During the first six months of life, your baby is completely dependent on you, and develops together with you and others who are close by. The baby learns to use its senses and seeks more and more contact.

The infant's need for movement

A child's motor development follows a pattern and there is rarely any reason to accelerate it. Each child develops at a different pace, although development follows a certain predetermined plan. Some skip a step, such as crawling. Learning a new movement is often difficult and it takes a lot of practice before the child can do it without thinking.

Initially, the child learns to control the head and neck, then the arms and upper body, and finally the legs. It is necessary to be able to balance their head before it is possible to learn to sit or stand. The child does not need any specific training in motor skills, for example to learn to crawl. What is important is that the child has the opportunity to use his or her abilities. Spending time on the floor with your child and having them lie on their tummy provides good stimulation. Play is important for all children, young and old. Play can be compared to an adult's everyday exercise.

For babies, it is important to lie on their stomachs while awake, starting with short periods if they get tired. Tummy time stimulates the baby's motor development, trains the baby's balance and muscles and improves head control. Start getting your baby used to lying on their stomach right from the start, for a little while each time they are awake. This way, the tummy position becomes natural for the child. It is usually easier for the baby to lie on a firmer surface, such as a thin mattress on the floor, and sometimes it helps if the baby has a rolled-up towel under the chest. Lying on their stomach is the first step in learning to turn around, roll over and crawl.

Young children don't need organized activity, just looking at the parent's face is very exciting! The parent can lie on their stomach opposite, make eye contact and talk to the child. Lying on the tummy also prevents one-sided strain on the back of the baby's head, which can affect the shape of the skull as an infant's skull bone is soft and malleable. If the baby lies in the same position against a firm surface, there is a risk that the shape of the skull will be skewed. If the child always lies still on its back, the shape of the skull risks becoming flat at the back. Vary the head position when the child is lying on its back so that the child's head is turned alternately to the right and to the left. Having the child in a baby sitter or car seat (when not traveling by car) and having the child in a baby carrier for longer periods of time means a passive sitting position and can also affect the child's head shape. The joy of movement comes naturally to the child and it is the role of the adult to create the conditions for this.

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