INFANCY
Counseling
Health professionals
can use the following information to provide anticipatory guidance
to families. Anticipatory guidance provides information on
the infant's physical status and on what to expect as the infant
enters the next developmental period, and fosters the promotion
of physical activity. General
-
Encourage
parents to attend classes to learn about promoting physical
activity during infancy. Suggest that they participate
in parent-infant play groups.
-
Infants
need the opportunity to move. Encourage parents to provide
objects and toys and to play games to encourage their infants
to move and do things for themselves.
-
Gently
turning, rolling, bouncing, and swaying infants are excellent
ways
to increase their muscle strength and to help them develop
important connections between the brain and muscles.
-
Tell
parents that rough-and-tumble activities are not appropriate
for
infants. Infants usually signal their distress (e.g., by
crying) if the physical activity is too vigorous, overwhelming,
or disconcerting. Parents should pay attention to these
signals and stop the physical activity if needed.
-
Encourage
parents to ask the child care provider how much time the
infant spends moving around (i.e., not sitting in an infant
safety seat or sleeping).
Physical
Development
-
Infants
need physical activity from the time they are born. Encourage
parents to nurture their infants' motor skill development
and to promote physical activity.
-
Infants
need to develop head and trunk control. When infants are
3 months old, parents can encourage this control by (1)
placing the infant on their laps, facing them; (2) holding
the infant's
hands and encouraging the infant to stand; and (3) pulling
the infant up into a standing position. When the infant
is pulled up, the infant should stand with the parent's
support.
If the infant can hold the upright posture, the parent
can gently sway the infant side to side.
Safety
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