Muscle development in the baby years

By Cozette Laubser |

For many parents, the first time they consider their child’s physical development is when a professional like a teacher, nurse, pediatrician or therapist mentions that their child is “showing signs of low muscle tone”, or “poor gross motor skills”, or asks a question like “Have you noticed that Amber seems quite passive, uncoordinated and clumsy…?” or “I think Nicholas may benefit from a movement programme like… or a therapy such as…”.

The first 14 months are the most important time to lay the foundation for all development that will follow. Muscle development is one long, continuous series of events that starts soon after conception and ends the day you stop moving.

Is there something that you can do to support muscle development at home during the baby years?

YES!

BabyGym is passionate about supporting natural brain and body development but for nature to run its course the baby’s home and school environment should support the body’s innate need to move.

Here are 3 fundamentals of muscle development that every parent, caregiver and baby class teacher should know:

THE MUSCLES REACT TO SENSORY STIMULATION

The flow of information through the nervous system starts with the senses. The sensory organs receive information from inside and outside the body and channel it to the brain. The brain makes sense of it and instructs the muscles to respond.

If the senses are under-sensitive it may mean that the brain will not receive adequate sensory information to reach its full potential. It may also mean there is not enough engagement from the senses to instruct the muscles to respond, explore and get moving.

If the senses are over-sensitive it may mean the brain is frequently overwhelmed by the sensory information that is channeled from inside and outside the body and that the body closes up to try and limit the sensory information. By implication, this means that where hands would generally seek out different objects and learn about their textures, size, temperature, shape and personal likes and dislikes, they now drastically limit their learning experiences. Similarly, a baby might move very little to try and maintain a feeling of calm and control.

This is the reason why BabyGym’s programmes start with baby massage and gentle sensory awakening – we can only focus on reaching movement milestones like rolling, sitting, crawling and walking once we know that the senses are working well – not too little or too much sensory information, just the right amount. A baby who is calm but alert is a baby who is ready to move!

Brain development will echo in body development and body development will reflect in brain development ~ Cozette Laubser

SEQUENCE MATTERS

Muscles develop from top to bottom

The body’s muscles follow a distinct sequence of development. If one looks at a baby moving through the birth canal on its way to being born, one will observe that the baby is born head first. (Well, in the vast majority of cases this is true, although feet first certainly is possible.) This is significant for many reasons, but for this article, we will focus on the heightened awareness of the head and upper body long before there is that same level of awareness of the feet.

The top refers to the head and the bottom refers to the core. The core includes the stomach and back muscles. The first muscle milestone a baby reaches after being born is suckling for nourishment – feeding. The mouth is high up on the body. The last big muscle milestone the baby reaches (in babyhood) is walking. The feet are way down below. Avoid positions and contraptions that emphasise the lower body in a timeframe when the upper body should be the focus.

The structural muscles around the spine and bones need to develop and build strength before we expect the limbs to move in coordinated and skilled ways. This is why babies who spend ample time on their tummy and back are more likely to reach milestones on time and in sequence. These positions allow the neck and core to develop adequately to support all other muscles and movements that will follow. We see this with our BabyGym babies who are comfortable moving and exploring on the ground – once they start sitting, crawling, pulling up and walking their posture is comment-worthy. Did we need to tell them, “Straighten that back!”? Absolutely not. Their core muscles are strong and capable, their beautiful posture hardly requires effort.

Muscles develop from the inside to the outside

Big muscles lead the way and the small muscles follow. If you look at a baby on their tummy – their head will lift, the shoulders lead and the arms and hands follow. With lots and lots of floor time the muscles strengthen and the baby will start to distribute their weight from one side to the other to free up a hand. Now the hands start to explore, grasp and develop agile little fingers.

Prioritise big muscle development before small muscle development.

If you take a look at a preschool curriculum you will find that the big muscles work for years – running, jumping, climbing, pushing, pulling and so forth, before the body is ready to draw, cut and thread with ease and precision.

The baby needs to develop awareness of the sides of the body

Aaah, the wisdom of the body continues – The newborn baby isn’t born aware of their front and back, left and right and upper and lower body – this awareness develops over time and with movement.

When the baby reaches milestones in sequence, the body demonstrates a growing awareness of the various sides of the body:

• Tummy and back time develop an awareness of the front and back of the body, but also the upper and lower body. When a baby is on the tummy baby will push the upper body off the floor. If the baby lies on their back they will lift their legs and kick.
• Rolling develops awareness of the left and right sides of the body.
• Sitting initially develops awareness of the upper and lower body but as the baby starts to sit without support the baby can also start to reach for and grasp items. Baby will repeat this on both sides of the body and then start to cross the midline – integrating the left and right sides of the body.
• Crawling adds a whole new level of complexity and further integrates the sides of the body – upper and lower body and left and right sides of the body.
• Walking refines the integration of the left and right sides of the body while relying more heavily on the sense of balance.

In her book, Play Learn Grow, Dr Melodie de Jager says,

“Babies and toddlers need to move in different directions to develop all the gross motor muscles that are needed for good posture. The midline is exactly what it says it is: an in-the-middle line. It is in the middle between:

• The front and back parts of the brain and body,
• the top and bottom parts of the brain and body, and
• the left and right sides of the brain and body.”

In other words, when the baby moves often and crosses the three middle lines of the body, the baby is also developing and integrating the corresponding parts of the brain. Isn’t that just amazing!

STAY CLOSE TO THE GROUND

Muscle tone develops when we move against the pull of gravity. ~ Dr Melodie de Jager

All mammals start their developmental journey from the ground up and babies should too! If you were to watch a 14-month time-lapse of a baby reaching milestones in sequence you will see a very slow and gradual move away from the ground. Floor time to rolling, rolling to sitting, sitting to crawling, crawling to pulling up, pulling up to standing, standing to cruising and cruising to walking.

When this transition is slow and progressive all sensory-motor systems stay up to speed. The baby is constantly growing – their body awareness/body map needs to update all the time (that is why continuing with baby massage can be a great help!), the balance system needs to level up and the visual system needs to overlap with the balance system. Baby now needs to maintain visual orientation and balance while moving. Finally, they need to integrate milestones already reached with emerging milestones. Phew! No wonder babies need sleep, this stuff is tiring!

With this very slow and gradual move away from the ground the baby’s protective responses do a great job to keep the baby safe. When the baby topples over or falls it’s a slight bump but it’s generally more fright than injury that causes the baby to cry. But, if a baby is placed in a contraption like a walking ring where the height and speed exceed what the baby is equipped to handle, we, unfortunately, see accidents that end up in the emergency room.

IN SUMMARY

It doesn’t take much to set a child up for a lifetime of movement, and as a bonus extra – finding joy in the ability to move! But it does start in the baby years. Knowledge is power. Take what you have learnt and apply it as a lifestyle.

Should your little one need support to reach a milestone, know that it is never too late and that we would be more than happy to help:

Find a BabyGym Instructor near you.

Browse books by Dr Melodie de Jager.