Montessori Topponcino: How and Why We Use It
I started this post a long time ago but never got around to finishing it during the newborn haze. Tate is now 10 months-old! Ten months ago, Henry was a toddler. He had the chubbiest cheeks and the sweetest toddler speak. Now he talks about astronauts. He also says things like “I’m up for the challenge” when I mention that he might want to switch his shoes to the proper feet. (As a side note I don’t normally tell him to fix his shoes, but we were getting ready to do something that seemed safer with his shoes on the right way.) But not too long ago, Tater was the tiniest infant. Well, he wasn’t so “tiny” at a whopping 10.3 pounds, but you get the point. During the first 6-8 weeks of his life, we used his Montessori topponcino all the time. I meant to write a post to tell you about it. We never had one with Henry, but I definitely recommend it. The reason I decided to get it the second time around was that my Montessori-trained friend explained that it really helps younger children hold babies safely and comfortably.
Montessori Topponcino: The Purpose
The idea behind the topponcino is that infants need to feel the most safe and secure during the first 6-8 weeks of their lives. During that time, they are acclimating to the world outside the uterus. A topponcino helps provide that security as they get passed from person to person and get transferred from surface to surface. It always feels and smells the same.
Although it has a relatively short lifespan in terms of “baby gear,” it was immensely helpful during those first 6-8 weeks. I could breastfeed Tate on it and when he fell asleep I could transfer him to his bassinet more smoothly because he didn’t experience any sort of change in temperature or texture. When it was play time, I would simply transfer it under his wooden arch. A friend of mine let me borrow several of her covers. We just changed them out whenever he spit up. Well, honestly, we would first flip the spit up spot down toward his feet. Then we would flip it over and do the same thing again. That way, we could get four spit-ups out of one cover; we were tired parents acclimating to life with two–okay?.
I purchased my topponcino from this Etsy shop.