their head by themselves. When your baby turns 2 weeks old, you can start doing exercises to strengthen your baby’s neck flexor muscles. To do this, place your arms around your baby’s chest. Your hands are on the baby’s upper arm, thumbs on the baby’s chest and the rest of the fingers on the shoulder blades. If you have a firm hold on the baby’s shoulders, make a slight bend so that the baby activates his/her neck muscles and lift the baby smoothly in a half-sitting position. Then when going down, place your index fingers on the baby’s neck so that the baby’s head does not sink too far back.
Promoting Symmetrical Development
The baby’s first skill is to keep his/her head in line with the body. This means that for the second month of life, your baby will be able to look at you for a long time without his/her head sinking to the side. To train this skill, hold the baby’s head in your arms, bend it slightly forward and keep it in the middle line – at the same time talk or sing to the baby to get the eyes fixed on you. If your baby is looking at you, you may start moving your head from side to side. This is how we can also train the baby’s observation.
Tummy time
With the training of the stretcher muscles of the baby’s neck and trunk, it is very important to place the baby on his/her stomach during each period when the baby is awake. Putting your baby on his/her stomach is one of the most important positions for the baby in the first year of life. Being on their tummy is often repulsive for the babies, which is natural because it is difficult for them at first.
However, parents should not be discouraged and they should keep trying to place the infant on their stomach. Gradually the baby’s stomach becomes stronger and eventually, he/she will be happy to lie on the tummy. This position is also very good for relieving gas pain. To make the tummy time more comfortable for the little one, you can use a rolled bath towel or a harder pillow for the first few months. It will be easier for the baby to lift his/her head when the upper body is higher than the trunk.
If you would like your baby’s development to be effective and fast, we definitely recommend you to do these exercises every day. If you feel that all of these exercises together are too much for your little one, you don’t need to do them all, but at least caress your baby and let them know that they are loved.
