Baby Lead Movement

[helle]

I couldn't agree with that method more, yeddi. My son sounds like yours in the respect that he is and always has been quite strong, however I've never had him in or on anything other than the floor. More so because I think it's unsafe, than anything else. Having a baby standing for example that hasn't got any skills yet to stand on their own just doesn't sit well with me.
Thanks for digging that up!

[Tuesday's Child]

Hmm it's an interesting idea, but what is a parent to do if their child hates lying down. For the first 5 months, DD hated, hated being laid on the floor, both on her back and on her tummy. (It was only after starting osteo treatment that she started to enjoy it). She was able to lift her head (briefly) from birth and has always preferred being upright. People often commented on the way DH and I would hold her. It felt natural to hold her upright with her head resting against our shoulder and she was happiest in this position. She also preferred reclining against our legs facing us as we played.

I guess it's not just about baby-led movement, but baby-led positioning too.

[Loula]

Hi Everyone!
I just wanted to share my experience with our 10month old baby. We made a conscious decision before she was born to only put her in positions she could take up for herself. Our reasoning behind this is rather long winded, but the idea is that babies learn to roll, sit, walk etc without being put in that position by us. At times this has been challenging. There are things like the carseat that cannot be avoided, but other then that she is always popped on the floor on her back, we don't stand her on her legs, and have only in the past few weeks sat her on our knee (we lay her back on our body and she can sit from there but we haven't 'sat' her up)
Watching her exercise and move her body has been astounding, she does things that I have never seen babies do before. Since birth she has been doing baby sit ups and uses her muscles and neck to get her head to look at things across the room. She is just about to be able to pull herself to sitting from laying down, she is so close and we are all watching her every new posture as this milestone gets closer. She can roll easily, commando crawl and pull herself to sitting up in her pram and a baby crib (this is where she eats until sitting up then to highchair) Her determination is strong and at times she needs loving support from her cheer squad family as she shifts through each new position. But mostly she is happy laying down and choosing how she would like to be rather then me choosing for her whether she will sit etc.
Since we began this journey we have now come across a movement of body workers (chiro/osteo etc) that are now educating parents to not sit babies up until they can do this for themselves to help with their body and long term affects.
Mostly with this being my third child, I have loved sitting back and watching her come to things instead of me wanting her to sit or take up a gesture that she is not ready for yet.
I wanted to know if anyone else has done this or heard of this before?
This post is judging what you are doing with your baby and their body positions, I am just interested to see what others think. The response IRL has been amazing we have been so supported!
Thanks for reading!

Firstly I have not read all the replies so i am sorry if i go off on one.......blah!

This is somthing that I have a strong belief in and have practiced for many years. I get so frustrated when I see other people/carers in my field of work get children to do things before their bodies may be ready. (I was only have this convo with my SIL today)

OK my son crawls, and has done since 5.5mths, he is fast really fast and now at 7 mths is pulling himself up to stand, we have never 'encouraged this' one thing he does not do is sit! a GF made a comment that she has never seen a child that can crawl so well not sit..........developmentally they should crawl before sitting

Well done

[ladybirdflies]

Thanks for the reply. Much appreciated! It has been an incredible journey thus far.

[Sammiejane]

I know I have come in on this one late, but I have a question...

We are really busy and I am frequently out if the house, swimming lessons, shopping, visiting people etc etc... How do I incorporate this? I use a sling when I'm out most of the time as DD has reflux and prefers to be upright.
Today we are about to spend the day cleaning up the backyard, so out doors all day, it's cold so the sling will work to keep her warm too...

Also what are your thoughts on bouncers (in the flat position) DD is 8weeks today so not terribly wiggly yet, although loads of arm and leg kicking, we use this when I'm hanging out the washing or in other rooms...

Thanks, very interesting topic


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[Ca Plane Pour Moi]

DS was a sicky baby, so spent quite a bit of time sitting up. Having said that, he rolled at 6w so he must have spent some time not sat up! He was sitting on his own before we started using a baby chair, from memory.

I think I pretty much did this. DS spent quite a bit of time sitting on my lap (clingy/sicky baby) and in the carrier, but he was pretty much allowed to do as he wanted most of the time. He rolled early and walked early - I remember him lying on his back, grabbing my hands and hauling himself to his feet! That was just over 6m old. But he was an active baby in the womb too, maybe that had something to do with it?

[buliej]

I've just skimmed this - my reason for looking at this thread is that once again, I made a purchase based on a friend's recommendation and then investigated rather than investigated and then purchased (when will I learn!) - I purchased a Bumbo seat thinking that DS would like this as it allows him to sit up and also thought I could feed him in this ... before he has the muscle control to do so (and before the ABA BLS session I attended yesterday and learned that if he can't sit, he shouldn't be eating) ...after thinking about it, I decided to look into it a bit more and have read that it's not such a great idea to use things like this ... and if used at all, should be used for short periods of time as babies who use the Bumbo frequently don't develop the tummy muscles they need for many of the later physical stages. So another item to be put back on ebay