CONGRATULATIONS!

You worked really hard to get that little human into the world so we salute you and congratulate you on the arrival of your newest family member!

The world is an exciting and at times overwhelming place for your newborn at this time, and you may be reasonably overwhelmed too! After all, there are no instructions to come with your bundle of joy.  We know you still want to do everything you can to aid in their safe and secure development.

Thankfully there is so much you can do at this age, such as holding your baby, singing and talking to them, encouraging independent movement, and tending to their needs while comforting them!

Your baby is constantly learning by taking in and processing the tons of sensory experiences around them each day, building on their skills, and meeting milestones!

Each child is unique in their timeline of achieving developmental milestones, which depends on many factors, such as prematurity, which will affect the timeline of achieving these milestones and others.

Development is not linear, and often our children will seem to excel in one area of development like gross motor skills that we are easily able to observe, while building skills in other areas like cognition or language which will be evident later on. In this manner, each area of development has its own rate of progress, dependent on environmental stimuli and each child’s individual experiences.

Read on for a summary of these milestones in each of the areas of development for your baby and for ways to utilize your Busy Baby Mat - a versatile product that grows with your child, to aid in promotion of these skills through developmentally appropriate activities!

 

This list is meant to briefly summarize your baby’s milestones and offer suggestions for  Busy Baby Mat  use for your child, and does not substitute for medical advice. If you are at all concerned regarding your child’s development or achievement of their milestones, please discuss these concerns with your pediatrician. 

How to use your  Busy Baby Mat at birth-3 months

1) Anywhere you are waiting with baby in the carrier

You can wrap your mat around your infant carrier handle while you wait or are out for walk.  (DO NOT USE THIS WAY WHILE DRIVING).

Hanging high contrast items from the tethers will promote skills of staring at objects and visual tracking to follow toys.

Use the tethers at varying heights, try placing an attached toy in your babies’ hands and watch as they discover their own hands as they begin to bring to their mouth!

2) Traveling-Flying with your infant

Attach your Busy Baby Mat to the plane window with baby toys attached to tethers for fun visual stimulation, and visual tracking opportunities.

3) Play time

Hang your  Busy Baby Mat around your child’s baby gym/activity center. Use tethers to hang your high contrast toys to encourage head, neck, and trunk strength during tummy time.

Hanging noise-making toys like rattles or Oballs can be a great way to encourage batting toward these for a fun cause/effect game!

The Busy Baby Mat conveniently folds into the carrying sleeve for ease of use wherever you go with your baby!

Key take aways:

• Your baby achieves developmental milestones in regards to their vision, cognition, fine and gross motor, and social emotional development.
• Your  Busy Baby Mat offers a portable and functional way to help support your baby during this period of development.
• If concerned about your child’s development, reach out to your pediatrician for further guidance and support.

 Get creative, and enjoy your baby!

~Katie the OT Mom

 You can find Katie on Instagram at @otmomwithablog or reach her via email at otmomwithablog@gmail.com