Stop Pulling Babies into Sitting: Do these 4 Baby Activities Instead! Newborn Activities

0:00 - 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.

0:36 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.

1:08 And it's also gonna be working on those stomach muscles. So make sure you stay tuned to find out what those activities are. (upbeat music) 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. Now if you wanna make parenting easier make sure you start now by subscribing to my channel and hitting that bell so you won't miss a thing.

1:37 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.

2:08 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.

2:40 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.

3:19 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.

3:48 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.

4:10 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.

4:36 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.

5:02 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. (upbeat music)