7 Physical Treatments To Enhance Your Newborn's Motor Skills

It is true that newborns will learn their ability naturally. However, you probably have not acknowledged that you, yes you, parents, can enhance this skill by increasing your baby's strength and coordination.

In the newborns, motor control is still immature, which means that their ability to hold their head straight or hold their body straight is limited. Some gentle physical treatments can enhance development of motor control in them and impart them a greater coordination. Some of these activities are:

(1) Massage
Massage helps in the growth and development of babies. Babies, who are massaged, acquire more weight, are less irritable and sleep better. They are also more receptive, and they show better mental and motor development. Furthermore, babies love the sensation of massage. Thus, provide your baby with a Baby Massage.

Here is the standard way of massaging a baby:

Extend a towel on a soft carpet. Lay your bare baby on her tummy over the towel. Apply little baby oil onto your hands and rub your hands together to warm up the oil (be sure your baby is not allergic to the oil). Now tenderly massage your baby from her neck to shoulders, then neck to buttocks, then arms to hands, down the legs to her feet. Turn your baby over and massage from her neck to shoulders, then neck to tummy, then the limbs.

(2) Rub with different textures
Rub your baby's limbs, hands, feet with different textures, e.g., soft and cushiony, smooth, bumpy etc. You may use fabrics of different textures e.g., silk, velvet, wool and denim cloth for this purpose. This treatment will help develop baby's sense of touch. Be careful, to keep her away from rough textures.

(3) Exercise her arms and legs
Lay the baby on her back on a blanket spread on floor. Hold baby's hand; gently extend out her arm and then take the hand to the shoulder, bending her elbow. Repeat this 5-6 times with both the hands. Lift her arms up and down gently while she's lying on her back. Likewise, hold her feet, stretch out the legs gently. Now bend the knees and bringing feet closer to thighs, or you can try cycling her legs in a bicycle movement. You can talk or sing to your baby while you exercise her limbs.

(4) Exercise her neck, back and arms
Spread baby's blanket on the floor and lay your baby on her tummy over the blanket. Get a colorful rattle and shake it out to her. Once an eye contact of baby with rattle is acquired, hover the rattle and again descend it. Her eyes will follow the rattle and this will encourage her to lift her head and exercise her neck, back and arm muscles.

(5) Let her move her hands and feet
It is also a good practice to lay the infant on back and allow her some time to kick her feet and move hands. This would be a good exercise for her entire body, especially the limbs.

(6) Lay your baby in different positions
Lay her on back, tummy and on side when your baby is awake. This practice will effectively strengthen the tummy and back muscles of the babies. Make sure that you perform this activity while the baby is awake as it is not safe to let the babies sleep on their tummy.

(7) Place a smooth ring in baby's hand
You may also consider placing a smooth ring or a rattle in baby's hand. This would help develop/enhance baby's gripping capacity.