Safe to take up the baby yoga trend?

Safe to take up the baby yoga trend?

In a new exercise fad, mothers are practising yoga with their infants as young as a month to a year old

    It’s making quite a splash abroad — yoga studios that have infant classes, where mothers get into yoga poses with their little ones. The idea? The exercise is aimed at improving tots’ bodily functions. It features warm-up sessions, stretches, postures and more so as to tone up the muscles and make sure the body gets relaxed too. It’s not the regular class, that adults have, of course. Considering the age of the infants, a typical session is just 10-15 minutes for three to six-month-olds going upto half an hour for older kids.
    Says an expert, “This is a new way for moms to bond with their babies. Mild forms of exercise like this could stimulate his or her digestive system. It is said to also help a child to sleep well at night. But, one has to be very careful while doing such an exercise. It must be done under supervision and must not exceed limits. Swinging a child around which was reported to happen as part of this yoga, is very alarming and can be extremely dangerous. Some classes might come up only for publicity so one must take of these fads that come up.”
    Ismat Tahseen
OTHER EXERCISES A BABY CAN BENEFIT FROM: KNEE BENDS Gently press your baby’s knees to his tummy, then straighten them and repeat. Do not force the rhythm.
REACHING FOR YOUR FINGER When your baby is on his or her back, offer your two index fingers. When he grabs them, slowly lift your hands a little higher. In trying to reach for them he will stretch too.
DOING THE BICYCLE MOVEMENT While the baby is on the back, hold his lower legs and gently move his leg towards his chest in a cycling movement. Do this with the other leg too. Stop and repeat.

Baby yoga is said to have asanas that aid an infant’s digestive system