What is the best way to support my baby's learning? Am I doing anything that prevents my child from reaching developmental milestones at an appropriate age? These questions are music to my ears. Depending on your child’s age, there are many things you can do to support your child’s development.
1. Let your infant rest on you with skin-to-skin contact.
2. Give your baby plenty of tummy time on a carpet or rug. If they seem frustrated (or even if they aren’t frustrated), get down on the floor with them. Smile at them and make eye contact. Without forcing them to stay on their stomach for too long of a time if they’re crying, give them an opportunity to explore from prone position and start organizing themselves to engage their chest and neck in order to lift their heads.
2. Limit use of equipment like the Baby Bumbo Seat, Exersaucer, Walkers. Exhausted, overworked parents sometimes need a safe place to deposit their baby while they cook or complete similar tasks, but this kind of equipment restricts movement and keeps babies from reaching their toes, organizing themselves to roll, sit up, creep, crawl, and scoot. If you need a safe place to put your baby for a little while, pack-n-plays or cribs are better options as they can still move more freely (grab their toes, roll, etc.) in those spaces.
3. Place some toys or bottle (if they use it) nearby but out of reach. At certain points in their development, they don't need everything handed to them. When babies are able to start rolling to get the item they’re coveting, they're incentivized to move, explore and learn when that attractive item is just out of reach. I'm not suggesting you withhold toys or nourishment - just include this approach as a periodic mechanism for their learning.
4. Don't rush their developmental stages - let them walk when they're ready. As they begin to get a little older, some parents walk their babies or toddlers, holding their hands with their arms extended above them. Avoid walking them. It looks cute, but let your babies walk in their own time. Walking need not be rushed. Guiding them with their arms extended robs children of the opportunity to learn to organize themselves for new movements and functions. When given the opportunity to figure out walking on their own, they are more likely to fall without injuring themselves vs. the harder and more injurious face plant when they're doing movements for which they're really not ready.
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