Tummy time .....

Yesterday, I taught my first baby yoga in-person class since lockdown! It was so lovely to connect with parents in real life and to see their lovely babies.

There are many benefits to taking a baby yoga class. Your baby will benefit both physically and cognitively from the activities as well as strenthening the emotional connection between you as a parent or carer.

One of the benefits of yoga for a young baby is that it can help them to enjoy regular tummy time, an important element in your baby’s development because it:

• Helps to prevent flat spots on the back of your baby's head

• Strengthens their neck and shoulder muscles so your baby can start to sit up, crawl, and walk

• Improves your baby's motor skills (using muscles to move and complete an action).

During baby yoga, we regularly practice prone positions with your baby on your lap lying on their tummy. As well as strengthening their neck, back and core muscles, being in this position also eases wind, avoids a slumped/flexed posture and many babies are happy to be close to you looking at the world from a different angle. Prone positions are particularly helpful to enable your baby to unwind if they’ve been sitting in a car seat for a time.

From the day your baby is born, they will benefit from two-three short tummy time sessions a day - around three to five minutes at a time. As your baby grows and begins to enjoy tummy time more, you can lengthen the sessions. Baby yoga classes are suitable for babies from around 12 weeks and all the activities they take part in will help to strengthen and develop their gross and fine motor skills. Gross motor skills include sitting up, rolling over, crawling and walking. Fine motor skills include being able to pick up objects and turning pages in a book.

I’m looking forward to working with this small group of mums in my baby yoga classes and hoping that I’ll welcome them, in time, to my toddler yoga classes.