Support your child’s unfolding learning by encouraging them to move! How does movement help development in these early days?
The baby is born into gravity, into a relationship to the earth. This relationship is what they have come here for! During this first year it is helpful to allow the baby to explore gravity and the best way to do this is to give them the experience of being horizontal. When the baby lies flat he experiences the greatest contact with the physical world – in contrast to the upright human being who is only lightly in contact with the earth through the feet – and not with the complete foot! This contact with the earth, with gravity gives the baby a sense of security.
So what does this mean for you and your new baby? Firstly, consider the floor or a flat padded surface the best place for your baby to learn. Not only to learn to move, but also to learn more about themselves, their body and the environment. “Floor time”, when your baby lies awake and uninterrupted, can be a daily opportunity right from birth until they are walking. Babies learn through moving and move to learn.
Secondly, think about how you hold your baby. The feeling of security is given by the support of your body holding them. In the beginning the baby’s neck muscles are not able to hold the head upright for very long. This takes time to develop. The best way for these muscles to strengthen is through the baby’s own efforts, from a position of lying flat or supine (lying on the back).
Thirdly, try to minimize times when your baby is held upright by a carseat, swing, sling etc. The baby’s spine is not ready for the weight of the head. The spine and muscles take time to strengthen. You will find your baby loves being propped up at an angle. They are eager to be in the world! The more you prop them up the more they will depend on this extra boost. You will find that your baby will be more content lying flat the more they do it. (I did find it useful to have a bassinet-style stroller to have my baby close to me, lying flat while I worked around the home. It shouldn’t take the place of floor time, but can give your baby a chance to be close by while you work.)
Rudolf Steiner wrote about this process of coming into gravity and finding an orientation in space.
Through this process of experiencing her own body in relation to gravity and space, the baby begins to grow a sense of herself as an active participant in life. Gradually the baby is able to direct her movements and carry out her intentions – through hours and hours of practicing!
The process of incarnation is healthy when we can move spacially between being inside our bodies and being outside of our bodies. For example, when we are trying to go to sleep we need to move from being inside ourselves to being outside – and if you are in physical pain this is much more difficult. Another example is that when we have a conversation with someone we need to be inside ourselves and outside ourselves – with the other person. The baby begins to come gently into the body and also to start reaching out into the world mainly through the mastering of movement.
You may have heard of the primitive reflexes, which we are all blessed with in the early months of our lives. The reflexes are ways of coming into our bodies and once they are integrated they can allow us to be outside too. Let’s look at the palmar reflex which is usually obvious in the newborn. In this video you can see how the hands open and close. The palmar reflex is a response to stimulation on the palm of the hand. If the baby feels something in the palm of his hand, he will close his fingers. Spacially you can say he is closing his hand, moving more inside his body. So this reflex is a picture of one way of how the newborn is slowly coming into himself.
Later on he will be able to intentionally open and close his hand. It is a wonderful time for a young child when he can do this – he will spend hours dropping things purposefully from his high chair! An open hand can be offered to another person, we reach into the world with such an open gesture.
The important thing is to give your baby the time and opportunity to live into their body through movement. In this way the child’s will forces are engaged in a fundamental way right from the beginning.