Guest Post- Tummy Time and Infant Development

"Thank you, Stephanie, for the opportunity to write a guest post for your blog.  We share a passion to teach parents and others about the importance of infants being on their tummies. 

Many facets of human development are dependent on infants being in the prone position.  One important, yet often overlooked, facet is sensory development.  We all learn in preschool about our senses.  Those senses are the way we learn about our world and our place in it! 

Hearing

Our sense of hearing has two components, 1) the structure of the ear receiving sound appropriately and sending those signals to the brain and, 2) processing of those signals once received in the brain (commonly called auditory processing).  Both are stimulated for an infant by being on their tummy.  Foundational reflexes that are available ONLY in the prone position are developed during infancy.  Development of bi-aural hearing (using both ears simultaneously) is done on the stomach. 

Feeling

If an infant is not overdressed and is on their tummy moving and exploring their world, the opportunities for “tactile stimulation” are almost limitless.  They spend time flexing their fingers or seemingly “scratching” the floor, the blanket, the sofa and anything else they can reach.  Rolling around on the floor or in the grass gives a whole-body experience to our sense of feeling.  This also stimulates our sense of balance—which relates directly back to hearing and auditory processing.  If you have seen the popular movie “A Christmas Story”, you may remember when the younger brother has been almost mummified in winter clothing as he walks to school.  On his way, he falls into the snow and cannot move.  He can’t feel a thing, and thus he can’t move!  We can’t move what we can’t feel.  (Just try to walk after sitting on your foot too long!)  Allowing our children to have their arms/legs/feet/hands bare as much as possible while prone is one of the best ways to encourage their mobility and their interaction with their world.

Seeing

Babies are born not seeing very well.  Their vision is not yet developed---and they do that developing best----you guessed it----on their bellies.  They can begin to understand the images around them within a very short distance—and it is easiest for them when it is “finite”.  In other words, it is easier for them to see the short distance to the ground from their belly, than it would be for them to be on their back and try to see an object above their heads.  It would be very easy to lose focus on an object in the vast expanse over their heads when supine---the ground gives a definite endpoint.

Children in populations where tummy time doesn’t happen, don’t develop the ability to focus or “converge” their eyes on a single object.  The ability to converge their vision is the foundation for depth perception. 

Parents sometimes think the senses just automatically develop, but nothing could be farther from the truth.  Time in the prone position has far-reaching effects that last a lifetime---starting today!

Guestpost written by Donna Bateman, a Neurodevelopmental Specialist and the mother of eight children.  Mrs. Bateman knows the importance of tummy time and understands the negative consequences throughout the developing years if this step to development is denied.  You can read more about her and her practice (Parents With Purpose) at http://www.parentswithpurpose.com/ ."

Co-Sleeping vs. Bed Sharing

While giving a presentation at a local hospital yesterday, the coordinator asked me if I followed the research of Dr. McKenna on infants and sleeping.  Evidently, there are a couple of Dr. McKenna's but the one she was referring to was James McKenna who often writes about the sleeping debate.  After scrolling through a few of his blogs, I was entertained to find that he separates out the terms co-sleeping and bed sharing.  Unfortunately, most others use these terms interchangeably.  So to clarify,  in the last entry entitled, "Co-sleeping, is it safe?"  I am referring to a baby sleeping in the same bed with adults or other children.  Room sharing is another topic all together and is recommended by not on the AAP but many others.  Room sharing is where the baby sleeps in the same room as the parents but in a separate sleeping environment- a crib or bassinet, etc. 
Hope this clears everything up! 

Co-sleeping, is it safe?

According to research, one of the greatest risk factors for infant death is co-sleeping, yet, it is still a common occurrence either intentionally or unintentionally.  I say unintentionally because we have all experienced the terror of accidentally falling asleep while nursing our baby in the wee hours of the morning then waking in a panic afraid we have smothered him or her.  Co-sleeping is especially dangerous if an infant shares a sleeping environment with other children.  The Center for Disease Control released some statistics in 2003 then updated them in 2008 stating that infants who died of "SIDS" were 5.4 times more likely to have shared a bed with other children*.  I put SIDS in quotes because I believe a more appropriate diagnosis would be smothering or entrapment in the case of co-sleeping since the cause is known.  Dr. Andrea Minyard,  Medical Examiner in Florida explained that 2/3 of the 41 infant deaths she examined were accidental asphyxiations.  She determined "These infants die because they are accidentally smothered by their parents or other children who sleep with them or because they are placed on dangerous overstuffed sofas or heavily blanketed beds."**

More recently, I attended a seminar to hear Lisa Carter, RN speak.  Lisa is the Regional Perinatal Director in Alabama who is undergoing an investigation with the other regional directors in Alabama reviewing the infant deaths in our state from 2010 to 2011.  She stated that 50-75% of cases were sleep related deaths.  1) Co-sleeping in an adult bed 2) Co-sleeping on a sofa or recliner 3) Infants sleeping in swings unattended 4) Lying on the stomach on an adult bed 5) Sleeping on U-shaped pillows (like a Boppy) She was very specific when she stressed, "These were all preventable deaths!

The bottom line is, an infant is safest in a his or her own sleeping environment on a firm mattress.  To answer the question, "Is co-sleeping safe?"  No, it is not.  And for all of you mothers who nurse your baby throughout the night, I recommend nursing the baby in a place other than your bed so you are less likely to fall into a deep sleep in the comfort of your own mattress.  Personally, I had a firm twin bed in the nursery where I would nurse with a lamp on to remind me I was nursing and not safe to fall into a deep sleep. 


*NIH/NICHD "Bed Sharing with Siblings, Soft Bedding, Increased SIDS risk and Frequently Asked Questions about Bed Sharing" NIH/NICHD News Release, May 5, 2003. Updated September 16, 2008.
**Hargrove, T., Bowman, L. Many Babies Die from Suffocation, not SIDS, Study Shows. Scripps Howard News Service, December 16, 2007.