By Sue Heron Training Co-ordinator Tatty Bumpkin and Paediatric Physiotherapist
In this blog I describe a Baby Bumpkin Yoga activity and outline some of the benefits for both you and your baby - so you can enjoy doing the activity at home
Our qualified Baby Bumpkin Teachers are fully trained in aspects of baby development and Baby Yoga and are kept fully up-to-date by our professional team of paediatric physiotherapists, Yoga teachers and musicians.
Or, maybe, you are thinking of a new career, which gives you:
- The opportunity to work with kids
- A great sense of job satisfaction and
- Flexible working to fit around your own family?
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| You do not need Yoga experience - just a sense of fun! |
The Baby Bumpkin Adventure this Week
If you are taking your baby to a Baby Bumpkin class this week you will go on an adventure with Baby Bumpkin to help the little old lady knit magical animals! Your baby will have a chance to:
1. Progress their early co-ordination skills as they do the knitting pose with you!
2. Have fun with other babies and develop their social skills as they move with you and others to the Tatty Bumpkin Frog song.
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| Jump up as a helpful frog - to clean the house! |
3. Progress their early visual and thinking skills as they play in elephant pose with blue streamers!
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| Elephant pose with two trunks!! |
4. And finally, at the end of the session, enjoy a special moment of relaxation and bonding with you.
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| Each day we need some time to be quiet.. |
Because each Baby Bumpkin adventure is carefully linked to the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) the sessions not only enhance your baby’s physical skills they also develop your baby’s early communication, social and thinking skills. Find your local class at http://www.tattybumpkin.com/classes/find-class.html.
'Knitting’ activity or ‘Baby Bird’ pose for Younger Babies
Remember:
- It is important never to force the movements of the Baby Bumpkin poses. If you feel your baby is resisting – try some gentle distraction e.g. wriggling their arm or leg or making some clicking noises.
- If your baby is still not wishing to do the movement with you then don’t carry on, instead reassure your baby and try again another time.
- Babies under 5 months of age do not have full ‘range of movement’ at their shoulders, elbows, hips and knees. This is nature’s way of giving your baby more stability when they are very young. So do not take the stretches too far if you have a younger baby – it's far better to let your baby gradually stretch out their joints by doing the actions themselves.
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| Knit, knit. knit!! |
- This adaptation is good for babies who are not yet sitting confidently.
- Settle your baby on a mat in front of you and place a small pillow or rolled towel under their head so they can easily look at you.
- Keeping good eye contact with your baby, gently cross your baby’s arms over their body
- Whilst in this position, slowly rock your baby's arms up and down.
- Then, gently uncross their arms and cross them over the other way.
‘Knitting’ activity or ‘Baby Bird’ Pose - Older Babies
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| 1, 2, 3 ..Knit, knit. knit ...! |
- Find a comfortable place to sit with your baby in front of you, either invite them to sit on the floor or on your lap, your baby can then lean back against you if they need to for added support.
- Gently encourage your baby to open their arms wide and then cross them across their body, like a baby bird’s beak or imaging they are knitting!
- Cross your baby’s arms one way and then the other. Make the activity fun by saying “1, 2, 3, knit, knit, knit” or “1, 2, 3, tweet, tweet, tweet!” as you do the actions.
Why ‘Knitting’ or Baby Bird Pose is Good for Both You and Your Baby
As you do knitting or baby bird pose with your baby in either lying or sitting they will be:
1. Learning about their middle and crossing their ’midline’
‘Crossing the midline’ means that one hand spontaneously moves over to the other side of the body to work there. When your baby crosses their midline they will be starting to discover how the left and right sides of their body work together.
- At about 3 months your baby may be bringing both their hands to the middle across their chest to grasp each other. They may be doing this action in either lying or sitting as it helps them to keep their body stable.
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| Working hard to sit! |
- By the time they are six months old, your baby may well be crossing the midline of their body to pick up toys on the opposite side. You can encourage this action by placing toys to the side and encouraging them to reach across their body to pick them up or by giving them safe, larger, things to play with which means they have to use both hands.
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| Perfect game for Halloween! |
- By about 12 months your baby may well have a preferred hand to pick up objects – their ‘dominant hand’. As they continue to use this preferred hand, it will slowly become more skilled at doing various fine motor (hand) tasks – this is important both for learning early pen skills and using cutlery.
2. Stimulating their proprioceptive sense
- Proprioception is one of our body’s senses and it tells us where our body is in space.
- It is stimulated by the stretch and pull of our muscles and joints as they move together.
- Amazingly this sense starts to develop after only 12 weeks from conception whilst the baby is in the womb! Activities which stimulate this sense can either alert or calm i.e. pushing and pulling games can be alerting but then hugs are calming.
- Knitting or baby bird pose if done slowly and held for a few moments will stimulate your baby’s proprioceptive sense, just like a hug, and can help them to calm.
3. Building their relationship with you
As you lean over your baby to do this calming activity with them, smile at them and make funny noises – you will be strengthening that very special bond between you both.
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| Snuggle in!! |
So Remember –
Love Baby Bumpkin x
