Exercise and Your Kids: Planting the Exercise Seed

Do babies need exercise? How about toddlers? School children? The answer is "yes" to all. Obviously, we are not about to roll out infant treadmills or elliptical machines, but I am concerned that many babies today get carted around in car seats, bouncy chairs, snugglys, or just parental arms and do not get enough of what I call "floor time." Babies with older siblings are particularly floor-time deprived as they often get whisked from school drop off to piano lessons or soccer games. 

Babies need time to move about and explore their environments. "Tummy time," where babies get placed on their stomachs while awake (and under parental supervision), helps babies learn to use their upper body muscles. It is not so much that babies need exercise to burn calories, but rather to give them time to learn how their body moves so that they can explore and eventually achieve their milestones, such as standing, crawling, and walking. And of course, babies do need time being held, rocked, and spoken or sung to-human contact is essential. 

As your baby becomes a toddler, you may feel that he does nothing but exercise-running from room to room, upstairs and downstairs, and sometimes bolting toward the street or other hazards. These crazy hyperactive toddler years give your toddler his sea legs, so to speak. He learns to climb, balance, run, jump, throw, and pedal. Parents need to give their toddlers room to achieve these goals, get fresh air, and explore his ever expanding world. Of course, safety is especially important during these years, when your child may have little sense of danger but lots of impulsive enthusiasm.

Those who live in the Northeast or other climates where winters can be long, cold, and dark, have to make an effort to find healthy outlets for this toddler energy. Trying to subdue your toddler with television, DVD's, and videos is not only impeding his normal development, but teaching him early couch potato skills. 

Hopefully you are trying to keep yourself healthy and fit by exercising regularly. It is never too early to start modeling good behaviors that you want your children to adopt. If children know that Mom and Dad are exercising, they will soon accept that this is what people do-keep fit by moving those limbs and other body parts. 

What family exercises do you do? Dancing? Jogging? Walking? Going to the park? 

Dr. Victoria McEvoy graduated from Harvard Medical School in 1975 and is currently an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at HMS. She is the Medical Director and Chief of Pediatrics at Mass General West Medical Group. She has practiced pediatrics for almost thirty years. She has been married to Earl for thirty six years and raised four children. She currently enjoys writing, traveling, reading, almost all sports, and spending time with her two grandsons.

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