Watch Me Grow! Baby to Toddler Years Outdoors
Raising a baby comes with its joys and challenges! They say to, “Keep taking care of yourself Mama!” This can be hard to do when the laundry is piling up and the baby won’t let you put her down. Here are some ways to keep getting that wonderful vitamin D for you and baby to help keep you both happy and healthy!
The outdoors provides great benefits to babies including…
Development of a central nervous system that is calm and ready to learn due to…
Soothing natural sounds
Colors and brightness that catches their eye but isn’t overstimulating
A variety of scents from plants and animals
Varying temperatures and textures to process
Natural grasping opportunities
Improved hand-eye coordination when tracking moving bugs and plants
Exposure to allergens for appropriate immune system development (3),(4) and protection against allergies and asthma (1)
Improved sleep due to sunlight assisting with the adjustment to a circadian rhythm during the day (2)
Birth - 4 months
Go on short walks 2-3 times a day
Ditch the carrier on walks. This enhances a child’s sensory experiences and encourages whole-body muscle development (1).
Go for longer stroller walks/runs ~once a week.
Bring your tummy time mat outside and play
Consider bringing natural items to the mat for them to feel and smell
If babe is crying, try stepping right outside your door for a minute to help distract and reset
Talk about what you see, hear, and smell! This will help with their language development!
Nurse outdoors for the extra natural scents and sounds to promote a relaxed central nervous system (great for digestion!)
4-8 months
Sit baby in the grass or bring them to various non-toxic leaves to grab (great to do especially in a vegetable garden)
When they’re ready to start solids, have them grab the veggies from the garden for you to prep for their meal
Messy play with dirt!
Young Walking Years
Help them navigate uneven terrain on larger rocks, stumps, logs, hills, and more!
Model how to splash and jump into puddles
Bring the sprinkler out and model how to engage with it
References:
Hanscom, A. (2016). When is my baby ready for the outdoors. Balanced and Barefoot (pp.175-195). New Harbinger Publications
Harrison, Y. (2004). The relationship between daytime exposure to light and night-time sleep in 6-12-week-old infants. Journal of Sleep Research, Vol 13(4), p. 345-352. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2869.2004.00435.x
Holbreich, M., Genuneit, J., Weber, J., Braun-Farlander, C., Waser, M., & Von Mutius, E. (2012). Amish children living in northern Indiana have very low prevalence of allergic sensitization. The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Vol. 129(6), p1671-1673, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaci.2012.03.016
Norton, A. (2020). Bringing the forest to kids’ daycare may boost young immune systems. Medicalxpress. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-10-forest-kids-daycare-boost-young.html