12 tips to optimise movement in your baby's first year

Chiropractor and parent educator, Dr Ainslee shares 12 simple tips to optimise movement in your baby's first year of life.

Motor development in babies is a contentious topic. People have different ideas around what is needed, what isn’t needed and what should and shouldn’t be done. Today I’m here to bring you 12 simple tips to optimise movement in their first year of life to help with their motor development.

These tips are designed to set your little one up to have freedom of movement so they can get their move and groove on! Let’s get started.

1. Nappy-free time

I can hear you gasping and thinking you can’t do this due to the mess. Let’s get practical here for a second – baby mess isn’t that bad. If you put a towel underneath them when they are nappy-free it can catch anything, then you can whip that towel away to the laundry easy peasy.

Why? Nappy free time allows freedom of movement in the hips without any restriction from the nappy. Today’s nappies are pretty good and don’t restrict movement that much. However, in those early days when learning to move, it just takes the small added resistance away. Giving babies an opportunity to kick around nappy-free helps them learn to move their body and understand where their legs are in space without the nappy on. Most babies LOVE this time.

2. Free play

Free play is when you allow a baby to explore their surroundings without restriction. This means where possible, avoiding baby containers and providing plenty of opportunities throughout the day to have lots of time on the floor playing without restriction to explore their body in space as they see fit.

Why? Often today we accidentally restrict babies’ movement in the early days when movement is important. We don’t feel like they are really up to much in those early days, but they are stretching out slowly but surely; so giving them space and time to do this is important. Opting for on the floor free-play over time in a baby container (where possible) would be my recommendation. 

3. Tummy time

Tummy time isn't just dumping your baby on the floor on their stomach. It is about giving a baby an opportunity to use their neck muscles in an interactive way, it is about stretching out the front side of their body and encouraging spatial awareness, and much more. This can be tummy to tummy on a parent’s chest, or how we hold them as we walk around the house. There are lots of different ways to get tummy time and small babies don't need a huge amount of it every day. Work with what your child is capable of, given their age.

Why? Tummy time helps a child use important primitive reflexes, stretch out the front of their body, build strength in the back of their body, encourage spatial awareness and much more. These things are all pivotal in overall motor development later in life.

4. Bare feet are great

Provided your baby doesn’t have any anatomical feet anomalies or hyper-flexibility, barefoot is a great choice. Bare feet or socks are a good option from newborn through to walkers because it allows them to use all the muscles in their feet and develop their arches. The feet need to move to build strength and give feedback to the brain about the type of surface they are on and where their body is in space. Being barefoot is not always safe or practical, but where possible, such as around the home or at the beach, opt for this.

Why? Even a newborn is using their tiny toes often, when we put stiff shoes on them, they lose the ability to get sensory feedback from the toes and feet. Remember it is not what we do sometimes that has an impact, but what we do most of the time. Cute shoes that match an outfit for an outing here and there is not a problem!

5. Clothing and surface

This is a great thing for parents to be aware of in the first year of life! When a child is learning to move, we want to minimise factors that restrict or make movement harder. A perfect example of this is a baby learning to crawl wearing pants and socks on hardwood floors. The fabric makes their knees and feet slippery and this makes it hard for the baby to get traction. In this situation taking the clothing off and allowing the baby to have skin on the hardwood floor would give better traction for them. The opposite can happen with carpet, sometimes there is too much traction and grip, for example, some fabrics stick to the carpet more than others.

Why? Reducing the extra resistance to movement helps babies learn how to move without extra, unneeded challenges. “But my baby gets sore knees when they are bare on the floor!” This typically isn’t a problem, unless it is causing the baby pain! Typically babies will have a time where the skin on their knees 'toughens up', parents might observe reddened knees and maybe slight grazing, however, it is very rare that it actually causes a problem for the baby. If the knee skin is getting quite chaffed you could look at putting pants on for a day or two to let it heal and then going back to bare knees.

6. Set up an environment for the current age and stage

This can be done with the child's surroundings. If you have a baby that is learning to roll, you can facilitate that development by placing toys just out of reach and leaving them to figure that out (provided they are happy). Be aware of what your child is currently working on motor-wise, and set up an environment that will allow them to work on that.

Why? Without awareness of what your child is working on, it can be easy to restrict or contain a baby’s movement rather than create an environment to support them to work on development at their own pace.

7. The powerful pause

Communication between baby and parent starts from birth. Chatting to your baby and then pausing to let them respond can be a powerful tool to use throughout your child's life. The powerful pause gives them an opportunity to respond and engage, whether the response is body language, cooing or speech doesn't matter. Communication doesn't need to be vocal. The powerful pause is applied to movement too.

Why and how? Often, when we see our children playing or trying to do something we want to help them. For example, if a child was trying to climb stairs, it is tempting to intervene, however pausing and watching (provided they are safe) gives them space and time to explore – which helps them figure movement out. It also helps them learn how to fall, which teaches them where their limits are. How much free reign you give a child often depends on their temperament. Some babies are naturally more conservative than other children who may be risk takers and go into things head first. 

8. Connection is key

There are so many things to do as a parent, the list is never-ending.  Remembering to slow down and soak in those smaller moments of connection is important. Although, I know it can be easier said than done sometimes. As parents we don't need to be perfect, we just need to do what we can, when we can. Sometimes our best looks different from day to day, but those moments of connection add up throughout the day and help a child feel safe. Parents are everything to their children and the smaller moments of connection throughout a day are as big for a child as the larger moments. Connection during movement and play is a great way to incorporate connection into motor development, which encourages them to move. Play with them, meet them where they're at, explore with them. If they are learning to crawl, play games crawling with them.

9. Utilise baby containers appropriately

I do not mean Tupperware, I mean any container a baby goes in, such as a capsule, stroller, sitting container, baby walker, etc. Knowing how to use these devices in a way that is appropriate for your family and supports development at the given age and stage of your baby's life is important. Earlier, we spoke about free play and tummy time – these are two aspects of non-container time that, where possible, should be prioritised over container use. However, like everything in parenting, there is no black and white, containers are needed more for some families than they are for others. Do what fits your family and your baby.

Why? Depending on the baby and the baby container, they don’t necessarily help a child learn a skill because they give support – meaning they don’t need to learn the precursor movement to be able to execute that task to begin with. For example, sit-in baby walkers don’t necessarily help a child learn how to walk (unless that child has delays, at which point they can be very useful) because they are propping them into a standing position before they have the balance, strength and coordination to get into that position themselves. Therefore, that time is better spent working on those skills needed to get into that position rather than learning to 'walk' with support.

10. Age appropriate toys

Knowing what your child is working on at their age can help with knowing what toys are appropriate. For example, holey balls are great for newborns because they can easily grasp their fingers through the holes and hold on to it. If a baby isn't interested in a particular toy, maybe they aren't ready for it yet. Or maybe they are past it. Sometimes the best toys are kitchen utensils and real-life objects such as crunchy leaves, so don't panic if you don't have 'all the toys'.

Why? Motor development is not just about the big milestones like rolling, sitting and walking. It is about fine motor control and smaller movements as well. Any toy that promotes movement via play is helping overall with motor development.

11. Make life easier with habit stacking

Often parents can get overwhelmed with having to do 'all the things'. It can be helpful to build mini rhythms into your day that means you do things on autopilot without having to think about them. For example, attaching a mini rhythm to nappy changes (when possible) can help with getting tummy time and nappy-free time in. After daytime nappy changes at home you could do a few minutes of tummy time (depending on the age of the child) and have some nappy-free kick time afterwards.

12. Get outside often

Outside is a sensory bath for everyone. Not only is it great for babies, but it is great for parents too! Outside has different terrains, different smells, different sensations such as wind on their face and in their ears. There are also different sounds such as birds. Outside is a great way to reset and explore, not to mention the exposure to natural daylight helps with circadian rhythm and sleep! Outside is a win-win and challenges a child to move and explore on different, ever-changing terrains which helps them master their motor skills. 

Motor development doesn’t need to be difficult or confusing, but setting up an environment that allows development to unfold naturally is key.

Dr Ainslee is a sleep and devlopment educator, chiropractor and mother. Ainslee lives in the Manawatu with her two-year-old son, husband and dog. Find out more about her other passions at brainunderconstruction.co.nz or @babysleepwithainslee on Instagram.