Baby Yoga-Rock and Roll Tummy

Back when I was pregnant and had all these idealistic visions of working hard to get rid of my baby weight after giving birth I bought a mommy and baby yoga video. Of course, that was before the realities of birth and the recovery set in! So anyway, I just now watched my video for the first time and attempted to do some of it with Tobias :)

Here is a fun yoga exercise to do with infants-toddlers:

Activity:
-lay your child on his back, take his hands in yours and hold them up by his chest. Rock him back and forth gently still holding his hands saying "rock, rock, rock". After the third "rock" you bring his hands to his chest again and move them in a circle around his abdomen saying "roll!"
-tuck his legs up over his tummy and hold his feet while he's in that position. Rock him back and forth gently while holding his legs this time saying "rock, rock, rock" again. After the third "rock" you move his legs in a circle while still tucked into his abdomen saying "roll!"
-bring your child's feet up over his chest (babies and toddlers are quite flexible!) and grab his hands as well. Hold his feet and hands together over his abdomen and rock back and forth again, then bring them in a circle and say "roll!".

Extension:
After all that scrunching you may want to stretch your baby back out again. You can do this by gently stretching his or her right arm up and left leg down saying "long baby!". Repeat with the left arm and right leg as well.

Tobias giggled a lot about this one, he thought it was great fun to scrunch up and roll around. For babies this can be a great way to build their tummy muscles and get one-on-one physical interaction with Mom or Dad.

Video to come as soon as I convince my ever-patient husband to videotape us doing this :)