Question:

What do you think about baby exercise? When, how often, which ones? In some ways, the pressure to do all the right things for my baby is driving me nuts. Any suggestions?

~Frazzled Mom

Answer:

There are five areas of development–cognitive (learning), motor (movement), social-emotional (interactions with people), language (speaking and listening),  and self-esteem (feeling good about yourself).

Ideally, these will stay in balance naturally. However, in today’s times, because of all the responsibilities everyone has and all the different areas of life that parents have to handle all at one time, this is often not the case.

Therefore, suggested is for parents to run through the above list from time to time and decide if any area is by chance being neglected. If they decide yes, then they need to make some changes to their baby’s schedule.

Back to the question at hand, exercise. If your baby is active, on the move, and busy exploring the world  as much as possible, forget about this. However, if you sense your baby could be doing more in terms of daily movements and manipulating objects, have some fun with some of the new baby exercise programs available.

If you think you are not moving around enough as well, think about a mom and baby program–good for you both.

CAUTION: Remember to keep that “fun and learning” approach to all that you and your baby do. That is the only approach that really works!

December! The Month of Giving

Give the gift of “balance” to your child during this holiday season.