Reasons To Put The Baby On His Stomach During The Day – You Are Parents
Why put the baby on his stomach during the day?
1. Development of motor functions
Spending enough time on the tummy will help your baby to develop his balance and his visual and hearing skills.
In addition, it will help strengthen the head, neck, shoulder and back muscles. All this will be necessary to carry out daily actions. For example, to push, to side, to sit, to stand up and to crawl.
During the first months of life, the baby must learn to know the movement of his body and how to control it. Thus, he will develop the physical skills necessary to turn, sit and crawl. This will not work properly if the child spends a lot of time in infant seats. Likewise if it is often in places which limit movement.
In addition, a baby who spends all of his time awake lying on his back sees only the roof and objects on both sides. Conversely, the baby that is put on your stomach look up. So they start to look at a lot more things around them.
2. Normal development of the head
Following advertising campaigns launched to help prevent Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, there has been an increase in the number of children with plagiocephaly.
What is that ? Babies do not have fully fused cranial bones. It’s a quality that helps them endure little knocks. However, their head can be deformed if they stay in the same position for a long time.
Babies tend to spend too much time sleeping on their backs. Otherwise, they are in chairs or playpens (also on the back). This practice causes the back of the head to flatten out. That is why it is imperative that the baby spends enough time on his tummy during the day. This can be done while awake and playing.
3. Development of social skills
Another reason to put the baby on his stomach during the day has to do with the development of sensory and perceptual skills. It is also good for improving socio-emotional skills. It also strengthens problem solving, learning and coping with challenges.
When the baby is lying down, he remains alert and better perceives the world around him. Thus, it remains in a state where it constantly receives stimuli while interacting with everything around it.
The different ways to put the baby on the tummy during the day
You may not be sure exactly what is the right way to make your baby spend more time on the tummy. Or on the other hand, it seems to you that he doesn’t like being in this position. You can then follow these practical tips:
0 to 2 months
Try to put the baby face down on a blanket. If you see that he can’t lift his head, put your hand on his lower back and shift the weight down. If he still can’t lift his head, place a rolled towel under his chest or put him on your legs.
Another great option is to put the baby on the chest. Thus, it will feel more secure. In addition, you will make him raise his head to look at you. With this activity the little one will manage to develop control of his head. It will also strengthen the upper part of his body.
3 to 5 months
As his back and neck are already strengthened, he will be able to stand alone with his forearms. You can spend time with your baby by using toys and mirrors to further stimulate the movement of their weight and reach.
Now, he will be able to interact with his environment at the level of the gaze. He will receive a lot more stimuli and learn to respond to them.
As your son or daughter gains more strength, they will begin to push themselves with outstretched arms to reach for objects and play. This serves as preparation for sitting up and crawling.
6 to 9 months
As the baby is stronger, you can play games like “the airplane”, lifting him up and holding him only by the waist. Another option is to support it on the bent legs and move them up and down.
With this, the strength of his whole body grows. Obviously, this will allow him to crawl and explore more skillfully.
Remember that you need to perform these and other routines with your baby every day. This is the best way to support and collaborate with its development.
