Developing The Vestibular System Of Your Baby

Rocking, swaying and movements that rotate the head stimulates the vestibular system

. The vestibular controls the sense of movement and balance. From birth to about 15 months, the vestibular system is very active as the child gains a sense of gravity and knowledge of the physical environment through movement.

Moving in different directions and in a variety of ways is important to the development of baby's vestibular control, which affects his developing sense of balance.

A baby's learning during the 1st 15 months of life is centered on the development of the vestibular control. Balance, coordination, and locomotion all depend on the proper functioning of this very important system.

One activity that can develop the vesicular system of your baby is bouncing game. Bouncing games provide vestibular system stimulation to baby in many forms. These activities increase baby's muscle tone as he adjusts his posture to stay upright while being bounced.

Even the simple act of walking can help stimulate baby's vestibular system. Non-walkers begin to develop the sense of balance by experiencing varied movements in an adult's arms. The adult can 'add value' to baby's vestibular experiences by walking in different pathways, such as sideways, to a zig-zag or winding path, or backwards. Baby will delight in being taken on a gallop, a trot, or a skip and a hop by adult, while his vestibular is furiously registering these experiences for his own motor development.

The traditional practice of cuddling baby in a rocking chair has its wisdom. Rocking has many advantages for a baby. It soothes, provides rhythmic motion, and promotes muscular strength, control, balance, and lateralization (development of the right and left sides of the body).

The vestibular and auditory system work together and are both processed in the ear. The more opportunities a child has to process vestibular information (e.g. by being moved in a variety of ways in this activity), the better he is able to differentiate sounds and discriminate sound and language.

Bouncing, rocking and swaying activities help to develop the vestibular system. The variety of movements linear and rotary helps the baby develop a sense of gravity, balance and where his body is in space. The linear movements are soothing and the rotary movements are stimulating. A well-developed vestibular system provides emotional security, good muscle tone and develops auditory language processing and visual-spatial processing.

by: Cheow Yu Yuan

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