Tummy time not only strengthens your baby’s neck, back, and arms, but it also supports the development of their higher level gross motor skills (like rolling, crawling, walking), hand skills (developing the muscles in the arches of the hands as baby bears weight on them), visual skills (teaching the eyes to work together), and even speech and feeding skills (strengthening the neck which supports the jaw for talking and eating). Additionally, when babies spend time on their tummies it takes weight off the back of their heads and is important for prevention of flat spots. Many baby play gyms are now equipped with a small, non-breakable mirror so that babies can spend time looking at themselves in the mirror. Babies tend to notice themselves in the mirror around 3-5 months of age (staring at it, reaching at it). They may first smile at themselves in the mirror between about 5-8 months and then they may playfully respond to their mirror image by laughing, patting, or making faces in the mirror around 6-9 months. All of these skills are important for the development of self-awareness, and baby gyms provide babies the opportunity to practice these skills. Sensory stimulation is probably one of the most well-known means of interacting and playing with babies during their first year. Baby gyms often feature a variety of textures, sounds, and colours in order to stimulate babies’ senses while engaging with the gym. Once your baby begins mouthing objects, you can hang teething toys from the arches so they can reach for them (on back or tummy) and bring them to the mouth for oral stimulation and exploration. In addition to sensory stimulation, baby gyms can also facilitate your baby’s awareness of sensory stimulations such as visual and auditory. Visually, babies begin to look from one object to another when they are about 6-8 inches apart and 1 foot away from their chest, at about 2.5-3.5 months of age. The
Tummy time not only strengthens your baby’s neck, back, and arms, but it also supports the development of their higher level gross motor skills (like rolling, crawling, walking), hand skills (developing the muscles in the arches of the hands as baby bears weight on them), visual skills (teaching the eyes to work together), and even speech and feeding skills (strengthening the neck which supports the jaw for talking and eating). Additionally, when babies spend time on their tummies it takes weight off the back of their heads and is important for prevention of flat spots. Many baby play gyms are now equipped with a small, non-breakable mirror so that babies can spend time looking at themselves in the mirror. Babies tend to notice themselves in the mirror around 3-5 months of age (staring at it, reaching at it). They may first smile at themselves in the mirror between about 5-8 months and then they may playfully respond to their mirror image by laughing, patting, or making faces in the mirror around 6-9 months. All of these skills are important for the development of self-awareness, and baby gyms provide babies the opportunity to practice these skills. Sensory stimulation is probably one of the most well-known means of interacting and playing with babies during their first year. Baby gyms often feature a variety of textures, sounds, and colours in order to stimulate babies’ senses while engaging with the gym. Once your baby begins mouthing objects, you can hang teething toys from the arches so they can reach for them (on back or tummy) and bring them to the mouth for oral stimulation and exploration. In addition to sensory stimulation, baby gyms can also facilitate your baby’s awareness of sensory stimulations such as visual and auditory. Visually, babies begin to look from one object to another when they are about 6-8 inches apart and 1 foot away from their chest, at about 2.5-3.5 months of age. The