Why You Should Not Rush Your Child to Stand and Walk - Floor Time, Baby!

A baby is born with all of the parts of their brain established - they are just not yet fully developed and connected.  In order for the brain to function as one unit, all the parts must be wired to work together.  One of the ways this wiring is achieved is through random, spontaneous movement that babies do automatically while lying on the floor on his/her back, side and stomach - and is done when given the chance to move around freely.  

A baby's muscle tone, the amount of tension in their muscles, will also further develop as the stimulation from touch, vestibular and proprioceptive senses are sent to the brain. Touching, hugging and rocking your baby stimulates muscle tone and helps create neuronal connections (growing the brain!).  But we must not underestimate the importance of the baby moving on their own and figuring out how to transition from one gross motor skill to another.  The transitional movements are just as important as the gross motor milestones.  And a little bit of struggle and hard work goes a long way.  More on that in another blog!

The primitive reflexes control the baby's motor activity at first. This is a good thing.  When the baby spontaneously does the primitive, pre-programmed movement patterns, which are triggered by touch and various body positions, muscle strength and control emerges, and the primitive reflexes eventually become “dormant”. The baby needs to spend time on the floor/mat to do these movements. Sometimes, reflexes do not show up because of other conditions such as low tone, brain injury at birth, hypermobility or spending too much time in containers (car seats, swings, exersaucers…). These babies will need more time and practice to develop mature postural reflexes. This is when you should seek support from a trained pediatric physiotherapist or occupational therapist.  The younger you bring them in, the better, because babies will do anything to get moving, at the expense of their joints and alignment. Which creates a “use history” and it becomes more difficult to break those compensatory strategies…(bad habits in other words!)

The brainstem is where the primitive reflexes come from, and as a baby integrates them in their first year of life through movement, the brainstem also continues its development. Then postural reflexes develop at the same time, which is needed for control of balance, coordination and movement. Some of the important milestones needed to develop postural stability are rolling, creeping on the stomach, rocking and crawling on hand and knees.  

Why is spending time on the floor so important for brain development? When your baby spends time on the floor and figures out how to roll, pivot on their belly, "commando crawl," reflexes are being integrated and your baby is gaining control over their movements. The body is being mapped, the vestibular system gets a workout, eye-hand coordination is emerging as well as core strength. These movements are innate and do not need to be taught to the child. After creeping on their belly, the baby will then go on to crawl on hands and knees, which integrates different reflexes and contributes to further brain development and core strengthening. Once the neural connections are all in place, these areas of the brain will then take over, and functions such as the vestibular and proprioception systems and eye teaming become automatic. The child can then move on to more complex movements such as standing, walking and climbing.

If primitive reflexes are not fully integrated, the child or adult may present with one or more of these issues: poor coordination, balance, sensory processing, fine motor skills, sleep, immunity, energy levels, impulse control, concentration and all levels of social, emotional, and intellectual learning. Some may be more evident than others, and the child/ adult must use other parts of their brain destined for concentration, learning and organizing information, amongst other functions, to also try to accomplish basic functions that should have become automated. These individuals will have to work extra hard to show their potential since their brain is busy compensating for functions that are supposed to be automatic, such as balancing, eye teaming and tracking.  

In summary, the more time your baby spends moving on the floor, the more connections they make for those automatic brain functions which will free up the cortex for more complex tasks such as concentrating, talking, learning math, memory... etc. Now, the good news is, if your baby skipped any of these milestones, or floor time, they can always make those connections in their brain later in life. If a baby has difficulties moving because of a neurological condition, injury or physical condition such as torticollis (reflex integration starts with movement of the head) this is when seeing a pediatric physiotherapist is warranted as soon as possible.

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