As physiotherapists working at the Heim Pál Children’s Hospital in Budapest we treat children with various neurological and musculoskeletal disorders. During the therapy, our goal is to follow the movement development of a healthy child, to establish and restore the normal functions of their body. It’s important to do all this in the most playful way possible.

Our hospital had the opportunity to try out the Adamo hammock. Thanks to its design, we can place the child in both sitting and lying positions. As a result of its single-point suspension, it can be pushed or rotated in any direction. With the adjustable rope length, the baby’s feet can also reach the floor, encouraging it to be active.

We would like to demonstrate through some examples how the Adamo hammock can be used as an additional tool in the movement therapy:
Infants and young children who have been forced to rest in bed for several months (e.g., after injuries of the nervous system, serious accidents, conditions requiring intensive care) are often unable to sit independently due to their illness. However, the vestibular (balancing) stimuli required for the functioning of the nervous system can be safely administered in the supine position.

Damage to the central nervous system (hypoxia at birth, accident) can cause disturbances in the regulation of the muscle tone. As a result, the back muscles and the neck muscles are tighter (a so-called extension tone increase may develop), the spine bends backwards. Place the child in the soft seat of the hammock with the legs pulled up to their belly. During the slow rocking, the tense muscles relax and the spine bends in the right direction.

This tool can also come in handy for congenital deformities of the foot (such as the clubfoot) or after lower limb surgery, when the toddler puts his or her foot in the wrong position or may not fully load it yet. The hammock is adjusted so that the child’s two feet reach the floor. The little patient can push themselves by leaning on the feet adjusted properly by the physiotherapist or the parent. This creates controlled muscle activity in the lower limb, and for the baby pushing the hammock is fun.

In addition to these few examples, there are countless other ways to use the hammock. It provides entertainment for healthy, injured and sick children, but it also works as a supplementary therapeutic tool. I encourage all parents to play with their babies in a creative way or to use the hammock as a therapeutic tool with the help of a doctor or physiotherapist.

We use the Adamo hammock in the Development Houses also for special purposes. In our movement development groups for moms, we examine children’s nervous system maturation from infancy and teach parents what they need in order to develop their own child individually, how fast, how many times the family should swing the little one.

The specialists of the Development House also compile therapeutic programmes for children with various problems and developmental delays (such as speech-starting movement therapy). However, in such cases it is very important to seek the advice of a sensorimotor development specialist! The Adamo hammock can also be used at home during the planned sensorimotor training, as most mothers are alone with their child during the day, so they cannot perform any swing tasks in the blanket in another way.

Therefore, if you choose a hammock for your baby, choose one based on the information above! Keep it in mind that the hammock is very beneficial for your child’s development, but it should only be used wisely, taking into account the child’s needs, motivation, pace of their movement development and length of time spent in the hammock. As the head of the Children’s Development Center of the Újbuda Development House and a mother of three children, I heartily recommend this well-designed hammock!

While rocking, we experience a full range of sensations, from the soothing rhythm of our back-and-forth movement to the thrill of rapid travel through space and time. These experiences revive the unrestricted movement before birth in the womb, the feeling of security and love. Swinging is an integral part of the development of humanity. Think about human evolution and our ancestors, the chimpanzees, who spent millions of years swinging freely in the treetops.

During this time, swinging stimulated their cerebellum, which is responsible for movement coordination, developed their balance, thinking and language skills, and improved the development of emotional regulation. Today, it is scientifically proven that swinging develops the sensory system of our body, namely the vestibular and proprioceptive our system. Vestibular stimulation occurs when we move in space and time. Then the three semicircular arches in the inner ear react to movement and acceleration in the horizontal, vertical and diagonal planes, which directly stimulates our sense of balance. The proprioceptive system receives information from our muscles and joints while our body moves in space, which is also developed by stimulating the vestibular system with rocking. This information is processed by our central nervous system and prompts us to respond to stimuli. Inside the womb, the fetus can move freely in all directions, floating in the amniotic fluid. After birth, the child is faced with gravity, their limbs feel heavy, and their nervous system is not yet mature enough to perform concentrated movements. A rapid development process begins, the obvious moments of which are that the baby begins to turn its head in the direction of the sound and light, follows it with its eyes, then tames its limbs, first clumsily reaches for objects, and then reaches its goal with increasing precision.

The arrangement of information collected by the senses (eyes, ears, touch) and the kinesthetic perception of the environment (proprioception) help the child in normal development. Summarizing the beneficial effects of swinging: the forward-backward, up-down movement develops the cerebral cortex, the brain it gently stimulates the center responsible for balance, helps in the conscious perception of the body's position, the approaching-distant, moving environment promotes the collection and processing of sensory information, sensory integration provides a basis for more complex learning and behavior, helps to improve motor skills, develop large movements and also fine movements, the muscles relax and the child relaxes and calms down, accordingly, it can also provide a solution for sleep problems. Premature babies initially have less developed sensory perception, especially in the tactile and vestibular areas. Several studies have dealt with the effects of multisensory and vestibular-proprioceptive stimulation of premature babies, and their results clearly support that stimulation in premature babies has a beneficial effect on both their development and their sleep patterns. Therefore, careful rocking, started in time, can be useful for premature babies, the details of which should be consulted with a physiotherapist or pediatrician. Swinging is therefore a developmental tool known since ancient times, which is available to all ages, even outside or in the apartment.

Gentle and safe swinging is possible from birth, so-called in the form of a reclining baby swing, which does not burden the spine and does not deform the head, even when lying on the back for several hours. Certain horizontal swings can move in all directions with the right suspension, which is an additional advantage in the development of the nervous system, and older children can already experience the thrill of racing in all directions in the sitting swings. Whether healthy, children in need of development, or children with neurological diseases, it has positive benefits the swing. Swinging is therefore a fun, limitless opportunity, with which we support the healthy development of our child.