The spiritual child begins to make their body their home. This is the process of incarnating – coming into the body. How do we support the body’s growth and wellbeing during these early days and years? Two things are important: rhythm and warmth. In this article I will focus on warmth.
It is most important to keep your baby warm. When we help the baby maintain his or her own temperature they are able to grow without having to try to generate their warmth. Human beings need warmth in order to flourish, our body temperature has a very narrow range and babies are not able to maintain their body’s temperature. In fact this ability only matures after the age of 7.
Wool is the best way to keep your baby warm and to maintain an even body temperature. As they get older children can enjoy more fluctuations in temperature because they are more able to generate their own warmth. The guiding principle that is recommended is that your baby needs one more layer than you are wearing. Unless you are living in the tropics, wool is the best additional layer, worn next to the skin. Studies show babies are more likely to settle quickly, cry less, feed better and gain weight faster when settled to sleep in wool. What’s more, wool’s breathable, thermo-neutral, antibacterial, hypoallergenic and fire-retardant properties support a baby’s needs, and bring reassurance to parents when needed most.
By putting a hat on baby’s head you are providing a kind of filter, a protective layer for your child. On the physical level this helps your baby maintain an even temperature. On the level of consciousness, this can protect your baby from being overwhelmed by sense impressions. Take the feeling of your hair being blown by the wind. Can you think clearly if you have this sensation? How about sounds? A thin layer of a cap on your baby’s head can slightly reduce the impact of loud noises which can set off the startle reflex in a baby.
We are influenced by what is around us, whether we perceive these forces with our consciousness or not. Just as these rocks are carved and formed by water, so are we formed by the life forces that surround us.
The baby’s life forces are needed to form their body and organs, just like the water is forming these rocks. We know how much the brain grows and is formed in these early years; and the bones, whole body and the other organs such as heart, lungs, kidneys continue to grow and form too. What supports their growth process? On the one hand, we know good nutrition, sleep etc. feed the body. On the other hand, if the body lacked life no amount of food would help it grow. So another way to understand how to support growth is to consider supporting the life forces. We do this primarily through helping the child lead a rhythmic life (all life forms have rhythm) and through warmth.
To get back to the recommendation to cover your baby’s head with a hat. Yes it has to do with warmth. Yes it has to do with protecting sensory input. Yes it has to do with protecting the openness of the fontanel. But the main reason is that when you cover the head, the baby’s life forces follow the gesture of the cap and do not dissipate and disperse. We are formed, like the rocks carved by water, by what is around us, what lives in the environment and atmosphere. In addition, we are formed by our own forces from within which we carry as gifts from the spiritual world. Our life forming forces are such gifts and the baby’s life forces are primed to mould and form their physical body.
Look at this happy baby. The roundness of his cheeks and head gives us a sense of wellness. Also the beautiful rosy colour of his skin and the sparkle in his eyes (also signs of a healthy life body). When we nourish the life forces in the area of the head we are bringing warmth to an area that can easily tend towards coldness.
It is also important, especially when your baby starts moving on the floor, to keep the lower limbs warm. In understanding the human being we speak about the nerve-sense pole (centered around the head), the rhythmic system (heart and lungs) and the metabolic-limb system (centered around the digestive/reproductive area). In young children we want to support the metabolic-limb system is much as possible. This is where we have greatest warmth and activity in the body. So keeping the legs and lower torso warm compliments will nurture these processes. In the incarnating process we want the baby to live into the metabolic-limb system strongly, and gradually live into the nerve-sense system. We see this natural emphasis by the baby’s struggle to digest and excrete, to take in outside substances and to make them part of his or her own system.
A further consideration is that of the hands and feet. We know as adults how uncomfortable it is to have cold hands or feet – so keep your baby warm in these areas too! A simple solution to socks being rubbed or kicked off by the baby is to put an extra pair on the baby under a pair of tights.
And finally, swaddling or a wool sleep sack is a great way to support your child’s body temperature while sleeping.
