Now, firstly ,
Let’s track what to expect each month in our baby development. These are a natural sequential order pattern imbibed in our ancient brain, and it’s unwinding in that same sequential order pattern is vital.
These milestones tell whether a baby is developing as expected.
There’s a wide range of what’s considered normal, so some babies gain skills earlier or later than others.
Babies who were born prematurely may reach milestones later.
1) Wrapping – dos and don’ts –
After the birth of a baby, we wrapped them for warmth and security. It can keep a baby from being disturbed by their own startle reflex ( spinal reflex action).
This wrapping helps them to settle down when they overstimulate or when they just need to feel something similar to the security of the womb. This wrapping can help them stay warm and toasty for the first few days of life until their internal thermostat kicks in. It may even help to calm.
Thus wrapping, be sure to know how to do it correctly.
Improper wrapping by tightly wrapping our baby’s hands or legs straight down may loosen the joints and damage the soft cartilage and ligaments of the shoulder and the hip sockets, leading to hip dysplasia.
(Developmental hip dysplasia is relatively common in newborns).
Never ever press their elbow and knee joint to straighten their hands and legs. These are very delicate. Allow their bones and joints through muscular architecture to develop appropriately and naturally. Let them do their own expansion of torso and extension of the vertebral axis with the appropriate movement of hands and legs.
So, not force. Otherwise, some weaknesses and deformities get imbibed, which we can notice in later age.
To prevent this while wrapping, be sure there’s enough room at the bottom of the blanket so that the baby can bend their legs up and out comfortably and hands in their comfort pose.
It’s not necessary to wrap them once they sleep as the opening of the torso is more vital for inner body organ systems development and function.
It is fine to keep wrapping babies that are hyper mobile but observe kneely and decide when to stop wrapping. Because it can interfere with their development of physical stability and mobility.
2) Lying on back : At this stage , their feet are 90angle at the ankle joint with their legs. If not, then it is birth deformity.
Though at this time, movement of hands and legs are reflex (it is not under their Conscious control . They keep pushing the heel away from the body to extend legs and pulling their back downward with hips that are preparing their back muscles for extension.
At the same time, they keep opening and extending their arms outward.
All their movements are extending and expanding the muscles of the torso from both side, front and back.
Here, movements of legs are for extension of hips and knees from movement of Musculature with feet to extend spine. So, the direction of the flow of movement of musculature is from the periphery to move the centre. That is from the movement of hands and legs to move the muscles of the central axis, which governs our whole body..
Remember, these movements are not anchoring the central axis and moving the periphery ( hand and legs), which happens in reflex actions.
Once all these sequences of movements go into automation. We unconsciously keep anchoring the central axis and keep moving hands and legs in day to day activities and in any so called fitness regime which makes our muscular architecture stiffer and harder and leads towards degeneration of tissues and diseases.
Hence, we need to learn these movements intellectually, following physical laws, with the right direction of flow of movement of muscles.Yoga starts here, and hence, Surya namaskar is for children’s and “asanas” are after puberty. if we want to prevent diseases and evolve further. If we make the same mistake in Surya namaskar and in asanas, that is fixing the central axis and moving our hands and legs by breaking the spinal segments mainly at weak links then this will lead us towards ill- health and diseases. Only the feel-good factor remains, and no other prevention or corrections and further evolution is possible.
So ,at this stage of development, lying on the back strengthens musculature of the vertebral column where both front and side of muscle are brought into neutral state ( which brings equilibrium of both sides of muscular architecture. ( This is human spices natural movement to become erect, no other animals have this )
3) At this stage, while resting or lying or sleeping on their back with knees and hands outside dropping.
Their legs are flexed at the knees in the outer direction with rotation of the pelvic (antiverson) with the opening of hips and feet nearer to each other.
There is flexion of the elbow, rotation of the shoulder girdle ( retroversion) with the opening of armpit and thoracic cavity.
This pose is known as supta Baddha Konasana.
This is a natural and vital pose for extension of the central axis ( skull,vertebral column, and rib cage). This helps to expand spaces in the body, which are open and closed. Closed spaces are the skull with a spinal column, including all joint spaces and heart space with related blood vessels.
Open spaces include lungs to nose pathway and mouth cavity to anus ,tract of digestive system and in females from uterus to vergiana, as these spaces are connected and open to outer atmosphere space.
This expansion of muscular architecture and opening up spaces within body Cavities for physical movement of organ systems for their proper physiological function within these cavities is very essential and vital.
In the mother’s womb, the position of a baby is flex , it is known as knee elbow position. In this position, the spine is anteriorly in flex position with flexion of knees,hips, and elbows along with front body cavities. Only their feet are in extended position ,ninety angel at ankle joint. Hence, after birth expansion is essential for proper development of physical and physiological organ systems.
This knee elbow pose is to accommodate the mother womb in their developmental period. Hence, these flexor muscles are very strong as a Flexion their dominance is very strong, and hence, they always take over, which leads towards deformation if we do not make extensor muscles stronger for extension. Note down that in any flexion their is contraction and in extension there is expansion.We do not need to do conscious contraction but we need to learn conscious expansion movement to bring easiness and equilibrium of forces and strength to make us Physically stable.
At this stage, it’s very important to make extensor muscles strong and to remove the dominance of flexor muscles, and bring equality in muscular architecture.
At this supata, the Baddhakonasan stage elongation of the spine happens better, as groin and hips are opened up wide outside more, which is for elongation of the tail axis and expansion of body cavities Activation of Energy centres begins here at this stage, which happens only in expansion.
It is very important that babies spend so much time on their back for expansion and elongation of the spine. Here, gravitational force is created for preparation of the next stage of creating anti-gravitational force in the front side of the body.
These forces with muscular movement where expansion is a major part for developing strength which creates the building blocks babies will need to progress in their development of gross motor skills such as crawling, sitting up, standing and eventually walking.” These allow babies to start supporting themselves and explore the world around them with their skilful movements.
Hence, these unwinding stages are for expansion and elongation of muscular architecture and opening up of these body Cavities for physiological function of organ systems which are situated, accomodated within these body Cavities
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