and what are they?
Why do we use the words Play – Move – Learn at Baby College? It is because at our core our Baby College parent and baby programme concentrates on your baby’s correct neurological development.
We do this by having activities and exercise throughout the ages that to help mature your baby’s balance system and replace their infant (primitive) reflexes with more adult responses.
What are Infant Reflexes?
Newborn babies have no control over their body’s movements so nature (and a millennia of evolution) has developed a system which overcomes this problem and this solution is a set of automatic inbuilt infant reflexes. All babies are born with this set of infant reflexes and they help them survive their time in the womb, the birthing process and their first few months of life. These reflexes are not only essential for their survival in those early months but are needed for their subsequent development.
An infant reflex manifests itself as a specific response to a specific stimulation. A second’s old baby stroked gently on the side of their face will turn their head, purse their lips and root for the breast (Rooting Reflex) and if that breast is placed in the baby’s mouth they will suck (Sucking Reflex). These reflexes make sure that the baby can feed, but they have no control over this action; if you stroke their cheek their head will turn and they are helpless to prevent this from happening. However, as this action is repeated over and over again the young baby will develop muscle control and will be able to override this reflex. They will develop a more mature, adult response to the stimuli and will eventually be able to move their heads and suck whenever they want to and not be controlled by their reflex.
The key to your baby replacing their infant reflexes is to repeat these movements often and this should ensure that all their infant reflexes are ‘used up’. Sometimes this doesn’t happen naturally and within our expertly designed Baby College classes we use a set of age appropriate specific exercises to ensure that this process does happen.
Why is it Important?
For normal neurological development to happen a baby must use up and replace its infant reflexes at the appropriate time. The retention of these primitive reflexes can sometimes hinder correct development and are thought to weaken the necessary building blocks which are needed for learning later in childhood.
It is really important that you provide your young baby plenty of opportunity for moving so that these reflexes will be replaced. Here are some examples of games that will help
• plenty of tummytime opportunities
• dancing around the kitchen together
• action songs which move baby’s arms and legs
• singing ‘This Little Piggy went to Market’ whilst playing with fingers and toes
Modern sedentary lifestyles are not conducive for your baby’s neurological development, so it is up to you to provide the movement and the fun! So lots of ‘play’ and ‘move’ to help with the later learning
Baby College can make this easier for you by giving you lots of ideas of how to play with and stimulate your baby.
