Q. What are the postural control muscles and what do they do in relationship to infant development? 

A. The postural control muscles are those muscles in the trunk that work to stabilize the head, shoulder girdle, spine and pelvis for infant development. Before you can move your head, jaw, arms and legs, you have to stabilize the neck and the trunk. Try it: sit on the side of your bed with your feet unsupported. Now lift one of your legs up. What did you notice about your stomach, back and neck muscles? They all tightened up. Now try not to let those muscles tighten (keep them relaxed) while you lift your leg up again. What happens? You can’t lift your leg up without falling off the bed. You have to stabilize your back and pelvis before you can move your leg without falling over.

Q. How can one recognize weakness in postural control? 

A. Weakness in postural control muscles can show up in different ways for different babies. A significant weakness can cause delays in infant development. These delays may be seen in motor skills such as crawling, pulling up and/ or walking. A more moderate weakness may not show up during the first year motor performance at all, but can be seen several years later in the higher level motor skills such as hopping, standing on one leg and walking on a straight line or balance beam. The child might simply be labeled as “clumsy” or “uncoordinated”. A lack of postural control can affect many areas in a child such as hand-eye coordination ¹ , mobility, balance, hand function, perception ² , learning, cognitive development and even swallowing. In fact, one study has suggested that a lack of postural control causes head instability which impacts a child’s ability to focus his eyes.

Q. What babies can benefit from an exercise program that works to strengthen postural control muscles? 

A. Almost all babies can greatly benefit from Baby Builders' exercises. Any parent or caregiver who wants their child to have good coordination and balance needs to be doing exercises that strengthen the postural control muscles during the first year of life. The best time for a child to gain postural control is during his/her first year. Research shares that this is a key time for infant development. Those babies who were born premature or with Down syndrome or cerebral palsy are at the highest risk for having weakness in their postural control muscles and they definitely need these proven exercises to prevent or minimize developmental delay. Premature infants need to be involved in an exercise program that is geared towards strengthening the trunk, shoulder and hip muscles during the first 6 months after discharge from a neonatal unit³. The last 6 months should focus on strength, balance and coordination. (De Groot)⁴.

Q. Why do babies need this program?  

A. In this day and age babies are spending more and more time in high-tech devices and car seats than ever before. Parents and caregivers are spending less and less time playing and bonding with their babies than they used to. As a result infants are at a greater risk for delayed development. Baby Builders promotes bonding and its exercises have a proven record of developmental results.

Q. How much time does this take each day?  

A. We recommend that a baby start out slowly with these activities, especially if he is less than three months old. We would like to see babies doing these exercises for about 20-30 minutes a day by the time they are 3 months old. It doesn’t have to be done all at one time; parents can break up the exercises and do them throughout the day. We find some parents have the time and prefer to do all the exercises at one time; their baby tolerates and really enjoys playing for 20-30 minutes at a time. Other parents find that it works better for their baby to do the activities as a part of their daily routines. Baby Builders is designed to fit both situations.

Q. How does this program work with your child?  

A. Baby Builders is divided into 4 stages of infant developmental so that even a newborn can begin the program with Stage 1. There are 5 exercises in Stage One that help improve head control, hand-eye coordination and build strength in the trunk muscles. When a baby can easily do all of the exercises in Stage 1 then they can progress on to Stage 2. Stage 2 is a bit more challenging and focuses on improving balance. When infant can do all of the Stage 2 activities easily he would move to Stage 3. Stage 3 focuses on movement; When an infant can easily do the exercises in Stage 3, then it's on to Stage 4 of the Baby Builders infant development program. Stage 4 focuses on coordination.