Avoid this if you want to Nourish your Baby’s Brain

As a mom, I understand how it feels to want to give your baby the best start. We can't help but desire it. In fact, if we didn't have this drive we might neglect our babies. We try to do “all the right things”. If possible we try to breastfeed or maybe have a drug-free birth or maybe we look for chemical-free baby products. 

What it takes to nourish your baby's brain and learning isn't something we hear about frequently.  I want to change this. I want to share something which can interfere with development, which is incredibly common and that is the many different “baby containers” that make life easier for Mom. It may surprise you to hear that something as simple as a baby container could be interfering with your baby's development. I’ll explain why. 

Babies spend a lot of time in containers today. Some examples would be bouncy chairs, exersaucers, infant car seats, swings, and jumpers. The Containers may interfere with development because they prevent full-body movement. Movement grows the brain. Alternatively, Your baby's brain is stimulated, alert, and ready for learning when your baby is on their tummy (on the back is valuable too, but ideally the tummy).

Baby Containers aren't Helping Our Babies' Development

When your baby spends hours in containers it steals hours of precious time they could be stimulating their brain through movement. I relied on containers for my babies too. I had no idea the amount of free movement it was preventing. I understand what it’s like when you want to have a shower or make dinner, or the need to protect your baby from older kids who are running around, and so we put our babies in something.

So how can we still make life easier for Moms without the baby container? 

My solution is a playpen.

I used to have a negative view of playpens. They seemed like a cage, But, babies can move freely and safely in a playpen. Playpens are also easy to transport from room to room. In a playpen, babies can move freely. Movement grows the brain.

Movement also encourages the use of the primitive reflexes which is another very important factor in physical development and brain development. This is another topic I will address in another post. 

If you are interested in learning more check out my free Guide, 8 Tools & Toys to Stimulate Your Baby's Brain. Download Here

Link to the AAP: American Academy of Pediatrics provided a study -on the importance of tummy time for development. https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article/145/6/e20192168/76940/Tummy-Time-and-Infant-Health-Outcomes-A-Systematic