Your baby is likely becoming very busy. By 6-12 months old, they are probably crawling and well on their way to walking.
With these newly learned skills, your baby is now more skilled in moving around the house, which can lead to a constant need for your watchfulness.
It’s at this age that caregivers need to find the balance between promoting a child’s movement and exploration, while keeping them within eyesight while you tend to the tasks of daily life.
For babies at this age, movement involves moving their smaller muscles in their fingers and their larger muscles in their arms and legs.
Why moving matters
- When children move, brain connections are made. Movement helps to develop children’s cognitive skills as well as their physical skills. Research suggests that promoting movement and activity in young children helps increase memory, perception, language, attention, emotion, and even decision making as they grow.
- Moving can promote alertness as children have to be attentive to what they are doing.
- Just like exercise can help adults de-stress, being able to move can calm children.
- Movement helps children learn self-confidence as they learn they can control their body movements.
Words of caution
- Be careful not to overly restrict your baby’s ability to move and explore the world. It becomes easy to put your baby in the high chair, in the swing, or in the play pen to limit their chances of getting into unsafe situations. However, too much time in confined equipment can limit a baby’s opportunities to explore and learn about their world. This can hinder a child’s healthy development. Avoid having your baby confined for more than 30 minutes at a time.
- Don’t use baby walkers. Baby walkers have been found to limit physical development and babies’ desire to walk. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, walkers present a serious tipping hazard when the child bumps into an obstacle, like a small toy or a throw rug. Children in walkers are also more likely to fall down stairs and get into dangerous places.
- Screen time is discouraged for infants and children younger than 2 years old. Instead, choose interactive activities that stimulate brain development, such as reading, playing, walking, and dancing together.
Encouraging movement to help baby grow
- Safety-proof your home to allow your baby a safe place to move and explore. For a free safety consultation call (605) 312-8390 or email parenting@sanfordhealth.org
- Dance together. You can do this with or without music.
- Let your baby explore by climbing or crawling while you supervise nearby.
- Provide pop-up toys to help them develop hand-eye coordination.
- Place a toy just out of reach to encourage your baby to move towards it.
- Give your baby toys in the bath so they can practice pouring.
- Let your baby play with toys they can stack or simple puzzles they can assemble.
- Play with balls. Roll small balls to your child and encourage them to roll the ball back.
- Help your baby walk around by holding their hands.
Movement matters. Provide your baby with time and spaces to safely move and explore the world.
Learn more
- Baby’s 1st birthday: Your child’s 12-month checkup
- Teething truths: Signs, symptoms and when baby may be sick
- Take steps to keep your little explorer safe
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Posted In Children's, Family Medicine, Parenting
