Your newborn probably just looks up at you and stares into nothingness all day, with a few kicks here and there. But they slowly grow as they begin to roll over, crawl and eventually walk and talk. These might seem like not-so-hard things to do but it takes a lot of strength for your baby to do these. So it’s essential that your baby’s muscles are building to aid in her development.
For the first few months, your newborn’s neck can barely support her head. This is because the neck is far too fragile and weak to support something that is relatively heavier.
You can start by placing your newborn on her stomach for a few minutes, this will push her towards lifting her head for a few second to take in the surroundings. You can do this as early as 6 weeks. This is not an overnight thing of course, it’ll take months for your baby to build up the strength and coordinate her neck muscles to lift her head.
Within a few months your baby will roll over from his back onto his tummy and vice versa, but this also needs a lot of patience and strength.
A lot of parents are afraid to place their babies on their tummies because of SIDS but a few minutes of supervised-tummy time is actually good for your baby. Place a few toys around him, this will make him curious towards reaching for the toys. You will also notice your child using his arms to push himself off the ground and onto his back. All of these will strengthen your child’s arm and leg muscles.
Anywhere between 7 and 10 months, your baby might start crawling. You might notice the initial sign of crawling which is your baby trying to balance on all fours. Different babies tend to have different crawling styles - some babies even crawl on their tummies rather on their fours.
When your child is crawling, don’t discourage him or take him off the floor with the fear of germs. Crawling is an initial step in preparing your child towards the adult world, he sees new things, memorizes them and plays with them. He is active and giving his limbs one hell of a workout.
Sitting will take some time and a lot of muscle coordination. Rather than placing your baby on the back all the time, encourage her to sit by placing her in a sitting positions and placing pillows to balance her. Make sure you’re ready to catch her in case she topples over. You can try doing this when you notice that your little one can roll over comfortable. Your child will try to eventually attain the balance that is required to sit still without any support.
If your baby just celebrated her first birthday, you can expect her to be walking anytime soon. Those first few baby steps are cute yet awkward as she tries to figure out how to place one foot in front of the other. Your baby will fall a lot of times along the way, but make sure not to lift her up as soon as she falls or make a big deal out of it because she won’t actually be hurt. Ask her to walk across the room towards a certain object. Try and get her to walk as much as possible, this will get her digestive system going and her bones will also strengthen.
We hope you enjoyed reading our article. Thank you for your continued love, support and trust in Tinystep. If you are new here, welcome to Tinystep!
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