What Babies Wear Will Have an Impact on Their Motor Development

When your baby is first born, he has very limited control over his body. As he grows he will begin to understand where his limbs and body parts are and how to control them.  He will then learn how to use his new found control to manipulate objects and his own body, to play and roll and eventually sit and crawl, so that he can play some more.  Learning to control his body is an awesome and amazing job and your baby will complete this tasks with wonder and joy.  It’s our job to facilitate this growth and development.  It’s because I know this that I stress how important it is for you to make sure that your baby wears comfortable clothes. After he has outgrown the swaddling stage, clothing him will become more important. As far as clothing is concerned, a tee shirt and a diaper are all your baby needs.  Keeping your baby warm is very important so if your baby requires more than a t-shirt, stick with cotton pajama-like shirts and pants.  Socks are only necessary to keep babies toes warm.  Remove socks when your baby is in a warm comfortable place.  This will allow your baby to experience varied sensory textures and help him to learn to use his toes and feet as an anchor for movement.  When your baby begins to experiment with crawling, pants can make surfaces slippery and difficult to manage.  Babies will feel more stable if they can learn to crawl on their bare feet.  If your baby is wearing pants, carpeted surfaces are easier to negotiate.  
Think about what your baby is wearing as he transitions through his development.  Make choices that will help your baby to move freely through his environment and you will be rewarded with the joy that every new movement activity brings to you and your baby.