Floor Time

When your baby isn't sleeping, you want to offer her opportunities to test her coordination and expand her physical development. One of the best ways to do this is to spread a clean blanket on your living floor and get right down there with her for some mother/baby playtime. Having you next to her gives her the freedom to explore without feeling abandoned—your presence gives her a sense of security. Besides, both of you will enjoy this excuse to do nothing but have fun together. Here are some tips for making the most of this time spent at play:

Varying Opinions

Infant development experts have varying opinions on how best to encourage your baby toward improving her physical skills. Some experts feel that it's best to place the baby in a position that gives her the greatest freedom of movement. The least restrictive position for anyone is lying on the back. Try lying on your stomach, and then lying on your back. You will see that there are many more muscles you can use while supine on your back.

If you place your baby on her back, you will see her try to raise her head up off the ground, stretch her arm across her body to the other side, arch her back, twist her head around to look at something across the room, and lift her feet up in the air. While many experts advocate "tummy time" as a necessary balance to having babies sleep on their backs, tummy time isn't really necessary until babies can turn over from their backs to their tummies on their own.

Busy Society

Because we live in a busy society, our infants tend to spend a great deal of their waking time strapped into infant, bounce, or car seats, not to mention baby carriers. Moms should therefore make the effort to carve out time in their schedules to give their babies free play time on the floor so they can feel what it means to react to the space around them. This is the only way babies can work the muscles they must develop to roll over, sit, crawl, stand, and walk. Floor time helps give your child a sense of her place within her environment and this gives her the confidence she needs to develop her physical abilities.

While you should spend time down there on the floor with your baby, you don't have to do much more than be an encouraging presence. You might sing or talk to her or just watch her enjoying herself. This time together helps bond the two of you by giving you the chance to see the world from your baby's perspective.

Your baby doesn't need lots of pricey baby equipment. What she needs is encouragement, freedom, and companionship. If you provide a safe, fun space in which your baby can explore, you'll watch as your baby gives you the pleasure of seeing her developmental milestones.

Infant development experts have varying opinions on how best to encourage your baby toward improving her physical skills. Some experts feel that it's best to place the baby in a position that gives her the greatest freedom of movement. The least restrictive position for anyone is lying on the back. Try lying on your stomach, and then lying on your back. You will see that there are many more muscles you can use while supine on your back.

If you place your baby on her back, you will see her try to raise her head up off the ground, stretch her arm across her body to the other side, arch her back, twist her head around to look at something across the room, and lift her feet up in the air. While many experts advocate "tummy time" as a necessary balance to having babies sleep on their backs, tummy time isn't really necessary until babies can turn over from their backs to their tummies on their own.

Busy Society

Because we live in a busy society, our infants tend to spend a great deal of their waking time strapped into infant, bounce, or car seats, not to mention baby carriers. Moms should therefore make the effort to carve out time in their schedules to give their babies free play time on the floor so they can feel what it means to react to the space around them. This is the only way babies can work the muscles they must develop to roll over, sit, crawl, stand, and walk. Floor time helps give your child a sense of her place within her environment and this gives her the confidence she needs to develop her physical abilities.

While you should spend time down there on the floor with your baby, you don't have to do much more than be an encouraging presence. You might sing or talk to her or just watch her enjoying herself. This time together helps bond the two of you by giving you the chance to see the world from your baby's perspective.

Your baby doesn't need lots of pricey baby equipment. What she needs is encouragement, freedom, and companionship. If you provide a safe, fun space in which your baby can explore, you'll watch as your baby gives you the pleasure of seeing her developmental milestones.