A natural response as a parent is to sooth your baby by swinging, bouncing or rocking them from side to side. This innate reaction is no coincidence as it has been proven that it has comforting and self-regulatory properties [1]. Starting in the womb, babies become consoled by their mothers’ movements and continue to enjoy these actions for sleep and play right throughout their first years. Even as adults, we can continue to find regulatory properties in rhythmic motions. For example, some of us might find that we feel relaxed and even sleepy whilst on a train or a bus.
Any type of rhythmic movement stimulates the Vestibular system, which is a little bit of apparatus in our inner ear that is responsible for informing our brain about our movements and position and it is crucial for supporting balance, movements and posture. Rocking, swaying and bouncing also activates our proprioceptive system which is an awareness of our body, which helps us to understand force and output of our muscles and joints. Stimulation of these two internal systems rouses the central nervous system [2] and as a baby's nervous system is not yet fully formed, you might find that your baby craves these types of movements as a way to have a sense of their own body and such awareness of self is reassuring for them.
The desire to move, can be associated with falling asleep. It is also linked to more vigorous movements in early rough and tumble play as your baby expresses enjoyment from doing activities such as being on a swing, playing in a hammock or being moved to songs and rhymes like ‘row, row, row you boat’.
These vigorous movements have further benefits to your child’s development:
When your child is exposed to new and interesting ways of moving, their eyes also have the challenge of moving in the same way as their bodies and so the brain must learn to connect different movements with the position of objects within the environment in order to keep the body safe. This desire to experiment with movements is thought to peak within the first year [3] and it is likely that this leads young children to seek to explore a range of motions in their play in this time.
Rocking, swinging and holding your child requires close contact and these intimate and connected moments soothes your child as it helps to regulate their heartbeat and central nervous system. They then begin to associate this calming affect with you and will seek out this connection in future in order to feel safety and affection [4] .
The cerebellum is a part of the brain that is responsible for balance and control and it synchs motor movements with timed sensory stimulus[5]. It has been found within studies that movements to music helps the cerebellum to sync both of these things[6] and therefore these rhythmic movements in the early years can eventually help us with musical and spoken rhythm, rhyme and repetition and therefore in turn, reading!
All children have different sensory needs and so you might find that your child does not enjoy such large more vigorous movements, but instead prefer soothing sounds or gentle touch. Parenting is all about finding what works for you’re and your child. As your child spends their first years exploring different motions, they will come to make connections about the world around them through their bodies and develop the systems in their brain, ears and motor movements that will support them on the rest of their physical development journey.
References
[1]. Öztürk Dönmez,R and Bayik Temel, A. (2019). Effect of soothing techniques on infants' self-regulation behaviors (sleeping, crying, feeding): A randomized controlled study. Japan Academy of Nursing Science. 16 (4) pp. 407-419.
[2]. Byrne, J.M. and Horowitz, F.D (1981). Rocking as a soothing intervention: The influence of direction and type of movement. Infant Behavior and Development. 4 (1) pp.207-218.
[3]. Agyei, S., Van der Weel, F and Van der Meer, A. (2006) Development of Visual Motion Perception for Prospective Control: Brain and Behavioural Studies in Infants. Frontiers in Psychology. 7 (100) pp.1-14.
[4]. Carlson, E., Sampson,M., and Stroufe, L. (2003) Implications of Attachment Theory and Research for Developmental-Behavioural Paediatrics. Journal of Developmental & Behavioural Paediatrics 24 (5) pp.364-370.
[5]. Fulbright, R., Jenner, A., Mencl, W., Pugh, K., Shaywitz, B., Shaywitz, S., Frost, S., Skudlarski, P., Constable, R.,, Lacadie, C., Marchione, K. and Gore, J. (1999) The cerebellum's role in reading: a functional MR imaging study. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol. 20 (10) pp.1925-1930.
[6]. Molinari, M., Leggio, M. and Thaut, M. (2007) The cerebellum and neural networks for rhythmic sensorimotor synchronization in the human brain. Cerebellum. 6 (1) pp.18-23.