Next time you're out in the backyard, the park, or even an outdoor concert – dance with your baby. Do so and two amazing things happen. First, responding to music is one of the few activities – other than laughter – that engages a baby's entire mind and helps her express emotion, pay attention, and move. Add the unpredictable movement of dancing and you'll turn on another vital system, the vestibular system, which controls balance and coordination.
Babies need plenty of opportunities for unrestricted movement. So choose or create a safe environment that encourages exploring and the development of skills such as reaching, rolling, sitting up, crawling, pulling up, cruising and walking. Set up a large blanket wherever is best for you and your baby to stretch, play and dance! It will also give your baby a welcoming place to practise lifting her head or develop strong muscles during ‘tummy time', and allow her to learn to roll, creep, crawl and sit. If you place a toy just out of reach, you'll encourage your baby to make an extra effort that will help her physical development.
Playing lots of games is also rewarding. Even only slightly physical games, like pat-a-cake and peek-a-boo, can do a lot to help your baby's learning and movement skills. And taking your baby to new places will stimulate her curiosity.
And when it comes to dancing with your baby, don't worry if you don't know how to! Repetitive swaying and bouncing are age-old strategies for distracting a cranky baby, or just using rhythmic movements. Just think of a word then do it, like: glide, sway, bounce, two-step, swoop, fly, zig-zag. To really help tune up your baby's sense of rhythm, why not put on some great dancing music with a thumping beat and have a real boogie – you'll have as much fun laughing and dancing with her as she will!
Many parents swear by the therapeutic effect of salsa music's syncopated rhythms on colicky babies. Lay your baby on her stomach across your arm, putting light pressure on her tummy with your hand (sometimes known as the “football hold”). Place your other hand on her back to hold her securely, and sashay away. Or if she prefers being upright, hold her in a seated position facing forward, with one hand under her bottom and the other on her tummy. If Latin dancing isn't to your little one's taste, try something else: reggae, pop or even some good ol' country!
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