Our sense of balance our sense of body movement and position that enables our sense of balance

At every age, senses help with more than just seeing, smelling, tasting, feeling, and hearing. Senses play an important role in everything from staying balanced, to riding a bike, to knowing when we’re hungry and thirsty.

Here we’ll dive into the vestibular sense, also known as the balance sense.

Learn more about all the senses by visiting our sensory page, or read about proprioception (the body awareness sense) and interoception (the internal sense).

What is the vestibular sense?

The vestibular sense, also known as the movement, gravity and/or balance sense, allows us to move smoothly. We are able to maintain our balance while engaged in activities because of this sense. While vestibular helps us with balance while we walk and run, it also helps us stay upright when we sit and stand.

Where does the vestibular sense come from?

Believe it or not, the vestibular sense actually comes from parts of the inner ear! Our sense of balance comes from our inner ear communicating with the brain. Together, they help us to have a sense of balance and orient to the space around us. This helps keep you standing up straight and remaining in place.

What are some examples of the vestibular sense?

• Holding up head: A great early indicator of baby’s vestibular skills is the ability to hold up their head! This sense helps to develop neck strength, which is important in early development.
• Learning to walk: Baby is able to balance and take their first steps because of the vestibular sense! They are able to begin walking once they feel balanced, and strengthen their balance sense as they get the hang of it.
• Riding a skateboard: We are able to balance on the board, bend knees at the right time, and stay upright using this sense.
• Sliding down a slide: Because slides often have bends and curves, we use our vestibular sense to go down a slide and enjoy the ride instead of becoming dizzy and disoriented.
• Walking on a curb: We maintain balance while walking on an uneven surface and adjust to keep our body balanced.

What are signs your child may have a vestibular issue?

When children have a vestibular issue, they may feel physically unbalanced or not in control of their body. This may lead to clumsiness or awkward movements. They may not be able to tell if their body is stable and may fall frequently or have a hard time navigating uneven ground (like curbs and steps). They also may not enjoy childhood activities like swinging or riding a bike because they feel unstable while doing it. Vestibular issues can also sometimes cause dizziness or even nausea.

Some vestibular issues can present as motor issues, so be sure to consult a healthcare provider to learn more.

How can you help develop baby’s vestibular sense?

• Do baby massage: The rocking of Massage+ 30, 10, 5 directly benefits baby’s vestibular sense.
• Rock and swing baby gently: When baby moves, they are able to stay oriented through their vestibular sense.
• Carry baby in a variety of positions: Changing baby’s position provides a good challenge to their balancing abilities.
• Keep baby active with baby games: Baby learns balance as they move and grow! Keep them moving and practicing balance through baby games.

• Gross Motor

Young children love to move and soon after taking their first steps they often seem determined to unsteady themselves again. Children seek out opportunities to make themselves dizzy by spinning or tipping upside down, or to challenge their balance with swinging or rocking. 

We see toys over the years that have this purpose, from roundabouts, swings and seesaws at the park to rocking horses made hundreds of years ago and now in museums or stately homes.

Have you ever watched your child spinning, knowing they will make themselves dizzy and wondered why they keep doing this? Have you ever wondered why your baby or young child cannot keep still? In this blog, I am going to explore the development of two senses that you might not have heard of before, the vestibular sense and the proprioceptive sense. Understanding these senses will help you to understand your child’s desire to move and will give you some ideas about what can support the development of these senses and why that is important!

The vestibular system is concerned with movement, the development of the vestibular sense is important in ensuring good balance, posture and movement. The vestibular system enables us to coordinate our movements. This coordination is needed to ride a bike, or cut with scissors, where one hand holds the paper and the other the scissors.

Movement supports children to develop the muscle tone needed to be still and it supports their balance. We are aware of our movements due to receptors in our inner ear and these work with our other senses to help us to stay balanced. When children spin these receptors sense the movement, and as children become dizzy they learn how to manage that feeling and develop their balance. Children will often seek activities that make them dizzy, for example, rolling, spinning or hanging upside down. Jumping, swinging and rocking also stimulate the vestibular system and children seem to know they need to do these things. Through these movements, they are training their vestibular system to work with their other senses to improve their balance.

The proprioceptive sense is concerned with being aware of your body position, if you close your eyes and write your name you will be able to do this because you know where your hand is as you move it, this is also why you can get dressed in the dark! When the proprioceptive system is well developed you have an awareness of where your body is and of how much force is needed to do a particular task. The proprioceptive sense is linked to receptors in our muscles and joints, these receptors are stimulated by movement and pressure, so pulling, jumping, swinging and hugging all provide proprioceptive input. Our proprioceptive system helps us to avoid bumping into things, to climb and to hold a pencil to write. To do most things we need to know where the different parts of our body are, and as you think more about this you can see why developing the proprioceptive system is important.
Developing the vestibular and proprioceptive senses requires frequent opportunities to move,  push, pull and explore physical challenges. For a baby, this might be during tummy time as they push with their hands on the floor. For an older child, this could be dancing, climbing or spinning. Many of the activities that we might take for granted as part of young children’s lives are great for supporting the development of these senses.

I don't think my parents thought about proprioception and vestibular development!  Despite this,  I remember games from childhood that will have been great for supporting the development of these senses. I remember a game that my brother and I loved and that we asked my dad to play frequently. In the game, my dad sat on the floor, we sat on his knee and then he closed his arms around us. The point of the game was to get out, so we pushed and pulled and wriggled to try to open the ‘doors’. I remember laughing and having lots of fun until Dad or Mum would decide it was time to let us escape! I can see now that this game was brilliant for developing proprioception, we were using our muscles and feeling the resistance from my dad. The game was helping us to explore how hard we could push and pull and develop a sense of our bodies and strength.

Many of the things that a child might do on a visit to the park, like climbing, rocking, spinning, swinging and hanging (either upright or upside down), stimulate the vestibular and proprioceptive senses. Circle games can help children as they have begun to develop more awareness of their body as in these games they can practise moving with others without pulling too much! Many of the activities that support children’s awareness of their body can be exciting, and it is important to think about that in terms of children’s ability to self-regulate. Young children might need an adult to help them recognise when something is getting a bit too exciting and to suggest that they pause and do something calm for a little while.

When we are born our senses are present but they are not developed or organised, this development and organisation is known as sensory integration. As babies and young children experience the world their brains develop the ability to process and filter the many sensory inputs that they experience each day. The development of sensory integration leads to the ability to self-regulate, attend and learn. Young children need opportunities to move in different ways to stimulate and develop all their senses, so next time you have a kitchen disco or a morning at the park think about how your child is stimulating their vestibular and proprioceptive senses as well as having fun!

Read more:

The Well Balanced Child Movement and Early Learning, (2005) Sally Goddard Blythe

What are the body position and balance senses?

What sense is responsible for balance and head position?

How do our senses monitor our body's position and movement?

Which term refers to the sense of balance?