Developing Fine Motor Skills

Between 12-24 months, your toddler is making major leaps in her gross motor development. Standing, walking, running, and climbing keep her on the go and keep you on your toes.  During your busy day it can be easy to overlook some of the fine motor skills your toddler is working on mastering, but if you watch closely you will be amazed at her growth!

By 12 months your toddler has begun using a pincer grasp, picking up objects using his thumb and index finger. He may bang two blocks together or place them in a container while playing. He will start voluntarily letting go of an object (as long as you have something more interesting he wants) and may use his index finger to point to new or desired objects. Over the next 12 months, he will work on refining these skills further, developing more control and precision.

Coordinating Eyes and Hands

A major developmental milestone during this time is the convergence of your toddler’s eye and hand movements. The coordination of these two skills will allow her to more easily grasp and manipulate very small objects. Finger foods and self-feeding continue to provide the opportunity to practice hand eye coordination.

Other favorite activities may include:

• Building towers by stacking blocks or other objects and knocking them down.
• Covering and uncovering objects with containers or blankets (including herself!).
• Turning dials or knobs and flicking switches.
• Turning pages in a book.
• Simple puzzles, shape sorting toys, or stacking toys.

Spatial Awareness and Left/Right Handedness

While playing games, take the time to talk with your toddler about what he is doing. Using words like in, out, on, off, under, over, around, and beside will help him increase spatial awareness and communication skills.

By the end of his second year, your toddler may have developed a preference in using his right or left hand during play and self-feeding. However, many children do not develop a preference for several more years or may be ambidextrous, the ability to use either hand equally well. There is no reason to rush your toddler into right or left-handedness.

Crawling and Tummy Time Supports Fine Motor Development

Don’t forget the importance of gross motor activities such as crawling, hanging, planking, and climbing to support your toddlers fine motor development. These activities strengthen her upper body and core muscles, strength that is needed to control small movements in the shoulders, arms, wrists, hands, and fingers.  These activities also increase the range of motion, flexibility, and agility of her upper body.

Get down on the floor and play with your toddler daily. Create tunnels and mountains out of pillows and blankets to crawl over and under. Play with puzzles or scribble on paper while lying on your tummy holding yourself up by your forearms. Visit the playground and practice climbing ladders and hanging from the monkey bars.

All of these activities are not only good for your toddler’s fine motor development but also will improve your upper body and core strength!

More Fine Motor Fun

Dough Play:

At this age your toddler may not be sculpting masterpieces, but playing with dough is a fun way to develop hand and finger strength.  Squishing, poking, patting, rolling, and kneading are all fun ways to exercise the small muscles in growing hands.

Try adding feather, googily eyes, and popsicle sticks to dough play.  Your toddler will enjoy making creatures by pushing and pocking these objects into the dough and continue to work on hand eye coordination and finger dexterity.

Bubble Popping:

Bubbles fascinate toddlers, especially when popping them.  Show your toddler how to use her index finger to pop a bubble. Using a single finger to pop a bubble requires much more control and precision then swatting or grasping with the whole hand.

Try singing this song as you model popping the bubbles with your index finger:

All around my room, there are some floating bubbles.

I take my pointer finger and

Pop! Goes the bubble!

Sorting Games:

Your toddler will spend much of his second year classifying the world around him. Simple sorting games allow him to continue developing sorting skills while also working on hand eye coordination and finger dexterity.

Sorting pom poms, beans, dry pasta, buttons, and other small objects into small containers can provide your toddler with hours of fun! As he becomes more skilled, increase the challenge by making the opening of the container smaller. Try re-using yoghurt containers. Start without the lid on. Once your child has mastered this, try cutting different sizes of holes in the lids to make the game more challenging. The smaller the opening, the more your toddler will have to control his movement and use precision.

Where Is Pointer?

Written by Jessica Baudin-Griffin B. Ed. , owner and artistic director of J’Adore Dance. As a developmental dance educator she believes anyone and everyone can dance! Jessica’s blog ( www.intellidance.ca ) was voted second place in Alberta’s Top 10 Mama Bloggers – Page 18 in our Fall issue!

Image: Tom Clare / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

While last weekend was buzzing with things to do as a young family, things have gotten a little quieter now but there are still lots of ways to keep your little ones entertained while the snow swirls:

• Discover Art - The theme for the BMO World of Creativity at the Art Gallery of Alberta changed to “Method and Madness” this past week.  An imaginary culture teaches your little ones about primary colours and geometric shapes. Remember also that every Wednesday is Tours for Tots when (included in your regular admission) from 10am-11am you and your 3-5 year old can learn about art. Each Wednesday is a different theme.

Image: federico stevanin / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Growing up at my house was anything but peaceful and calm. I have three “natural” brothers and my parents started fostering when I was 12 years old. Because of that, my home life was crazy and chaotic and very loud. I swore that when I grew up and got married that I would never have children.  Never.  Once I was engaged, I told my now-husband that we were never going to have children, so he better get used to that idea.  He just smiled and agreed.

I was so looking forward to enjoying a quiet and wonderful life with my new husband. I was going to travel and see the world. I was going to shop and buy myself shoes and purses. I was NOT going to be a Mother.

But something happened when we said “I do”.  All of the sudden, having kids was an option, and it really didn’t seem like that bad of an idea. I quickly started trying to convince my hubby that we needed kids, and he was constantly reminding me of my pre-wedding vow to not pro-create. It took me a year to convince him to try, and another year and a half and one miscarriage to actually get and stay pregnant.

The first three months of my pregnancy were awesome.  I had no morning sickness, baby was happy and healthy and all was good. But things quickly changed when I got hurt at work. I was rushed over to the medi-centre and will never forget the doctor telling me that I needed to go for an ultrasound to see if my baby was “even alive”.  It was the longest test of my life as no one would talk to me and tell me what was going on. I had to go back to the in-sensitive jerk of a doctor and wait for him to read the results.  Thankfully, her heartbeat was strong and everything looked good but I distinctly remember thinking that I shouldn’t have gotten pregnant, and that I should’ve just ignored the call of my heart.

Within a week of the incident, I began cramping and losing amniotic fluid. I was in pain all the time which was worsened by the continual fear and worry of the possibility of a miscarriage. I enjoyed 13 ultrasounds and 6 non-stress tests and watched her fight to survive. We were given bad report after bad report. We were warned that she would be all shrivelled up and scaly as there wasn’t enough amniotic fluid around her body. We were told that she would be small and fragile and weak. We were told to be prepared for the worst.

I went into labour and if it could go wrong, it did. I had a placental abruption and placenta previa. I was minutes away from a blood transfusion. I was moments away from needing to have a c-section.  But by nothing short of a miracle, our special girl was delivered quickly and naturally. When they handed me my 9lb 3oz baby with perfect skin, in perfect health, I’ve never been so thankful for a misdiagnosis. She was exactly who she was meant to be … in spite of the words spoken over her.

July 17^th marked the beginning of my life as a Mother. It was scary and almost more than I could bear but it was the start of a journey that I almost chose not to take. What exactly was I thinking? I was born to be a Mom.

April Wiens, The Making of a Mommy Series:  April has an addiction to Mango Salsa & Coke Zero. She enjoys spending time with friends and family just hanging out and laughing uncontrollably. Most of her days are spent in front of a computer working on both of her businesses.

 Image: Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The stigma attached to encapsulating or eating ones placenta seems to be something of a taboo topic within our birthing and non-birthing community. It is something one talks about only in private about how someone has approached them or a mother knows someone else who has had it done.  There has been a lot of recent media attention surrounding this practice and it is expressed as quite a controversial subject.  I have heard a variety of responses from mothers regarding placenta encapsulation. If they don’t gently change the subject, I may get comments such as:

a)     “Oh, that’s a little granola for me and my family.”

b)      “What kinds of plans would you have for it?” This helps open up an educational discussion about the history, benefits, protocol, etc.

c)      “How can I get this done, and what does it involve?”

As a fertility, pregnancy, and postpartum focused Acupuncturist, I have come to learn the great potential that placenta encapsulation has to offer a mother and her family.

History of Placentophagy (consumption of the placenta)

Every mammal participates in placentophagy except Pinnipeds (seal, walrus, and sea lions) and Cetacea (whales, dolphins, and porpoises), as well as the Camel. Placentophagy has been observed in all other mammals, most notablely vegetarians.  Even marsupials reabsorb rather than deliver the placenta, and therefore cannot engage in placentophagia; they do, however, vigorously lick birth fluids as they are excreted.  Arboreal mammals (that birth in trees) do not let the placenta drop after birth, they continue to sit in the tree and consume it! Even unchallenged predators, like lions and tigers, consume the afterbirth.

Theories around placentophagy include:

-Cleaning the nest site to ward off predators

-A sudden shift toward carnivorous behavior after the exhausting act of labor.  However adult mammals will leave their newborns unattended for hours while they consume the placenta

-Mother simply starving after birth of offspring and placenta is readily available.

- Another adaptive theory suggests that ingestion of the placenta may actually suppress the mother’s immune system which in turn assists in subsequent births especially when there is Rh – and Rh + concerns.

Pharmacological Role of the Placenta

According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, dried placenta warms the kidneys, supplements essence, and is used to treat puberty, fertility, menopause, as well as nourishing and tonifying the mother during her postpartum. It does this by boosting qi (vital energy) and nourishing the blood. This makes more energy available for the mother during the day by increasing milk production, decreasing stress hormones, stabilizing the nervous system which in turn helps the mother get that much needed deep sleep during the night even though the hours may be short. Unbeknownst to most people, bovine and swine placenta are found in a variety of pharmacological substances, Chinese herbals, and cosmetics, etc.

Benefits

The benefits to new mothers have encapsulated include:

-reducing postpartum depression symptoms

- increasing milk supply

- increase energy

- reducing postpartum bleeding.

- Placenta is inarguably an excellent source of highly absorbable natural iron, which greatly alleviates exhaustion and stress.

Is it for you?

Many will argue that the clinical trials are few and the benefits truly remain to be proven.  I can tell you from personal experience and feedback I’ve received from new mothers, the benefits are undeniable. The question whether this practice is for you or not remains a personal choice.  If you are on the fence, freezing your placenta after birth will give you the option to encapsulate at any time.

Nicole Stevens

Roots of Life – Placenta Encapsulation and Birth Services

www.placentaroots.com

rootsoflifetn@gmail.com

Image: Seattleye | Flickr.com