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Bouncing and Swaying Baby
Why Do Babies Love Rhythmic Movement?
By Shannon McKelden
Cecille Hansen of Seattle, Wash., describes one of her daughters as a former bouncy chair addict. "The vibrations made her go so still with a content look on her face," Hansen says. "When we combined the bouncy chair with a ceiling fan, she was in heaven. We once went to friends' home for dinner and a games evening, and she barely made a peep the whole time – just lay in her bouncy chair and stared serenely at the rotating ceiling fan." Hansen also found that objects dangling from the chair for extra entertainment really weren't necessary. "I think she just liked to sit and vibrate," she says.
Dr. Rackner says each baby comes into the world with his/her own temperament that shows up in the eating style, sleep patterns and relationship to touch/motion. "Just experiment and see how your infant responds," she says.
Starting when her son was 6 weeks of age, Lara Fetting of North Ridgeville, Ohio, found that the only way to get him to sleep was by dancing. "I would put him in the front carrier [very carefully, with a lot of head support] and dance to Dance Baby Dance baby aerobics," she says. Fetting found that he needed the rhythmic bobbing and swaying for every single nap and bedtime for an entire year. "I lost 55 pounds!" she says.
Dy Larson of Austin, Texas, also found that dancing was soothing for her baby. "My youngest loved motion, and it was frequently the only thing that would calm her," Larson says. "Specifically, the box step I learned way back when a [high chool] boyfriend tried to teach me to waltz. We had days when this was literally the only thing that would keep her from screaming. And boy was it a workout since she was a 10-pound baby and just got bigger from there!"
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