Physical Development: Babies and Toddlers

[Magda Gerber reference]

Babies and Toddlers don’t do things by grown up standards and from what I’ve observed they really don’t get that much opportunity to take any action because everyone wants to hold them, hold them upright, confine them to a contraption, distract them and dare I say over power them. I worked in an infant center where we held them if they needed to be held. I am not saying there is anything wrong with holding a baby, but they also need time to explore the world on their terms. At the center we held them for bottles, naptime, upsets, nurturing, ect. The environment had infant toys and a modest developmentally appropriate structure. Most of the floor was clear for crawling, interacting with other babies, exploring, and playing. There were a modest number of infant toys to manipulate and play with. There were simple pictures on the wall at their level.
A wonderful exercise I had to do for my first child development class was to crawl around for an hour a day (or as long as physically safe and possible) Doing this exercise is a great way to get wonderful insights into the perspective of an infant. I highly recommend this exercise.
I can’t emphasize how important it is to interact and interpret infants without projecting adult values on them. The problem with propping them up is that they didn’t get there on their own. This takes their power away and they are immobilized. If you put an infant on their stomach, for example, they are unable to hold their neck up. Nature is literally dictating their mobility. Their mobility is ruled by what they are able to do. Once infants naturally propel themselves up and over their neck is also ready to be held up comfortably. I have been taught this, but more importantly I have observed it. The same is true for infants who sit up on their own. If you prop them in a sitting position they can’t move and can topple over. However if they have gone through the entire process of being on their back with their legs and arms wiggling, gradually lifting themselves into a crawling position with their own arms and legs, and then finally pushing themselves into a sitting position they can sit comfortably because their body is not only ready to do so, but in shape to do so. Sitting naturally evolves into pulling up aided by structures (i.e.. chairs, couches, tables, ect.) then standing unaided and then taking steps. When you spend a significant amount of time observing infants develop physically you realize that it may be one of the most significant and important parts of their physical development.

Story From My Work Experience:
Michael worked in the infant center where I was a teacher. He happened to be a very big baby. Given the culture we live in there was grave concern from his parents and even my co-worker. My co-worker was concerned about Michael being able to move and even said that he was like a turtle. He was at the scooting stage. Even if I remembered how his physical development compared with the majority of babies, I wouldn’t say that he was behind- all children develop, in all ways different and at different paces. Suddenly, one day Michael began an amazing process that fascinated me. He spent most of his day when not eating, sleeping or pooping moving. He was not crawling yet, he was scooting and he was doing so with a vengeance. He was scooting all over the floor, backwards, frontward and even in circles. The afternoon teacher and I had to constantly clear space for him, as he was literally all over the room. He was even breathing heavy and breaking a sweat. He seemed so determined! Within the next couple of weeks he was pulling himself up into a crawling position, then crawling.

Infant play is extremely important to their development. Appropriate toys can aid in their physical development. Unfortunately toys like swings, jumper, and walkers unnecessarily confine infants. A guideline to live by is that children ought not to ever be anywhere that they can’t get to on their own. They should never be lifted into anything- when you think about it, how respectful is this and would we let anyone put us in, or on top of anything? The child may ask for it or like it, but if they don’t get there themselves they are immobilized and we have taken away their power and command over their own bodies. The exception of course is strollers and car seats, but this is for safety when you are out with your child, not for play.
Animal Tracks, one of my favorites, also encourages movement without confinement. The reward for crawling, toddling, walking, strutting, running and skipping over it is hearing the delightful sound of the animals. The animal tracks on the toys surface design make the noise matching the animal tracks when stepped on or crawled over. Toddlers love cause and effect especially when it rewards them for using their bodies.
My favorite infant toys that encourage learning and physical development:
Jiggles
Caboodle Cube
Curley & Pals
Sunny Sounds
Rolling Reflections
Block Buggy
Working Trio
Tangiball
Infants and toddlers need space to move and grow and thus develop physically. They need toys that they can manipulate, not toys that will manipulate them. They need toys that are passive for their activity- a passive toy for an active child, as opposed to an active toy for a passive child. Passive toys encourages learning, just as freedom from confinement encourages physical development.
Other favorite infant-toddler toys
Measure Up Cups- This is one of the simplest and least expensive Discovery Toys that is developmentally useful from infancy to 2nd grade.
Baby Signs: Baby Signs Blog entry
Structures that encourage movement without confinement for older kids include:
3 n 1 play center
Mainstreet Playhouse
Astro Arcade: on clearance
Net Catch
Whistling Whirler

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