swaddle series — freely movable vs immovable babies

freely movable babies vs. immovable babies

as adults, we integrate that which we are experiencing through movement, whether that be through exercise, walks, stretching, shaking, and more.

our babies go from a world in which they are freely moveable (hello womb!!!), dancing with us through the birth process to make their way earth-side, and then are all too often put in “containers” of sorts, restricting movement, and thus restricting their ability to integrate through their fascial system.

sleep is one of the most important moments we have to integrate all that we’ve learned, experienced, and navigated throughout the day.

when we are forced to sleep in a way that limits our body and fascial system’s mobility (hi swaddling and back sleeping) we are taking away critical moments and opportunities of integration, healing, and assimilation.

by ditching a swaddle (in addition to outward facing baby carriers/wearing), we can support fascial system integration and the utilization of our asymmetrical movements and reflexes that are critical in learning how to coordinate use of both right and left sides of the body at any given moment later in life.

tying in (hah) this epidemic of tethered oral tissues — our frenum (both lingual and labial) are made out of nothing other than you guessed it, fascia.

when we restrict movement in the rest of the body, is it not to be expected that we will notice this same degree of restriction in the mouth as well?

more importantly put, when we support mobility and integration of the global fascial system, can’t we expect to see that same degree of freedom in the mouth and tongue as well?