Montessori Mobiles for Babies – Types and Benefits
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Little ones are curious learners who learn a lot just by observing the things around them. Now if you want your baby to keep learning every single day, then perhaps, you should consider using baby mobiles in his nursery. Baby mobiles do adorn a baby’s nursery and keep an infant happily engaged, but do you know that these mobiles can also contribute to a baby’s development?
Montessori mobiles are very popular among parents today. If you’ve recently embraced parenthood and want to ensure that your baby develops just right for his age, you may want to invest in Montessori mobiles. But if you’re not familiar with Montessori mobiles (or philosophy), then you will want to know about it. Let’s take you through that! Read on to know about Montessori mobiles, their benefits, and the various types of Montessori mobiles you can choose from for you precious li’l one!
What Are Montessori Mobiles?
Montessori mobiles are baby mobiles that are made keeping in the mind the philosophy of Dr Maria Montessori, who stated that babies grasp and learn things much before they develop movement. She further emphasized that babies learn a great deal just by observing the environment around them, through their senses. The Montessori mobiles are not just visually appealing, but they also provide the age-appropriate stimulation to a baby. These mobiles are designed carefully so that they do not overwhelm the baby.
Types of Montessori Mobiles for Babies
Montessori mobiles provide visual stimulation to infants and are designed to improve their focus and concentration. They help a baby learn how to track moving objects and are usually introduced when the baby is active and alert. A baby’s vision matures slowly over the span of six months. For practising optimum visual tracking and concentration, it is important to hang the mobile in the right motion, with the right details, and at the right level. Here are various types of Montessori infant mobiles that you can buy for your baby:
1. The Octahedron Mobile
This type of mobile is great for your baby when he is ready to perceive various primary colours. The use of primary colours in octahedron Montessori mobile helps the babies in knowing the difference between various primary colours. Also, this mobile uses geometric shapes, which can be used to introduce formative mathematical concepts to young minds. These mobiles are made with natural material are also fairly light in weight and every string is tied on varying lengths on the mobile.
2. The Munari Mobile
It’s a classic Montessori mobile in black and white that provides developmentally appropriate visual stimulation to a baby. The Munari mobile is a high-contrast geometric mobile which can be the ideal first mobile for a baby. It improves focus and concentration of a baby. It also helps develop tracking in babies. The spheres, rod, shapes, etc. can also introduce the basic concepts of maths. Exposing babies to number-oriented concepts in infancy may help in assimilating mathematical abilities in the formative years at school.
3. The Gobbi Mobile
As babies grow and are around three months of age, they are able to visualize the full spectrum of colours. Therefore, at this stage, you can introduce the Gobbi mobile to your munchkin. This kind of mobile is great for tuning the chromatic sense as the baby needs to differentiate between different shades of the same colour palate. This colour graded mobile is made using embroidery threads.
4. The Dancers Mobile
A perfect mobile for older babies, the Montessori dancers mobile comes in different figures and shapes that dance and bounce around the baby. The baby is expected to focus and pay attention to these dancing shapes. This iconic Montessori mobile helps a baby perceive the difference between various attributes such as the things that change and the things remain constant.
Leave your baby to observe these stimulating mobiles, however, make sure that baby is uninterrupted while he does so. Also, it is very common for the babies to not notice the mobile immediately, be patient, and give some time to your baby to notice it. Sometimes babies may look away from the mobile, well, they may do so to catch a break and it is fairly normal!
Benefits of Montessori Mobiles For Infants
Before you invest in a Montessori mobile, you may want to know why you should buy one for your baby, well, here are some benefits that will help you understand why you should buy them for your baby:
1. These mobiles avoid overstimulation.
Unlike the regular mobiles that are available in the market, Montessori mobiles do not restrict a baby’s movements. They do not make unnecessary noise or move around, which means these kinds of mobiles do not provide overstimulation to little ones. These mobiles are designed in a way that they neither influence nor distract a growing baby’s playing choices. These mobiles help the baby by isolating the baby’s visual senses, which means the baby can choose to look or not look at the mobile. If the baby does not feel like gazing at the mobile, he may simply look away. If the baby feels tired or exhausted, he can also doze off under the mobile that is mellow, gentle, and quiet or simply focus their attention and vision on other objects around him.
2. They provide visual stimulation.
A baby’s vision is not completely developed in the initial few months after birth. The Montessori mobiles are designed to benefit babies through different phases of vision development. The mobiles that are ideally suited for a few weeks old babies as these are designed using high contrasting colours. And as a baby grows the gradual progression is made with the next level mobiles that use different colours and shapes. You can choose age-appropriate Montessori mobiles for your baby. These mobiles offer just the right kind of visual stimulation, which means that it is neither too little nor too much.
3. They help in developing concentrating.
Montessori mobiles are great to develop concentration in babies from a young age. If you want to build focus and concentration of your baby from early on, you can buy Montessori mobiles for him. The Montessori mobiles focus on learning just one skill at a time, therefore, your baby can easily learn to focus and concentrate on these mobiles.
Tips to Place the Baby Under the Mobile
The following tips can come in handy for placing your baby under the mobile:
- You can use these mobiles for your baby once he turns two-weeks-old. Place your baby on a mat that is comfortable and safe.
- Always ensure that your baby is well-rested and fed before placing him under the mat.
- For babies who suffer from regular bouts of throwing up or acid reflux, placing their head on a soft pillow or blanket that helps in elevating their head slightly, can prove to be helpful.
The Right Way to Hang the Montessori Mobile
Here are some tips for hanging the mobiles the right way to let your baby derive the maximum benefit from them and to ensure various safety measures:
- Hang the mobiles from a thread above your baby’s chest and approximately at a height of 20 to 30 cm from the baby’s reach. This distance and position allow the baby to see the mobile as well as keep it at a safe distance so that baby is not able to grasp it.
- Whenever placing your baby under a mobile, make sure that the baby is fully awake so that he can focus and observe the mobile. Placing a sleepy or cranky baby under a mobile is a complete no-no as it may make the child crankier.
- Make sure that you place the mobile in an area that the baby stays active in rather than placing it in the baby’s sleeping area. This is because the idea is to stimulate the baby’s senses and not to get him to sleep.
- Make sure the mobile is placed in an area that you can supervise after placing your baby under it. Never leave your baby unattended.
The Montessori mobiles should ideally be used in a sequence and as per a baby’s age, but you should introduce another mobile, only when your baby is ready for the transition. If you feel that your baby needs some time with a particular mobile, you can allow more time. The usual rule states changing the mobile every two weeks but you should observe your baby know when it is the right time to move on to the next mobile. These mobiles are easily available at various stores, however, if you wish to make one for your baby, you can do that too!
Also Read: Swiping Mobiles for Infants
