Ensure your baby’s posture is appropriate for feeding. Prop the infant up with pillows or cushions so they can sit with support and hold or explore objects during mealtimes.
Skilled and responsive caregivers incorporate their background knowledge of children’s sensory capabilities into planning developmentally appropriate activities, the environment, and their own expectations and interactions with babies.
It is well accepted clinically that there is an interaction between an individual’s oral sensorimotor skills in feeding and their gross motor skills. Infants’ posture during feeding can impact how they swallow. Unhealthy postures may cause poor alignment or reduced stability for controlled oral movements.
A study revealed the importance of tummy time for babies and ways parents can optimise infants’ motor development. For instance, one of the 45 parents observed that the baby enjoyed moving around on a larger surface, so the parent decided to let the baby have tummy time more often on that space.