While Googling on the phrase "teaching baby to roll over," I found this. I don't know anything about RIE or Magda Gerber, but these words helped talk me down from another "Ohmygodmybaby'sdevelopingabnormallyslowlyI'mscrewinghimup" spiral of anxiety. I'm trying not to have those, but what's life without a little homebrewed stress?
"Trust baby’s natural development. Physical development occurs in predictable, progressive stages in all children, although the timing is individual.... Wait for the next stage, and don’t push. It is not necessary to teach a baby to move. The infant’s body is intrinsically driven to move through each milestone, when ready to do so... [A]ll over the world, children that are not taught how to sit, walk, crawl, still learn how to do so within the average age range."
I think I should unsubscribe from the hospital's weekly developmental milestone emails. The subject line this week was, "Your Baby This Week: Can Your Baby Do This?" No, he can't! Crap! It contains helpful paragraphs like this:
"While 4-month-old babies are usually able to pick up and hold toys and other objects, 5-month-old babies are able to pass them back and forth from one hand to another. This is an important milestone in brain development as a baby learns to move both hands at the same time: opening one and closing the other. Five-month-olds also adore putting objects into containers and taking them out again, and can amuse themselves for minutes at a time with a box or bucket and a pile of safe toys."
Which I translate into: "He's five months, and he doesn't pass objects back and forth! It's an important milestone in brain development! And he doesn't adore putting objects into containers and taking them out again! Crap!"
Yeah, I think maybe I could do with a little less of that kind of helpful information.
5 comments:
Joe-Henry never did anything "on time". Except play the mandolin at 2 and a half and read at 3 and a half, and drive me crazy at 7. He didn't pick up cheerios and put them in his mouth until he was almost 7 or 8 months, he didn't crawl until he was 21 months (he walked at 16 months), blah, blah, blah. I had a friend who told me that I had to MAKE HIM CRAWL BEFORE HE WALKED OR HE WOULDN'T TURN OUT RIGHT. UGH. But she's in her 80's so I didn't slap her.
Those newsletters will stress you out. Stop. Reading. Them.
I'm not a mom so I can't speak with authority on developmental issues, but from what I've seen Thumper's charm factor has been accelerated from day one.
the good news is: the kids with charismatic mojo? they never have to do anything for themselves -- their lackeys pass those objects for them. ;)
(but I'm just going for a laugh -- your baby is fine and brilliant and all will be well. not that I know anything about these things. :)
Looking back at all the wee ones that have passed through my hands, I believe that the best anyone can do is Love them, do your best to keep them healthy, give them opportunities to learn and do what they are interested/need to do and be there for them when they need you.
The last one is the hardest because when you may think they need you, they don't. When you think they are/can do it without you, they may really need you. You have very good instincts - trust them.
The "experts" are just giving you the middle of the bell curve from their training/studies/doctoral papers.
I've never had a child who put things in and out of containers at that age. That's freakin YOUNG, mate. The only one who rolled over at 4 months did so because she was receiving PT for a birth injury she sustained to her neck/shoulder/arm and we had to do exercises with her at home to encourage movement...the other kids? Nah...they just did their own thing whenever the hell they felt like it, and they were usually behind schedule (according to the experts.) I must admit I did teach my oldest to crawl on the last day of her 10th month because I was worried. She walked quite 'late' at 14 months. I would definitely unsuscribe if I were you. Too much additional stress.
Thanks for the affirmations. Someday the boy will roll over, or crawl, or do something other than grunt at me with his indignant "Mmm! Mmmmmmmm!"
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