HSIYB: The First Ten Days

Early Learning Early Learning General Discussions
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So my new baby is here! And I’m putting a lot more effort into following Doman’s advice in “How Smart Is Your Baby” this time around. I’m still not 100% following his guidelines, but I’m doing what works for me. And it is so much fun to see what she can do!

The six areas to be stimulated during the first month or so of life, according to HSIYB, are: light reflex, startle reflex, Babinski reflex (fan toes when sole of foot is stroked), grasp reflex, crawling motions on the belly, and balance activities.

She’s a very sleepy baby, so most of these stimulations are done to wake her up to finish a feeding. I’ll clap two blocks together to stimulate the startle reflex, stroke her feet, have her grab my thumbs, and do about two balance activities in the middle of each feeding during the day. It adds up to about 6 repetitions of each and 12 of the 15 balance activities every day. Doman advises 10 reps, but this is what’s comfortable for me. Then after each feeding she does the inclined crawling track once and has some time in the flat crawling track. Doman wants 10 inclined tracks and sleeping in the flat track, but again, I’m doing what I’m happy with. And it’s working! Here’s how it’s going:

Light reflex: If she opens her eyes ten times a day, that’s all she does. I’m not using those precious seconds to turn lights on and off to make her pupils react. So this one will have to wait.

Startle reflex: At first I thought she had a perfect startle reflex, but stimulating it several times a day shows that it’s not regular; it doesn’t happen every time.

Babinski reflex: Again, she has a very good Babinski reflex, but it varies based on how tired she is.

Grasp reflex: So much stronger than my first baby’s! She can support her full weight hanging from my thumbs and has been able to since about Day 3. We’re increasing the time VERY incrementally; we’re up to two seconds now.

Crawling: I made a 3 foot crawling track and if I prop one end up about 6 inches she can go down it in a few minutes. We didn’t do this so young with my first because her umbilical cord stump bled so badly, and she never did it so easily as this one does. Baby S doesn’t even cry! She loves her track. I let her spend about half an hour in it (flat) after daytime feedings; she falls asleep but I let her because I keep it right next to me while I’m playing with Big Girl A. When it’s time for her naps, I move her to a crib and she sleeps on her back. She absolutely loves her crawling track. Interestingly, she lays on her stomach with her knees bent almost directly under her stomach instead of sprawled to the sides like my first baby. I think that’s why she crawls so much better.

Balance: She really doesn’t like balance activities; my first baby liked them better. So we do each one for less than 5 seconds. But we’ll keep trying.

This is so much fun! I had HSIYB with my first, but I was so worried about learning to breastfeed and get her to sleep and everything that I had trouble keeping it up. With this baby, everything is so much easier, and HSIYB is just becoming part of our daily routine. I hope it keeps up! It’s so fun to see her learning!

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Wolfwind! I was patiently waiting for this post :smiley: glad to hear you a re enjoying your baby so much! And getting a rocket start on early learning too!
So light reflex…does your baby actually need their eyes to be open? Pupils dilate when eyelids are closed too. It’s obviously not ideal but perhaps better than nothing? You could try being outside on a sunny day under a tree, or flicking the light on and off at night. ( unless you think it will wake her because we wouldn’t want that now! )
I wanted more info on what balance activities you tried? I used to rock, dance and spin to music with my kids, i am sure it helped their balance, strength and sense of rhythm. ( and my sanity lol ) What didn’t you baby like?

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You can sit in your office chair and spin your kids too. Lazy man’s balance games LOL.

Sounds like you are doing GREAT! And starting so early, I LOVE IT!! Karma. Keep us updated.

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Mandab, that’s a great idea on trying the light reflex with the eyes closed. I’ll start doing that!

Doman has 15 specific balance exercises that he says will give the best vestibular stimulation. I think dancing and spinning in a rolling chair and rocking would do just fine, which is why I’m a little lax on getting all 15 every day, but here they are:

With the baby lying on her stomach on a mat (I use the changing mat), rock the baby side to side and “pitch” the baby head up and feet down, then feet up and head down. Then hold the mat by the baby’s head and spin around her feet both directions, then hold it by her feet and spin around her head both directions. Then hold the mat by the baby’s head and feet and pull her back and forth so she feels the acceleration, and do the same thing side to side.

With the baby’s chest on your shoulder and holding her hips so she’s parallel to the floor, spin in a circle, both directions. Do this again with the baby on her side, chest against your ear, and then on the other shoulder, chest against your ear.

Rock with the baby in a rocking chair (yay, an easy one!).

With the baby lying on her back on your lap or in front of you, pick her up under her arms (supporting her head, of course) and raise her to your eye level, then lay her back down. Lying on your back, hold her up above you and “fly” her back and forth like an airplane.

Hold the baby against you and trot around the house. Hold the baby with one hand behind her head and one under her bum and carry her around.

Roll the baby from her back to her belly, both directions.

At first, when we did these, she would startle and flail out her arms, trying to grab something. But in the past few days, she startles less and seems to enjoy them more. Doman says to do each 15 seconds a day, increasing to 45 seconds by the end of the first month. We probably do less than 5 seconds. But now that it doesn’t seem to scare her, I’ll start increasing it.

Nothing else has changed much in the last three days. She crawls faster, and we’re up to 3 seconds supporting her own weight from my thumbs. But my 21 month old has figured out the pattern and she loves to “tickle” the baby’s feet (trying to stimulate the Babinski reflex), and to clap the blocks together for the startle reflex (and to make me clap the blocks together - “do blocks, Mommy!”). She loves her baby sister, even if sometimes she tells me, “It’s time for baby to take a nap,” so that she can have time with me.

In the non-Doman areas, we’re working on EC and catching about a quarter of her poops in the potty. Yay! We’re in cloth diapers, so less diapers to wash is always great. And she finally got her days and nights straight; she still doesn’t sleep more than 3 hours at a stretch, but at least she doesn’t expect playtime after the night feedings (and scream if we try to leave her in her crib). So we’re getting slightly more sleep.

The next goal is to pick up my toddler’s activities. I’ve taken some time off everything but reading and religion (the two she asks for), but I hope next week to start doing math and science and Montessori every day. We’ll see how it goes!