Why Your Newborn Should Play on the Floor
What if I told you that you already have everything you need to support and promote your baby’s motor development? That’s right! Placing your baby on the floor is actually the best place for them to learn, grow, and develop. But why is this true? Let’s first look at the progression of motor development to see how baby’s body is made to grow and develop.
Progression of Motor Development
The first year of life is the most dramatic in terms of baby’s development. Baby literally goes from curled up in a ball and not being able to move or extend their limbs, to holding themselves upright and walking (or getting very close to walking!) around their first birthday. Amazing!
The craziest part is that baby’s body is programmed AT BIRTH to naturally begin and sequence motor milestones. These “primitive” reflexes (i.e., involuntary movement patterns that babies are born with and that help the body learn to move) kick off the show, and then each motor milestone builds onto the previous one, until baby reaches that final goal of walking.
Why is being on the floor important?
In order to allow this motor progression to take place, we have to give baby’s body some space. The open floor is quite literally the only place we can put baby that will give them the freedom to move around, explore their bodies, signal those reflexes, and begin naturally meeting motor milestones. Yes, quite literally, the floor does this.
So, the good news is: you don’t need much. Literally just the floor! A playpen can help give baby a place on the floor, and you can use a few other toys and motivators to help baby want to move. But, it’s pretty simple! As soon as baby is born and at home with you, you can start laying baby in these positions to help kick off their motor development:
Tummy Time
Placing baby directly on their stomach during wake windows is one of the most important play positions for baby. Tummy time helps to strengthen baby’s head, neck, shoulders, arms, and core muscles in order to help them prepare for rolling, sitting, and crawling. For more information and ideas surrounding tummy time, check out the Tummy Time blog post and My Baby Hates Tummy Time blog post.
Tummy Time Favorites
Check out all of my favorites for tummy time here! If baby is ready to work on new skills like reaching and grasping, or maybe even showing signs they are ready to sit, check out the Free Skill Building Guide!
Go ahead, lay baby on their back!
The back isn’t bad either! There are many benefits for baby when they are laying with their backs directly on the floor or play mat.
The Play Gym
A comfy mat on the floor with a mirror and a few toys is PERFECT! We love this play gym since it comes with a mat, a wooden toy bar, toys, and a three-sided mirror! “EATPLAYSAY” saves 10%.
During their first few months, baby is using all of their muscles and attention to tolerate and maintain that tummy time positioning that there isn’t time to work on much else while on their bellies. That is why we roll them over to their backs, to let other body parts have a turn to move and develop (and to give them a break from working so hard!).
Laying on their back allows baby to explore their hands and develop hand-eye coordination, move and kick their legs, as well as sharpen those visual and social skills.
Beneficial skills babies develop from laying on their backs:
Reaching/grasping skills: When baby is laying on their backs, they are given the opportunity to see and explore their hands and hand-eye coordination. Babies will learn to look at their hands, bat items hanging overhead, reach for items, and eventually grasp items all while laying on their backs.
Reaching & Grasping Toys
Check out the Reaching & Grasping Page on our Skill Building Guide for our favorite reaching and grasping motivators.
Exploration of lower extremities: Babies will also begin to explore their leg movements and build up those leg muscles. They will start to kick and pound their legs on the ground, and eventually bring those little piggy toes up to their mouths, which is an important step in learning how to roll over.
Kicking Toy
Kick, kick, kick! This piano mat is an excellent “floor play” activity that motivates baby to reach, grasp, and kick those legs!
Visual & Social: This is a great time to talk to, sing to, and show simple books to your baby. Baby will enjoy watching your face and sharing in these first social encounters with you.
More Skill-Building Toys!
Check out the 0-3 Month favorites on our Baby & Toddler Toy Guide for some of our top recommended toys to grab baby’s attention.
Play in side-lying position
The most under-rated position and truly the best of both worlds!
Side-lying is a favorite and helps engage baby’s core muscles, but is less intense than tummy time. While baby is still using that core to maintain a side-lying position, they are also able to look at their hands and engage with you socially.
How much time should baby spend on the floor?
While there is no exact number for how long baby should spend on the floor, remember that there is no such thing as ‘too much’ floor time. Seriously!
I think a good goal is about 50% of baby’s wake window, which will increase with their age, and does not have to be consecutive.
You can do 15 minutes here, 20 minutes there, with some loving and cuddles in between.
I recently found a quote that says: “Mothers are the stage managers behind the play scene at home.” (2).
How true is this! As moms, we are constantly trying to set up our baby’s environment to promote their next stage of development. We often think to ourselves: ‘If I put the mirror here, maybe baby will look up in tummy time’; ‘If I scoot this toy just out of reach, maybe baby will roll to get it’; ‘If I scoot back just a bit, maybe baby will take a step towards me’.
Our brains do not stop! So remember, if the floor is our stage and we are the stage managers, then the one we are doing this all for is the star of the show, and for them it’s all worth it.
Citations:
(1) doi: 10.5114/aoms.2016.60503
(2) https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.54.3.290
Help baby meet milestones through play.
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