Helping your Baby Explore

Helping your Baby Explore

April 20th, 2010 by admin  |  No Comments

The more aware your baby becomes of his surroundings, the more his curiosity and desire to explore will grow. Exploring his world is an important part of learning and developing, so encourage your baby to check things out. Remember, he doesn’t know what is safe and what is not, so supervise his explorations closely to keep him safe!

Exploring the Senses

Your baby is busy making use of his senses to get to know the world around him. Things catch his attention either through sound or sight, and from there he wants to engage the rest of his senses to find out more. Encourage baby to touch the things he comes into contact with. Give him different textures to feel, such as soft blankets, a rough sponge, a smooth plastic ball.

Next, you will notice your baby putting all kinds of objects into his mouth. Don’t discourage him from doing this unless the object is dangerous to him! Let him put clean toys and other objects into his mouth, as long as there is no danger of small parts coming loose and choking him. Exploring things with the mouth is a normal part of your baby’s development. He is not only learning this way, he may also be showing the first signs of teething with his desire to chew!

Baby will do more through sight and hearing than just find things to touch. He is exploring the sights and sounds of his world all the time. Give him a mirror, and he will stare at himself for a long time, taking in this interesting new face. Sing to him, or play music to him. Try different types of music to see what he responds to most. Some babies may enjoy soothing classical music, while others enjoy bouncing pop music beats.

Baby on the Move

When your baby starts to crawl and make her way around the house, it’s really time to step up the safety patrol. While you want her to be able to practice her new skill and check out all the new sights, make sure she does it safely. Install gates, outlet covers and door latches to make sure she doesn’t get into anything. Then, set her free!

Help your baby get the most of her movements around the house by letting her check out some new things she hasn’t seen before. Keep one cupboard or drawer in the kitchen unlatched for her to open and dig through. Make sure it’s filled with safe items such as plastic bowls, storage containers and maybe a few measuring cups or wooden spoons. She will make a mess tearing everything out, but will have a great time with it.

Let baby follow you as you go through your daily routine, doing chores and preparing meals (use caution when preparing hot foods however), as she will be fascinated by what you have been up to! It might be tiring to have to re-fold all the laundry, but letting your baby check it out is helping her to learn about her environment.

Babies are little explorers, and they have a lot to learn, so encourage her inquisitiveness and engage her with new things as much as possible. Exploring doesn’t have to happen all at home either! Take your baby outside, and let her explore the yard or a park. There’s plenty to be learned out there as well.

With careful attention to safety precautions, your little one can satisfy her curiosity and learn more every day!

The Top Toys for Babies from 7 to 12 months

The Top Toys for Babies from 7 to 12 months

April 16th, 2010 by admin  |  No Comments

After your baby passes the half-year mark, he will really start to show major advances in motor skills and comprehension. During the next six months, he will start sitting on his own, pulling up on furniture, cruising around it and possibly even walking. His cognitive development will move along at a rapid pace as he begins to make more sense of the world around him.

During this stage, your baby will really begin to enjoy simple but educational toys that encourage development of both gross and fine motor skills, and also allow him to expand his growing knowledge of how things work, including cause and effect and object permanence. Towards his first birthday, more complex toys will grab and hold his attention.

Basic Blocks and Beyond

A good places to start, blocks are a toy that will grow with your child through the next six months of development and beyond. In addition to a very basic set of blocks which your child will learn to stack, sort and more, you might also want to pick up a set of nesting boxes. These boxes can be stacked but also nest within one another to encourage learning of sizes and spatial concepts. Towards baby’s first birthday, he will start to enjoy large interlocking blocks such as the Mega Bloks line.

During this time your baby will also benefit from the challenge of a shape sorter, which will help to develop manual dexterity as well as problem solving skills. Babies at this age will also have fun with stacking rings, which encourages hand-eye coordination.

Making Music

As your baby begins to understand the effect he can have on his environment, he will start to really get into making all kinds of noises. Look for simple noisemaking toys such as Leap Frog’s Learn N’ Groove series of electronic musical instruments that includes a piano, drum and more. Basic noisemakers such as rattles and maracas will be a huge hit at this age, and baby will happily make a drum out of just about anything.

Activity Tables

As your baby learns to pull herself up on the furniture, she will want to be on her feet as much as possible, practicing this new and exciting skill. An activity table is a perfect toy for this stage. Look for one that offers a number of interesting activities as well as sounds and lights. It should be stable enough to withstand baby pulling up and leaning on it as well.

Toys in Motion

During this developmental stage, your baby will start to enjoy pushing a toy along as she crawls or cruises along the furniture. Simple vehicles with moving wheels will encourage baby to get moving and follow along. Baby will also love balls that she can roll across the floor and chase after. Toys with pull strings will be a hit as well, following behind your little one as she makes her way around the house.

Watch for Choking Hazards!

At this age, your baby will want to put just about everything into her mouth. Between the natural developmental need to check things out with her mouth and the start of teething, everything will become a chew toy. Be cautious of any toys with small parts, and make sure there is nothing your baby can get fully into her mouth.

This is the perfect time to start building a collection of basic, versatile toys that will last well into the second year of life.

Learning at the Table: Meal Time and Motor Skills

Learning at the Table: Meal Time and Motor Skills

March 4th, 2010 by admin  |  No Comments

From the very first time your baby starts to eat solid baby food, a new opportunity is created to learn and practice new and important motor skills. Meal time isn’t just about eating! It’s also an important part of your child’s development.

Starting Early

Even though your baby is nowhere near ready to feed himself when he first starts on solid foods, there is no reason you can’t let him have his own spoon right from the start. Bring two spoons to each feeding, one for baby to hold and one for you to feed him. Soon he will start trying to imitate what you are doing with the spoon, dipping it into the food and bringing it to his mouth. It will be messy, but your baby is laying the foundation for feeding himself while learning new motor skills.

Finger Foods

Somewhere around 8 months old on average, your baby will be ready to start self-feeding in earnest. The right place to start is with finger foods that dissolve easily in the mouth but are fairly easy to pick up. Small chunks of banana or the classic baby snack, Cheerios cereal, are great choices for first finger foods. Using the thumb and forefinger to pick up small items, also known as the “pincer grasp” is an important milestone and finger foods will help to develop the fine motor skills required.

The Right Tools for the Job

When your baby is ready to really use utensils, she will need her own fork and spoon. Look for utensils with thick, easy to grasp handles made of a non-slip material. Plastic forks are good for early practice, but they will soon frustrate your little one as they don’t work very well. Instead, look for a metal fork with rounded tines to avoid potential injury, but enough of a point to allow easy spearing of food. When choosing a spoon, try to find one that is not too flat and won’t spill easily. Utensils should be short, as anything too long will be difficult for little arms to maneuver.

Getting Started with Utensils

Learning to use a fork and spoon are a great chance to work on manual dexterity and hand-eye coordination. Although the spoon is the first utensil a baby encounters, most children will learn to use a fork faster, mainly because the food stays on the fork more easily than on a spoon. Start with an easy to spear food like small pieces of melon or pear. Place the fork in your child’s hand and guide her through the motions of spearing the food, and bringing it up to her mouth. You’ll be rewarded by the sight of her face lighting up with joy as she realizes she can eat just like you do!

Using a spoon requires even more skill than a fork. Learning the scooping and lifting motion to get food onto the spoon, and then the careful balance required to get the food all the way to the mouth are difficult tasks. Thick foods like oatmeal and yogurt are a great choice for learning this skill, as they will be less likely to spill off the spoon. Encourage your child to lean forward, towards the dish so that the spoon doesn’t need to travel so far.

The process of teaching your baby to self-feed can be messy, but remember that you are developing motor skills and life skills too!

Three Steps to Potty Success!

Three Steps to Potty Success!

March 3rd, 2010 by admin  |  No Comments

Are you ready to take on potty training? Is your toddler ready to learn? If you can answer these two questions with a resounding yes, then it’s potty time!

Not sure if you should answer yes? Well, you are ready to go if you are prepared to be patient, stick with it, and deal with a few messes along the way. More important than your readiness, you need to be sure your little one has the ability to use the potty. Your toddler should be capable of recognizing when she has soiled her diaper, and should ask to be changed. She should also be able to pull her own pants down and up again, and should understand what the potty is for and how it works. Finally, it’s important that she is able to stay dry for a few hours at a time.

When you are sure it’s the right time to give it a try, there are a few easy steps you can follow to maximize your chances of success.

Step One: Get Ready!

Take your prospective big kid out with you to select the tools you will need. Let her have a say in choosing a potty. Start out with a potty chair rather than a training seat that fits over the toilet, as toddlers are more comfortable when their feet can touch the ground. You will want a potty that is easy to clean, offers a large splash guard if you have a boy, and is sturdy and comfortable. You can also let your toddler pick out her first big kid underwear. Use the shopping trip as a chance to get her excited about using the potty! Talk it up, and show her you are excited too!

Step Two: Let the Diapers Go

While it may seem like a good idea to let your toddler wear a diaper for long outings to avoid accidents, it unfortunately won’t be good for the learning process. Unless he sees the results of an accident, your toddler won’t learn anything from it. The best way to achieve faster potty success is to go cold turkey on the diapers and let him learn from each mistake, no matter how many there may be at first. The same rule applies to training pants. They are useful at naps and overnight as night training often takes longer, but don’t be tempted to use them during the day. By holding in those accidents, they will hold your child back from progress. Put the big kid underwear on right away from day one, and don’t look back.

Step Three: Try, Try Again!

It will take a while for your child to start recognizing the signs of needing to go, and telling you about it in time to make it to the potty. The best way for him to learn is to spend as much time on the potty as possible. This may mean putting him on the potty every 15-20 minutes the first day, and letting him sit there as long as he is willing. Try reading books or singing songs to keep him occupied. Every time you have a success, celebrate! Let him know what he did was a very good thing indeed, and you are proud of him. Eventually, he will make the connection, and start using the potty on command. When he has mastered this, you are in the home stretch.

These three simple steps are the keys to potty training success. Remember, it might take a while for your toddler to catch on, but it will happen if you are consistent and keep at it. And the trade-off for cleaning up a few accidents is a big one – never having to change a diaper again!

The Basics of Potty Training

The Basics of Potty Training

March 2nd, 2010 by admin  |  No Comments

Every mother looks forward to the day when she will be free of diapers, but the thought of taking on potty training can scare even the bravest mother into grabbing another box of Pampers instead. Teaching your toddler to use the potty doesn’t have to be a scary proposition; just be sure your little one is ready, and have the right tools at your disposal.

Is Your Toddler Ready?

No matter how ready you are to ditch the diapers, potty training will only frustrate you both if your child isn’t ready to learn. These are some of the signs your toddler is ready:

  • Tells you when her diaper needs changing and shows discomfort with being wet
  • Stays dry for a few hours at a time during the day, wakes up from naps dry
  • Able to pull her pants up and down
  • Shows interest in using the potty, and understands what it is for
  • Can recognize the need to go

Choosing a Potty

Ready to train? Then it’s time to choose a potty. There are two potty options: small potty chairs that sit on the floor, and potty seats that fit over the toilet. Most experts recommend the potty chair to start. Toddlers learning to use the potty will be more comfortable if their feet can touch the floor, especially for bowel movements.

Potties offer many different features. Look for one with an easily removable container for waste that is also easy to clean. If you are training a boy, look for a large enough guard to keep urine from going over the seat and onto the floor. Some potties have a seat that comes off and can be used on the toilet. Others convert to step stools for hand washing. If possible, narrow down your choices and then let your child have a say in the final pick to help get her excited about using it.

The Final Touches

Before you sit your big kid down on the potty for the first time, there are a few more things you will need. Pick up some big kid underwear (again, you’ll find your little one more willing and excited if he can choose), some flushable wipes, and some potty-time entertainment such as new books. The day before you are ready to start, talk to your toddler about it, and explain what is going to happen and what your expectations are.

There are a number of different schools of thought on how to get a toddler to use the potty. Some parents use rewards such as small treats or a sticker chart. Others use heaps of praise. What all successful parents have in common are persistence, patience, and consistency.

It’s Potty Time!

When you are armed and ready, it’s time to sit your little one down on the potty. Don’t expect results right away. Give him a few minutes, and if there is nothing, try again soon. Set a short interval between attempts, fifteen to twenty minutes. If you are consistent and stick to the plan, it won’t be long before you are celebrating your first success! When he has an accident, express mild disappointment and move on. Remember that toddlers learn as much from accidents as they do from successes.

Potty training doesn’t happen overnight, and every child is a little different in how quickly they will catch on. Some kids will get it in a few days, and others may take a week or more. Don’t give up! Soon, your diaper days will be only a memory.

Talking to Your Baby: An Important Learning Tool

Talking to Your Baby: An Important Learning Tool

March 1st, 2010 by admin  |  No Comments

The first sound that a baby recognizes is his mother’s voice. In the womb, it is the sound that is most frequently and easily heard. From birth, a newborn will respond readily to this familiar sound, and it has the power to soothe, comfort, and calm. As the baby grows, both parents’ voices also have the power to teach. Talking to your baby is the best and easiest way to encourage his language development.

Why Talking Matters

For most parents, talking to their baby comes naturally. Greeting him in the morning, encouraging him at new tasks, and even holding one-sided conversations are all things parents do without thinking. Eventually, the baby starts to talk back, first with simple sounds and then with more complex vowels and consonant combinations that will eventually become words. What most parents don’t realize is just how much impact they are having on baby’s language development, just by talking to him every day.

The Truth about Baby Talk

While you might feel a little silly using baby talk with your infant, it actually helps your child to learn language if it’s done the right way. You may have heard that using baby talk can be detrimental to language development. The truth is that it really depends on what you mean by the term “baby talk”. Some parts of what we know as baby talk are good for language development, and others are not.

It’s important when talking to your baby to use the proper words for things, so that he can learn them. Your baby may call his bottle a “baba”, but although it may be cute, you should continue to respond with the correct word to encourage him to learn it. It isn’t necessary to correct the improper pronunciation, but be sure that your child hears it pronounced correctly. When it comes to sentences, keep it simple or it will be difficult for an infant to pick up the words. Use short sentences with fewer words, and don’t say more than you need to at once.

When you hear the term baby talk, you probably think of speaking in a very sing-song cadence with a pitch that rises and falls. It may seem instinctive, but there’s good science behind it. Research shows that babies respond well to this tone, much better than monotone speech, and learn to recognize words better.

Labeling and Learning

The concept of pointing out and labeling objects when talking to babies isn’t a new one. Parents have been doing it since the birth of language. But recent research shows that there is a new dimension that can really help your child to pick up new words. In their recent bestseller NutureShock authors Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman reveal the concept of “motionese”. It’s a simple idea – just move each object around in the air while you name it, drawing her attention and keeping her focused on that object. This easy to use tip will help your baby pick up new words faster.

The authors of NutureShock also share research supporting the theory that how much you talk to your baby is just as important as what you say. The more you speak to her, the quicker language will develop. Furthermore, how much you respond to your baby’s vocalizations is important too! Respond to her attempts to communicate with you as much as you possibly can, and you will see, or rather hear, the results.

Talking to your baby is the most important tool any parent has to teach language and improve communication. With a basic understanding of what works and why, parents can maximize the effect of every spoken word.

Choosing the Right Books for Your Child

Choosing the Right Books for Your Child

February 28th, 2010 by admin  |  No Comments

Reading books with your child is crucial to his development of language skills, and of course, literacy. But the children’s section at a bookstore or library can be daunting, with thousands of books to choose from. Luckily, there are a few simple things to look for based on your child’s developmental stage.

From Birth to Twelve Months

In the early months of life, babies are drawn to high contrast images and more than anything to human faces. Eyesight is still developing, and babies focus best at a distance of about a foot. Choose books with simple, large images with contrasting colors, especially black and white, and simple patterns. Books with a lot of close-ups of faces are a wonderful choice at this age.

After about 6 months old, your baby will start to interact a lot more with toys, people, and books too. In addition to wanting to touch books and turn pages, you will probably catch him chewing on books as well, as babies at this age explore the world with their mouths. Because your little one is now so hands – and mouth – on, look for sturdy board books that can withstand baby’s attention.

This age of learning by touch is the perfect time to introduce books with tactile features, such as a book about animals that offers fuzzy patches of fur for little hands to feel. Your baby will also start to recognize familiar images of things that are a part of his daily life, so books that include simple images of these things are a great choice.

With baby learning to sit up in the tub, this is also the age to check out bath books. Books made of waterproof materials, with simple stories and colorful images will make bath time as much about learning as it is about fun.

The Second Year

Around the time your baby smashes his first birthday cake, you will be noticing great strides in language and communication skills. At this age, the words in the book will start to become more important. Look for repetitive, rhythmic and rhyming text, and simple stories involving everyday things. Images are still important too! Look for colorful illustrations that help to tell the story, and that she can start to associate with the text.

As the second year of your child’s life unfolds, she will be learning at a very fast pace, and books are an important part of improving vocabulary skills. Books that have only a few words related to what is on the page will help her to recognize and learn the names for the objects pictured. It’s a great time to start a dialogue about the book by having her point out what she sees on the page.

Toddlers and Beyond

Further into the toddler years, your child will start to enjoy the story as much as the images. Understanding the text and being able to ask questions, point things out and even read along as familiar books are committed to memory, children at this age become truly active participants in reading. You will even start to catch her repeating the words to the story aloud while thumbing through the pages without your help. This is a great time to choose books with more involving stories. Books that address common childhood hurdles and fears are a good choice, and as her sense of humor develops, funny stories will be a hit.

Choosing the right books is not hard when you are aware of how age and development play a role in reading. With the wide selection available in bookstores and libraries, the possible choices are endless, and so is the fun you can have reading with your child. Still need a little help deciding? Take a look at this comprehensive list of the best books by age from Parents magazine.

How Reading Aloud Benefits Your Child

How Reading Aloud Benefits Your Child

February 27th, 2010 by admin  |  No Comments

Reading is one of the most important things you can do with your child, and the list of benefits is long. By reading to your baby from early on, you will give him a head start on literacy and language skills as well as expose him to whole new worlds of knowledge. And on top of all this important learning, reading is also a wonderful chance to enjoy quality time together.

A Time for Bonding

Holding your child in your lap to read a book is important bonding time for both of you, and it will help to encourage a love of books and reading. Your baby will learn to connect reading with love and comfort, and he will look forward to the quiet time spent cuddled with you while enjoying a good story. Reading offers a one on one experience with your child that he will come to treasure, and develops a deep connection that will last a lifetime.

Developing Language Skills and Vocabulary

Reading aloud to your child introduces him to all the basics he needs in order to learn how to talk. Your child will hear new sounds, which will help him figure out how to pronounce these sounds and form them into words. While it might be a long time before you hear complete sentences from him, your baby is already picking up the concepts of sentence structure and grammar both from your speech and from the books you read aloud to him. Children who are read to are more likely to begin reading at a younger age, as they have developed a familiarity with and love for the written word, and have more advanced language skills.

Expanding Knowledge

You may not be able to take your child to visit a farm, to another country, on a cross-country journey by train, or sailing on the ocean. But with books, she can experience and learn all about these things right at home. Reading about a variety of topics gives her a wider knowledge base, which will serve her well later in life. Choosing the right books will also offer you the opportunity to teach your child about different cultures and places; this in turn sets the stage for teaching opportunities about diversity. This is one of the many ways in which books can help you to instill values and ethics in your child.

Preparing for School

Learning to read is a basic and necessary skill in school, and the better prepared your child is the stronger her chances of success. Reading to your child helps her to learn the most basic concepts of literacy, like being able to tell words from images on the page and knowing that the words go from left to right. Not only will she already have a good foundation for learning to read on her own, but she will also have learned to listen, as well as to sit still and pay attention. These abilities are all vital to your child’s academic success. Research has shown that children who are read to early do better not just in reading, but in all their studies.

Reading to your child is so important to her intellectual development that the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends you read to your child daily from 6 months of age. However, there is no reason to wait until 6 months; you can start reading to your newborn right away. Even if your baby falls asleep, or is more interested in playing with the book or chewing on it than in reading it, making books a part of her day will set her up for a lifetime of literacy.

Page 2 of 212