Follow your baby’s lead. Let them practise crawling and exploring interesting and safe places. When your baby shows disinterest or is tired (e.g. looking away, arching back, closing eyes, crying), stop the activity and resume another time.
A small number of published studies reported that infant equipment had no effect on infant motor development. These equipment include jolly jumpers, baby walkers, infant seating devices, swings, and exersaucers, which were found to have harmful effects on infants developing both typically and atypically.
Reflexive movements are the means by which infants gather information, seek nourishment and protect themselves.2 Reflexes have survival value that connects parents (or caregivers) to respond to baby’s needs for safety and security.
Hence, responsive caregivers are still the best people for developing babies’ gross motor skills. They cannot be replaced by commercial baby equipment. Being aware and reflective of interactions can lead babies to security, autonomy, and competence.
In a study of 70 parents/caregivers and babies between age 7-24 months, results showed that infants who attended the experimental music group engaged in more social behaviour during toy play with adults.5 This result supports previous findings that music-based instruction groups maintain high attention levels compared to play-based instruction groups.