Season 1, Episode 5: Equipment
-
In the podcast episode “5. Baby Myths Busted: Equipment,” hosts Jackie and Simon challenge the use of various baby equipment, arguing that they can impede a child’s natural development and lead to future health issues. They emphasize prioritizing a child’s needs over parental convenience and share personal experiences using simple, inexpensive alternatives to aid their child’s development. The discussion covers the drawbacks of activity centers, wheelie walkers, play gyms, carriers, and baby seats, highlighting concerns about hindering natural movement and development. The hosts advocate for avoiding unnecessary equipment, promoting natural exploration and movement, and discouraging reliance on items that place a child in positions they cannot achieve themselves. The overarching message is to minimize the use of such equipment to prevent potential long-term negative impacts on children’s development and society’s healthcare demands.
-
Raising Healthy Babies: Debunking Baby Equipment Myths
As parents, we all want what’s best for our children. However, in the quest for convenience and the latest baby gear, are we inadvertently hindering our little one’s natural development? In a thought-provoking podcast episode titled “Baby Myths Busted: Equipment,” hosts Jackie and Simon challenge the conventional wisdom surrounding baby equipment and advocate for a more mindful approach to parenting.
Jackie and Simon dive into the controversial topic of baby equipment, arguing that some commonly used items may actually impede a child’s natural development and lead to future health issues. They stress the importance of prioritizing a child’s needs over parental convenience, drawing from their personal experiences to illustrate how simple, inexpensive alternatives can aid a child’s development without relying on complex equipment.
The hosts shed light on the drawbacks of various baby equipment such as activity centers, wheelie walkers, play gyms, carriers, and baby seats. They express concerns about how these items can restrict natural movement and hinder a child’s physical and cognitive development. Their message is clear: unnecessary baby gear can potentially have long-term negative impacts on a child’s development and contribute to increased healthcare demands in society.
One of the key takeaways from the episode is the emphasis on natural exploration and movement. Jackie and Simon advocate for minimizing the use of certain equipment, encouraging parents to promote their child’s natural movements and discourage reliance on items that place children in positions they cannot achieve themselves.
The episode doesn’t just stop at highlighting the potential pitfalls of baby equipment. It also offers practical insights and alternatives, empowering parents to make informed choices. By challenging the status quo and offering actionable advice, the hosts are on a mission to foster a generation of healthy, independent, and well-developed children.
Ultimately, “Baby Myths Busted: Equipment” isn’t just about debunking common misconceptions—it’s a call to action for parents to reevaluate the way they approach their child’s development. By prioritizing natural movement, exploration, and minimal reliance on baby equipment, parents can play a pivotal role in setting the stage for their child’s long-term well-being.
So, if you’re a parent, soon-to-be parent, or someone passionate about child development, this podcast episode is a must-listen. Join Jackie and Simon as they challenge conventional wisdom, share personal experiences, and offer valuable insights that could shape the way you approach parenting. It’s time to debunk the myths, embrace a more mindful approach, and raise a generation of healthy, happy, and well-developed children.
-
Show Notes: Episode 5 - Baby Myths Busted: Equipment
Hosts: Jackie and Simon
Main Theme: In this episode, hosts Jackie and Simon take a critical look at the use of various baby equipment, challenging the belief that these items are essential for a child’s development. They emphasize the importance of prioritizing a child’s needs over parental convenience and share their personal experiences using simple, inexpensive alternatives to aid their child’s development.
Key Points:
Prioritizing Child’s Needs: The hosts advocate for prioritizing a child’s natural development over parental convenience, arguing that many baby equipment items can impede a child’s natural growth and lead to future health issues.
Drawbacks of Baby Equipment: The discussion covers the drawbacks of activity centers, wheelie walkers, play gyms, carriers, and baby seats, highlighting concerns about how these items can hinder natural movement and development in children.
Advocating for Natural Exploration: Jackie and Simon emphasize the importance of promoting natural exploration and movement in children, suggesting that reliance on equipment that places a child in positions they cannot achieve themselves may have long-term negative impacts.
Minimizing the Use of Unnecessary Equipment: The hosts encourage parents to avoid unnecessary baby equipment, suggesting that doing so could prevent potential long-term negative impacts on children’s development and reduce society’s healthcare demands.
In this thought-provoking episode, the hosts challenge common beliefs about baby equipment and encourage listeners to consider alternative, more natural approaches to aid in a child’s development.
-
00:00 - 00:16
Baby Myths Busted. A practical guide to giving your child the best start in life.
00:22 - 00:27
Hi, everyone. Welcome back to the podcast, Baby Myths Busted. I'm Jackie, this is Simon.
00:27 - 00:28
Hello, Jackie.
00:28 - 00:35
Hello, Simon. Today, I'm very excited as we get to talk about equipment, and it's
00:35 - 00:40
one of Simon's biggest bugbears. And I suppose today we get to share with you all the rules
00:40 - 00:47
that I was under when we had our babies, and it made it difficult compared to other mums who had
00:47 - 00:52
all this equipment, and it made it so easy for them to feed their baby and put their baby to
00:52 - 01:00
sleep. I wasn't allowed anything, so back to caveman days I was. So, Simon, as I said,
01:00 - 01:05
I know firsthand that you're not a fan of all the equipment that they have around for babies
01:05 - 01:13
these days. Today, we're going to list some and address what your issues are with them.
01:13 - 01:14
They exist.
01:15 - 01:21
Yeah. So, generally, before we go into specific equipment,
01:22 - 01:24
what is it with equipment that you disapprove of?
01:24 - 01:26
Because it's cheating.
01:26 - 01:26
Okay.
01:26 - 01:27
Just very simply.
01:27 - 01:28
Yeah, right.
01:28 - 01:33
And it's teaching our kids to hold themselves in postures, one, that they're probably not
01:33 - 01:37
ready for yet, and therefore they develop a bad pattern off the top of that. And then you just
01:37 - 01:41
spend your money seeing people like me for the rest of their lives because they've got some type
01:41 - 01:44
of pain or issue or they keep on getting injured, something like that.
01:44 - 01:44
Yeah.
01:44 - 01:48
Easiest way to save yourself some money as your kids develop is just don't buy equipment in
01:48 - 01:51
the first place, and then let them develop themselves from the floor.
01:51 - 01:57
Well, I must say I was looking through an online catalogue of a major retailer we have here,
01:57 - 02:04
and they had a huge amount of equipment, and some of it cost hundreds of dollars,
02:04 - 02:08
and I know it's things that you disapprove of. So, you could definitely save yourself some money
02:08 - 02:10
by not buying anything like this.
02:10 - 02:16
We, I know our firstborn, we used to have a crawling ball.
02:16 - 02:17
A crawling ball. Oh, yeah, yeah.
02:17 - 02:21
He just had this ball that he really liked, and that was the thing that motivated him to crawl.
02:21 - 02:25
So, we used to roll a ball, and he would just crawl after the ball.
02:25 - 02:25
Yeah.
02:25 - 02:30
So, who needs anything? It was just some old nothing ball that we just found around the house.
02:30 - 02:30
That was it.
02:30 - 02:33
It's just that it rolled across the floor.
02:33 - 02:38
You don't need to spend X amount of dollars on the latest equipment to try and help your
02:38 - 02:39
child develop.
02:39 - 02:39
Yeah.
02:39 - 02:41
Because it's rubbish.
02:41 - 02:48
Yeah, yeah, very costly, and I think it's about convenience for the parent as well,
02:48 - 02:54
and so parents love it, think it's great because, oh, I can stick my kid in this while I cook dinner
02:54 - 02:59
and blah, blah, blah, and it makes it easier for me. But really, you have a child to have a child.
02:59 - 03:04
Your whole life is about that child now, not about how convenient you can make it for yourself.
03:04 - 03:10
So, forget the convenience and forget the equipment, if that's what you're getting it for.
03:10 - 03:14
It might be convenient in the short term. It's going to be very inconvenient for the entire family.
03:14 - 03:19
Yeah, you want to get some good private health cover with high level physio on that, or...
03:19 - 03:21
Yeah, absolutely.
03:21 - 03:26
So, all right. So, I remember someone gave us a present for our firstborn,
03:26 - 03:32
and it was one of those activity centers, and it was on wheels, and the first thing Simon did was
03:32 - 03:37
rip the wheels off, and the second thing Simon did was rip the legs off. So, he had an activity
03:37 - 03:45
center, but it was given to him by Simon when he was big enough or old enough to prop himself up
03:45 - 03:51
on his belly and he could look down at it and then reach towards the thing and play with it.
03:51 - 03:57
Until that point, he wasn't allowed it, until he could stand by himself or when he was ready
03:57 - 04:02
to pull himself up. He wasn't allowed to have it on the legs, but then eventually Simon allowed
04:02 - 04:08
the legs to go on. Never did it have its wheels on, though. So, talk me through that process.
04:08 - 04:15
Well, my number one rule with enabling your child to develop appropriately is to never put your
04:15 - 04:21
child in a position that they cannot get into themselves, and these pieces of equipment put
04:21 - 04:27
your child into a position that usually they are not ready to be able to hold themselves in.
04:28 - 04:36
So, typically, if someone gave someone else the same activity center thing, it'd have legs on,
04:36 - 04:42
it'd maybe have wheels on, and parents would pick their kids up and stand them up at this
04:42 - 04:47
activity center and encourage them to play around and whatever, but the baby's not standing yet,
04:47 - 04:52
it's not old enough, it's four months old or whatever. So, that's putting them in a position
04:52 - 04:57
they're not able to get into naturally, and so that's creating poor habits, right?
04:57 - 05:02
Yeah, from a postural sense, but also I think the biggest thing out of that, probably the easiest
05:02 - 05:08
thing to look at or look for is that there's a reflex called your plantar reflex, which is a
05:08 - 05:15
reflex on the bottom of your foot, and that reflex is still strong at least up until eight to nine
05:15 - 05:24
months of age in most people, and this reflex basically makes you point your toes. So, if
05:24 - 05:30
you're stimulating this reflex all the time by having your child stand before they can transition
05:30 - 05:37
to standing by themselves, then you are tempting fate by making this reflex really strong and not
05:37 - 05:43
fade away, which it should, and so if it doesn't fade away, this primitive reflex, then that's when
05:43 - 05:49
you have the children who walk on their toes. Oh, really? That's interesting. Okay, so it's
05:49 - 05:56
supposed to fade, but if you can possibly encourage it to stick around. Absolutely. Wow, okay, that's
05:56 - 06:04
pretty big. Now, the wheelie walkers then. So, I'm busy cooking dinner. I want my kid to stay where
06:04 - 06:09
I can see him, but I want him to be entertained. He's not entertained enough if he's on his belly
06:10 - 06:16
on the kitchen floor because I'm where I am, so I put him in a wheelie walker. So, he's probably
06:16 - 06:20
not going to be able to touch the floor properly, right? Is this like the sitting ones? Yeah, yeah,
06:20 - 06:27
it's like an activity center, but they're kind of in, yeah, something like pants essentially,
06:27 - 06:32
and their feet are off the ground. Maybe their tippy toes can touch the ground. Yeah, so if your
06:32 - 06:38
kid can't sit yet, then definitely never ever would you do that. Okay, yeah, so it's not only
06:38 - 06:44
they're not standing yet, they're not sitting yet. Yeah. Yeah. Sitting's a really divisive thing,
06:44 - 06:48
I think, for me to talk about, which I'm sure we'll talk about in depth in a single episode.
06:48 - 06:53
We definitely will. Sitting is a developmental position that is a lot later than people think,
06:53 - 07:00
and it's not something we have to train, but sitting in something like that where their thighs
07:00 - 07:07
aren't really supported makes it harder, especially if your child's nervous system is
07:07 - 07:12
not as robust as, say, the 60 to 70 percent of kids who you can just do whatever to and they'll
07:12 - 07:18
be fine. Yeah. If it's not robust enough, the problem is the angle that's developed at their
07:18 - 07:25
hips. Yeah. So, as you develop, as you're more on your feet and you're starting to run around and
07:25 - 07:31
walk and whatever else, jump, the angle of your hip gets smaller, right? So, you should be able
07:31 - 07:35
to bear more weight through it. Instead of it just being a straight up and down angle, it starts to
07:35 - 07:41
bend a little bit, and that gives you strength in your hip. It also deepens the socket in your
07:41 - 07:47
hip as much as possible and makes it nice and round. It also makes the ball of your hip nice
07:47 - 07:53
and round so it sits nicely in the socket. But if you're not doing that and you're allowing these
07:53 - 07:59
children to bear weight into these hips that haven't had a chance to form nicely, then the
07:59 - 08:04
deepness of the socket and the smoothness of the ball or the smoothness of the socket or the angle
08:04 - 08:11
just doesn't develop properly and that's when you have these kids that pigeon toe or anything
08:11 - 08:17
like that where there's some type of lack of control in their hip. Really? Okay. Well, and I
08:17 - 08:22
mean it's the kids that can't sit and can't stand that are getting put in this equipment because
08:22 - 08:28
the only thing they can do is lay on the ground. And so, to keep them happy, we put them in things
08:28 - 08:34
like this so they can see us and they can interact with us and they're surrounded by their
08:34 - 08:41
activity center of bright things that make noises and roll around. So it's the younger ones that are
08:41 - 08:46
really the ones getting put in this type of equipment. And so is that the same with jolly
08:46 - 08:51
jumpers and like jumperoos? I think they're similar. They're just like the jolly jumpers
08:51 - 08:56
are attached essentially to the ceiling or to a frame and they're in like a bungee and they're
08:56 - 09:01
jumping up and down off the floor or not even really touching the floor. And then jumperoos
09:01 - 09:07
are like a mini version. I think it is a bit more like a mini swing, I suppose, or an activity
09:07 - 09:12
center, but there's like a little trampoline underneath and they can jump up and down in this
09:12 - 09:17
bungee seat. But the two things we just spoke about, that plantar reflex and the formation
09:17 - 09:26
of the hip, both are sacrificed with those and they should be banned. But anyway, that's just
09:26 - 09:34
one opinion of a physiotherapist. All right. Now, so play gyms we covered when we were talking about
09:34 - 09:40
rolling. So those little arch rainbow things with toys hanging from them, they're actually
09:40 - 09:46
acceptable. Okay. So flat mat with the arches over the top with the toys hanging down, nothing fancy,
09:46 - 09:53
just no extra cushions, no extra support, no whatever. They're acceptable. Yeah, absolutely.
09:53 - 09:57
They're really important. Well, they can be quite cheap too. So that's 30 bucks.
09:57 - 10:04
Here's a big one for you. Carriers. All right. What are they like, the carriers where they're
10:04 - 10:11
at the front and you sort of Velcro them in and the babies are often facing out with their arms
10:11 - 10:17
hanging down, their legs hanging down, or they're facing in with their head to the side, their arms
10:17 - 10:22
out to the sides and their hips way open because they're not going to be able to fit around your
10:22 - 10:31
chest and your belly. Tell me about carriers. Don't like them. Yeah. Don't be shy.
10:32 - 10:36
I don't like them because most of the time, whenever I see a child in a carrier,
10:36 - 10:42
they're in the most horrendous postural position and I just can't look at it. It might be great
10:42 - 10:46
for as a dad to get out and go for a walk with your child and you strap them on the front of
10:46 - 10:50
you looking out so they can see everything, but it's just horrendous for their development.
10:50 - 10:54
So just don't do it. Because of the hip positioning again? Yeah. Well, that's a big
10:54 - 10:59
one. But then if they're up against you, they're going to be arching their back in that position.
11:00 - 11:06
Everything that you're hopefully doing well at home to help them develop these good patterns
11:06 - 11:11
is then getting disrupted by spending time in these things. Yeah. Okay. So I remember talking
11:11 - 11:17
to a friend who said she loved the carrier because she could put the baby in the carrier and she'd be
11:17 - 11:19
able to go around the house and do the washing and do all the housework and this, that and the
11:19 - 11:24
other, and the baby would be with her, but she wouldn't have to carry it. So no, no good? No.
11:25 - 11:34
No. Okay. So I either did some housework when babies were sleeping or I let it go a little bit
11:34 - 11:42
or I put the baby on a rug on the ground in the room that I was working in and moved the baby
11:42 - 11:47
with me everywhere I went. Brought a play gym and brought some toys in and the baby was just in the
11:47 - 11:53
corner while I did the housework. But what's the other thing you used occasionally? I carried the
11:53 - 11:59
baby. What did you make? What did I make? I made a sling. You made a sling? I did. I must say I didn't
12:00 - 12:06
love it. I know some people do love it and I think if you can get it to work for you, then
12:06 - 12:14
it would be really good. And I understand why they would be beneficial because the baby's so
12:14 - 12:20
close to the mother and you can easily do a breastfeed. It can sleep in that position, right?
12:20 - 12:27
Absolutely. There is no load or stress or whatever going through different parts of the body that
12:27 - 12:32
shouldn't be already be able to load it or be stressed in a sling. Yeah. Because the body,
12:32 - 12:39
the baby's body is fully cocooned. Yeah. By some material that is holding them up. Yes. I did love
12:39 - 12:46
the idea. I did use it a bit, but I struggled with Ollie because he was premature. He was so tiny.
12:46 - 12:53
I just really struggled to feel like he was in a good position, like a safe position and I could
12:53 - 12:58
see him. I don't know. I just struggled to wrap it appropriately. If you find a good one, I would
12:58 - 13:03
use it to death. Yeah. I would try a sling again. That's for sure. Because that is, if you want to
13:03 - 13:09
carry your child on you, that is, from my perspective, your only option. Which is okay
13:09 - 13:13
to do, right? Carry your child on you. Absolutely. That's what they used to do back in the day. Great
13:13 - 13:19
bonding experience. Yeah. Absolutely. Breastfeed on demand, sleep close to you, whatever. That's
13:19 - 13:24
all fine too. Yeah. Yeah. So yeah, I would try it again. Definitely. I never did a carrier.
13:24 - 13:28
I wasn't allowed, obviously, for good reason. And what about in a capsule? You put them in a capsule
13:28 - 13:32
to put them in the car. What if they fall asleep in the capsule? Do you bring them out in the
13:32 - 13:37
capsule, let them sleep in the capsule for a couple of hours? I don't know, feed them in the
13:37 - 13:43
capsule, let them sit and play in the capsule. Is that too much time? Should you limit it? You just
13:43 - 13:49
don't want to have them spending too much time in the capsule. So do you use the capsule as a mode
13:49 - 13:56
of transport and in the car? And if you're home and they're awake, get them out? Yeah. Ideally.
13:56 - 14:00
Yeah. Okay. But if your child's gone to sleep in the car and you want to keep them in the capsule
14:00 - 14:03
to the end of their sleep, that's cool. Okay. Because at least they're reclined and they're
14:03 - 14:09
fully supported. Their entire body weight is supported in there. Okay. Their thighs, their
14:09 - 14:14
hips, their back, their head, everything's supported there. So that's okay. And it's
14:14 - 14:21
supported at an angle, which should be okay for short periods of time. And those capsules are
14:21 - 14:29
about a 45 degree angle. And before your child ever sits, that is as far upright as you should
14:29 - 14:34
put your child. Yeah. Okay. So no carriers? Just don't even bother getting one? Don't bother
14:34 - 14:40
getting one. Carry your baby in your arms? One option. Put it in a pram? Put it in a pram. We
14:40 - 14:46
had one of those bassinet add-ons. So it was flat, a flat mattress that the baby could lay on, belly,
14:46 - 14:50
backside, whatever. Could be awake, could be asleep, could play in there, whatever. Carry
14:50 - 14:54
around a rug, put the baby on the floor. And if you're out going for a walk or something, put it
14:54 - 14:59
in a pram. Don't put it in a carrier. Yep. Correct. If you're going out somewhere and you don't want
14:59 - 15:02
to take the pram because it's going to be too bulky, then figure out a sling. Or just carry
15:02 - 15:08
them in your arms because that is your only real safe option. If you've got multiple children as
15:08 - 15:12
well, get a sling. So you've got that baby on you, you can feed it on the run, whatever. And
15:12 - 15:17
you've got hands for your children. Yeah. Hands for your other kids. All right. So not buying
15:17 - 15:23
a carrier will save you about 300 bucks. That's good. Those swings that are like on a frame. I
15:23 - 15:28
have to talk Simon through all of this stuff because he doesn't, we never had it. So he
15:28 - 15:32
probably, yeah. I'm not very good at picturing things either. Jackie's trying to do these
15:33 - 15:39
flying hands. So you've got a frame and then you've got a swing that's sort of in the shape
15:39 - 15:44
of a capsule, but flatter, I guess. And they're swinging and it's playing music and it puts them
15:44 - 15:49
to sleep. Yep. That's okay. Okay. Do you want them to do all their sleeping in there though?
15:49 - 15:54
No. Because it's not flat? Yeah, correct. But like if your baby's really struggling to sleep
15:54 - 15:58
for a period of time and that's the only way they get to sleep, sleep is way more important than
15:58 - 16:03
anything else. So. Yeah, that's true. Just let them sleep. Okay. Yeah. And it's not the worst
16:03 - 16:08
position in the world. If they fall asleep in a carrier and their head sort of is on their
16:08 - 16:13
shoulder and their legs are hanging down in that horrible hip position, then that's not good. Get
16:13 - 16:17
them out and put them in their bed. Yeah. Or change their position in the carrier so they're
16:17 - 16:22
not like that. Yeah. Okay. How do you even do that? You might get a roll up tail and prop their
16:22 - 16:27
head so their head's nice and straight or whatever that might be. Oh, yeah. Okay. But just burn your carrier.
16:27 - 16:34
Yeah. Okay. Good. All right. So swings are okay for a period of time. Capsules are okay for a period
16:34 - 16:42
of time. Carriers, no. Slings, yes. Bumbos, highchairs, I know you hate these. Highchairs
16:42 - 16:50
obviously, yes, when they can sit themselves. Correct. But do not strap them into a highchair
16:50 - 16:56
when they're not already sitting by themselves. Correct. Go on. So I think we're talking about,
16:56 - 17:01
we might talk about this next episode too in terms of introducing your baby to solids. Yeah, yeah.
17:01 - 17:06
But no baby should be sitting upright when you slowly introduce them to the solids because no
17:06 - 17:10
baby will really be able to transition into sitting by themselves. You need to come up with an
17:10 - 17:14
alternative. And so generally you're not going to introduce solids till six months. They're not
17:14 - 17:18
going to be able to sit by six months, right? Correct. So you don't need to have a highchair
17:18 - 17:23
on your list of things to get for the baby shower because they're going to be at least six, well,
17:23 - 17:28
however many, nine months old is it when they're generally? Eight to 10 months. So you've got a
17:28 - 17:33
long period of time before you even think of buying a highchair. Unless your highchair reclines.
17:33 - 17:39
Oh, yeah. I think I've seen some of those. Some do recline. That's a great idea. We used one of
17:39 - 17:46
those $30 old school, like crochet things. I think they're called, yeah, they're called something
17:46 - 17:51
et. I saw it the other day, but that was really good. That's a good position for them. Yeah. So
17:51 - 17:58
they're, they're not flat. They're not upright. They're somewhere in the middle. Yeah. Yeah. And
17:58 - 18:04
it works. Yeah. Okay. And bumbos. They're those little things, I don't know, made of foam usually,
18:04 - 18:10
or you can get plastic ones where you sit your baby on top of the table. And I think you strap
18:10 - 18:15
them in and they're sort of squashed into this little, I don't know, thing that envelopes their
18:15 - 18:21
butt and their legs. And then some of them have a little table on top. Yeah. So bumbos got taken
18:21 - 18:26
off the market there for a little while. Oh, did they? Yeah. I did a little celebration to myself.
18:26 - 18:30
Wow. They got taken off because they were deemed unsafe because babies were falling out of them
18:30 - 18:34
and injuring themselves. So parents would be putting them on the kitchen bench and these
18:34 - 18:38
babies would be falling out of them and falling onto the floor. Wow. They brought them back in
18:38 - 18:43
because they put straps or a table on top. They put a strap around it. Yeah. Great. To stop that.
18:43 - 18:48
So it's safer to stop the babies from falling, but it's not safe for your development.
18:48 - 18:52
Well, it's not safe at all still. Babies can still fall out of even the straps there.
18:52 - 18:55
That's true. The bumbo can just go with them. Yeah. Cause I think they were quite
18:55 - 18:59
light made of plastic or foam. Yeah. If your baby's big enough, but it doesn't have the
18:59 - 19:02
ability to support themselves in that position there, you'll take, they'll take the bumbo with
19:02 - 19:08
it. Yeah. Okay. Beyond that, beyond the safety concerns, you're putting a child in a position
19:08 - 19:13
that it can't control. Yeah. You're trying to get them to sit. Yeah. The bumbo puts them in a
19:13 - 19:19
position that makes it easier for them to do it. Yeah. So it tilts their pelvis underneath them
19:19 - 19:24
to kind of lock them into this like C shaped posture. Yeah. And if you want to be telling
19:24 - 19:28
your kids, sit up straight, pull your shoulders back, stand up tall for the rest of their lives.
19:29 - 19:33
Throw them in a bumbo, go for your life. Yeah. Okay. That's probably the least you worry to
19:33 - 19:39
tell you the truth about a bumbo, but has so many negative implications. Well, and again,
19:39 - 19:44
people are putting their babies in these things because they can't sit up by themselves. So
19:45 - 19:50
it's really whack how that's working. But it's just like, yeah, cause you want your child to
19:50 - 19:55
be happy and interactive with you and whatever else. But like, unfortunately that's not something
19:55 - 20:00
you should ever consider thinking about doing. Yeah. Okay. All right. So those little timey
20:00 - 20:05
time cushions and things like that we spoke about there, we do not approve of them. They promote
20:05 - 20:09
poor patterning. Yeah. It was just cheating. So yeah, cheating. There are other things you can do
20:09 - 20:14
besides using equipment to make your child get into a cheap position to make them do the things
20:14 - 20:21
they need to do. Okay. So no jolly jumpers, no jumpers, no wheelie walkers, no activity centers.
20:21 - 20:29
So parents might want what then? What can they do? The floor. Yeah. It's a pretty cheap toy.
20:29 - 20:33
Yeah. Maybe not a cheap toy. It depends on your floor, but you don't need to go out of your way
20:33 - 20:37
to buy this fandangle piece of equipment or play center or whatever it is to make your child
20:37 - 20:42
develop. Yeah. You just need to give it some interaction from you as a parent and have some
20:42 - 20:48
really simple things that they like the look of and they will develop as it is. You don't need
20:48 - 20:52
these play centers. They have no idea what they're doing with them anyway. They're just
20:52 - 20:57
banging on things. It's not motivational. Yeah. Just leave it alone. Okay.
20:57 - 21:02
훨�ättreÿÿÿÿ paras you can give him anything to play with. Get a container from your, from
21:02 - 21:07
your drawer and give it to them. Yeah. Okay. So the floor they don't need anything else.
21:07 - 21:13
Nope. They need to learn how to get off it. So yeah. If you always drag them up with you
21:13 - 21:18
they'll never learn how to do it. So you can change your list of things you want from people
21:18 - 21:24
at your baby shower to things like books and muslin wraps. Or a nice rug. And a nice rug.
21:24 - 21:28
Some really, well, no clothes because they're going to be in the nude, which is what we
21:28 - 21:32
learned from our rolling podcast episode. Maybe you need to invest in like some good
21:32 - 21:38
air conditioning. Yeah. Some heating. Yeah. Okay. Is there any other equipment that you've
21:38 - 21:44
heard of or come across that is just off the planet or you really don't understand why
21:44 - 21:48
they made it or have we kind of. Oh, there probably is. And I've probably, someone's
21:48 - 21:51
probably tried to describe something to me before, but when people start trying to describe
21:51 - 21:55
equipment, I just tune out because I already know what my answer is going to be. And especially
21:55 - 22:00
when they show me a photo, it's usually the photo that I look at and not have no idea
22:00 - 22:05
what it's called, but because that's all my eye goes to. But if, if it's there to try
22:05 - 22:12
and help or put your baby into a position that they cannot get into themselves, i.e.
22:12 - 22:16
if your child is four months of age, they should not be anywhere but their belly or
22:16 - 22:21
their back on the floor or on you or any alternative like that. They should not be
22:21 - 22:27
trying to do anything greater than that. So if a piece of equipment does that, then
22:27 - 22:33
it's not right. Yeah. And so nothing that is about convenience for the parent, it's
22:33 - 22:39
not about the parent. This is about the baby. Yeah. Anything that you feel like it's going
22:39 - 22:44
to make convenient for you now is going to make it extremely inconvenient for you in
22:44 - 22:50
other ways later. And it's a short period of your life and their life. Just wait a couple
22:50 - 22:54
of months and then they'll be able to do it. You've just got to have some patience
22:54 - 22:57
and allow your kid to be robust and resilient enough to be able to learn how to do it in
22:57 - 23:02
the first place. It's going to make your life so much easier on the other end. And we'll
23:02 - 23:09
talk about the equipment when it comes to feeding your baby more in one of our other
23:09 - 23:14
episodes because there's quite a lot to that. But yeah, save your money, cross it off your
23:14 - 23:20
list if anyone gives it to you. Yeah. Give it to your enemy. Or have a bonfire. Yeah.
23:20 - 23:25
Whatever you want to do. Yeah. But yeah, just don't bother. So, okay. Anything else you
23:25 - 23:31
want to say to finish this episode off? Just don't worry about doing anything but the simple
23:31 - 23:37
things. Yeah. Simple things is what helps. Think of what they would do back in the caveman
23:37 - 23:42
days, back before any of this stuff existed. Technology is not necessarily a good answer
23:42 - 23:46
to your child's developmental needs. Yeah. Yes, we have the technology. That's great.
23:46 - 23:50
Very good. We're so smart as a human race. Well done everybody. But the fundamentals
23:50 - 23:55
have not changed ever since we became homosapien. Okay. Yep. True. You need to learn how to
23:55 - 24:01
get up off the floor by yourself, not with some piece of equipment. There is enough stimulus
24:01 - 24:06
in a child's life every day to motivate them to want to move and get up and do whatever
24:06 - 24:11
they need to do. You don't need to add these artificial stimuli, which is just going to
24:11 - 24:16
ramp up their sympathetic nervous system to then be able to try and generate a moving
24:16 - 24:19
pattern that's probably poor and then you're going to pay for it later. True. I could continue
24:19 - 24:25
to rant but there's no point. Just don't buy anything. Save your money. Save your money
24:25 - 24:30
on equipment. Save your money on physio intervention later on. Okay, good. So, in summary, Simon
24:30 - 24:35
hates equipment. Don't do it. Don't get it. I had none and I got through. Do it if you
24:35 - 24:39
want to put me through my retirement, go for your life and buy your kid's equipment and
24:39 - 24:44
then you can call me up and I'll try and help later on and it'll be a lifelong partnership.
24:44 - 24:48
That's fine. You can do that if you want. But if you want to keep your own money, I
24:48 - 24:51
would suggest, one, not buy equipment in the first place and you won't have to outlay any
24:51 - 24:56
cash later on in life. Yeah, and I'm living proof that it can be done because I did it
24:56 - 25:01
with two babies and although a little frustrating at the beginning, I didn't know any different
25:01 - 25:05
though, but other friends put their babies in this, that and the other and it made things
25:05 - 25:12
so much easier for them. But I did it and in the end, definitely paid off and it's fine.
25:12 - 25:16
The problem with equipment is that, again, the 60 to 70% of kids will be able to deal
25:16 - 25:19
with it no matter what. They won't have any repercussions because their system's robust
25:19 - 25:24
enough. But if you put these kids in these pieces of equipment for long enough, it can
25:24 - 25:29
override these things. So, instead of having 60 to 70% of kids that are developing normally
25:29 - 25:35
without any intervention, you're starting to get 50 or 40. So, it's almost half the
25:35 - 25:40
population that's forgotten how to develop their own movement patterns, which is just
25:40 - 25:46
a goldmine for any allied healthcare, but horrible for the development of your child
25:46 - 25:50
and every other child that's out there. So, the less time we can spend in any of these
25:50 - 25:56
things, the better for any society and any economic burden that comes or has anything
25:56 - 26:01
to do with health. So, just don't do it. And a side note, it's really limiting our
26:01 - 26:08
athletic ability. Oh, yeah. Yeah. There's more jobs for strength conditioning coaches
26:08 - 26:12
or movement specialists or whatever later on. If you want to do them out of a job, then
26:12 - 26:17
just don't buy this stuff. All right. I think we've got the point there. Okay. That's the
26:17 - 26:24
end of this episode on equipment. Moral of the story, don't buy any. That'll do for this
26:24 - 26:31
one and we'll see you next time. Thank you. Thank you.
