All new mothers are busy with feeding, cleaning, and snuggling our little one on the daily routine. How about the playing time? Bonding with your sweetie is a joy! We certainly need a safe, clean and comfortable place to spend time with our baby, playmat is a good choice.
Benefits of Having Playmat at Home:
1. Tummy Time Place
What is tummy time? Tummy time is by placing our baby on his or her stomach for few minutes when the baby is awake and supervised to strengthen their muscles and promote motor skills. According to the Joanne Cox, M.D., a pediatrician at Children’s Hospital Boston “Tummy time helps your infant build strength in his back, legs, arms and neck. This helps with further development such as rolling over and sitting.”. For baby of 2 months, we will usually aim for about 5 minutes daily on a flat and wide area. Hence, playmat on the floor is a good solution.
2. Bonding Area
Bonding time is crucial for both parents and baby. According to a Research in Psychological Science suggests that attentive mothers buffer kids against chronic stress, which can cause sleep disorders, digestive problems, memory impairment, depression and obesity. There is no right or wrong way of bonding. The key is both mother or father and the baby must have fun during the bonding time. Again, spending your bonding time on a playmat on the floor is certainly one of the choices compare to bed, sofa or hard flooring. Wider areas give you more freedom to play with your sweetie and safer too.
3. Clean Area
Since your baby and yourself is going to spend time playing together, a clean area is important. Get a playmat on the floor which allows you to clean prior and after playing time is another plus point of having a playmat at home. We certainly do not clean our sofas or bed as frequent as we can clean the playmat.
How to Choose a Playmat?
There are many types of playmat in the market such as alphabet playmat that comes in puzzle form whereby your kids learn ABC plus taking out the colourful tiles if he or she wants to. This is one of the classic playmat in the market. The only weakness of this playmat is the letters may get lost over time or it will not fit nicely together over time. Some playmat comes in round shape and nice pictures. It is certainly light and easy to move around. However, this type of playmat could be small in size if you plan to use it for longer period as our baby grows very fast whereas the playmat size still stay the same. Foldable playmat is certainly another popular playmat in the market because it offers flexibility. It is big in size yet foldable and portable. You may choose a playmat that fit you needs, however the playmat shall meet the following requirements:
- Non-toxic, anti-bacterial, non-formaldehyde, non-phthalate and odourless.
- Water proof and easy to clean and maintain.
- Light weight.
- Soft and Comfortable.
- Easy to carry.
In the early days, the playmat may serve as an ideal place for tummy time for you little one. As they grow, your older children may enjoy using it as a gymnastic mat as the soft surface will protect users from injuries. For mothers who love yoga, you may use it as your yoga mat if you wish. There are different ways you can use it for your little one and yourself. Just make sure you clean and maintain it well.
Here at Motherly Love, we offer foldable playmat that fit your needs. Browse through our collection today!
References:
1. Alex, “3 Reasons Why To Use a Playmat Over a Baby Box” ByAlex, 26th June 2019.
https://www.byalex.shop/blogs/byalex-blog/3-reasons-why-to-use-a-playmat-over-a-baby-box
2. Jay L.Hoecker, M.D., “What’s the Importance of Tummy Time for Baby?” Mayo Clinic, 29th August 2017.
3. Sherly Berk and Katherine Bowers, “The Benefits of Tummy Time” Parents, 6th May 2020.
https://www.parents.com/baby/development/physical/the-benefits-of-tummy-time/