The Importance of a Baby Play Mat
I believe an absolute necessity item for babies definitely is a play mat or baby play gym. It would be a unique spot where your baby can have their own fun zone. For nursery baby, it can be the best place to do their tummy time and start to practice rolling over. For toddler baby, it can be a perfect spot for their crawling and practice to stand up.
It is agreeable that one of the key benefits of a baby play mat is that it provides a place for babies to interact with their surroundings and to develop their potential skills. Also, it is a great way to assist your little one reach development milestones and strength their muscles that they use to crawl or stand up.
So, when should you introduce a play mat for your little one?
You can start applying a baby gym to your little one right after they are born. When your baby is more interested in lying on their back instead of being swaddled all the time, you can try to put them in a baby gym while they are awake. In the beginning, your newborn might show no interest in the colorful toys hanging in the gym, but it would be worth trying to let them have a chance to interact with the toys.
Since the baby needs to have tummy time regularly during the day, it would be better to change from the baby gym to a baby mat when they spend more time during the tummy period. Usually, tummy time can start at 3 months of age, and they might start with a few minutes and then will be able to last for an hour.
When babies turn into their 4 months old, they probably are interested in rolling over and over. They start to be attracted by funny toys and they would roll over to reach them, so introducing a baby play mat at baby’s 4 months old would be the perfect timing.
Some parents like to put an extra baby gym on the play mat because they believe those dangling toys will encourage their baby to grip and eventually crawl, 6 month old baby would be a milestone age in which their skills are being activated by the baby mat and baby gym.
You will find out that your little one start crawling at a surprising speed when the time they are 9 months old. They can crawl from the living room to the kitchen within 2 minutes! It is a sign that your baby might have outgrown their play mat which they will require an expanded territory to play. They might get bored when they are on the baby play mat and would like to explore the rest of the house, especially somewhere close to you. It doesn’t mean you will need to throw your play mat but you don’t need to ask your baby to stay on it if they don’t want to. Considering buy new toys and activities to put on the play mat and keep your baby occupied since the play mat is still an effective way to develop their potential movement abilities.