- Moms and dads, please stop doing pull to sits with babies.
So that is essentially when you hold your baby's hand
and they're lying down and you pull them from the ground
up into sitting.
This is not an exercise for your baby,
that's gonna work on their head control
or their tummy muscles.
What it is is actually an assessment we therapists use
to determine if your baby has headlights
or essentially when they come up,
if their heads lagging a bit behind their trunk,
then it shows that they haven't yet got that head control,
which would be wanting.
So it's not an actual exercise.
It's an assessment tool that we use.
And it's not something that we as therapists recommend.
So if you've heard it at all from well-meaning parents
or on any kind of YouTube channel
or read about it on the internet, stop doing it now.
What I'm going to show you is some activities
that you would generally be doing throughout your day
but it's going to be working on your baby's head control
which is what this pull to sit activity
was supposedly working on.
And it's also gonna be working on those stomach muscles.
So make sure you stay tuned
to find out what those activities are.
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If you're new to this channel, my name's Emma
and this channel is all about helping you become
an extremely confident parent
by sharing the tips and tricks I've learned along the way
practicing as a pediatric occupational therapist
and also being a mom to two children.
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Before we get into the activities
that are gonna help with develop your baby's head control
and gross motor skills,
make sure you click on that free PDF document
in the description box below
which covers what you can be expecting
in regards to your baby's developmental milestones
for their first year of life.
This will give you invaluable peace of mind
as you'll know what your baby should be doing
and when to be concerned.
So the first activity you can do with your baby
which is gonna work on that head control
is when you've put your baby onto the ground
or you pick them up from the ground
you always do it through sidelines.
So that essentially means that you roll your baby
onto the side, onto their side when you're lifting them
and you do it slowly so it gives them time
to actually get their neck muscles switched on.
And then so you roll them onto the side
and then you pick them up
or you roll them onto their side
and then you put them onto their back.
Now your baby is born with a reflex,
which means that when they're rolled onto their side,
they will automatically kind of switch on this neck muscles
so that it tries to keep their head
in the middle of their body.
And that is automatically using that reflex
to then work on that strengthening of those neck muscles.
So this is a really great activity
that you can do with your baby
when they're a newborn
and then continue it on over the next few months.
The second activity you can do with your baby
is lots and lots of tummy time.
Now if your hates tummy time,
make sure you check out my video on tummy time
and covering the four different tummy time options
that's gonna make it significantly easier for your baby
but essentially tummy time
works on strengthening your baby's back muscles
and their neck so that they can lift their head
as well as their arms and shoulder stability.
The third activity you can do with your baby
is actually let them play when they're lying on their back.
So initially your baby will be lying on their back
and their head will fall to their side
when they're at a newborn phase.
But they'll soon develop stronger neck muscles
so that they'll be able to keep their head
in the middle of their body, so in their midline,
and then they will start to track toys.
So particularly if they're under a baby gym,
they'll look at a toy
and then they'll follow up with the head
and that's all working on their neck strength.
The other thing is when they're lying on their back
and they kick,
that's putting like basically their cause coming on
or their tummy muscles are coming on at that stage.
And as they get stronger,
they'll actually start lifting their legs off the ground
and they'll be able to use their hands to touch their knees
and then there'll be able to,
their stomach muscles will get stronger,
and there'll be able to use their hands
and they'll touch their feet.
So it's all great opportunities to work on that neck control
and that tummy strength.
And the fourth activity you can do with your babe
to work on their head control and their core strength
is really when you're holding them.
Initially you'll be providing them
with quite a lot of support.
So you'll be providing support at their heads
and around their body, but as they get stronger
you'll naturally start to remove the amount of support
initially you're providing at their head.
So you'll bring it a little bit away from their head
so that they can move their head slightly
and they'll start looking around.
So again, that's working on that head control
but as I get stronger again,
then you remove that hand completely
and then you start lowering your hand
when the hand that's holding their body.
So that's it moms and dads,
those are the four activities that you can do with your baby
to work on developing their neck control
and their stomach muscles and general core strength.
So, and it's a lot safer than doing a pull to sit
so holding their arms and bringing them up into sitting
which you should definitely stop doing
if you are doing that.
If you've enjoyed this video
make sure you hit that like button
and subscribe to this channel
if you wanna make parenting significantly easier
and hopefully I'll see you next week
where I'll be able to share more parenting tips and tricks.
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