What to Expect the First Year (81 page)
Read What to Expect the First Year Online
Authors: Heidi Murkoff
⢠Sit in a “frog” position (like a tripod)
⢠Sit upright, propped with pillows if necessary
⢠Stand on your lap and bounce
⢠Pull to standing, holding on to your fingers
⢠Pull to standing in a crib or play yard, or on other furniture
⢠Lift up on all fours
Small motor skills.
At your baby's fingertips is a world of essential skills just waiting to be mastered (and lots of ones that are just plain fun, too)âfrom eating, to painting and crayoning, to writing, to brushing teeth, to buttoning a shirt, to putting on socks ⦠to pouring magical tea for a favorite teddy. But first, those tiny fingers and hands will need to develop the dexterity necessary to grab on to life's challenges, big and small. Again, opportunity rocksâbabies who are given lots of chances to use their hands a lot (yes, even to smear oatmeal in their hair), to manipulate objects of all kinds, to touch, explore, and experiment (not to mention mouth everything they can) with those 10 determined digits, and flex those small-muscle groups will develop dexterity faster. To help, offer:
⢠Activity cubes, boards, or tables: A variety of activities gives baby plenty of practice flexing those small motor skills, though it will be months before most babies can conquer them all. Activity gyms also offer plenty of small motor fun, as baby progresses from swatting at the hanging toys to making contact (score!) to grabbing on.
⢠Blocks: Simple cubes of wood, plastic, or cloth, large or small, are appropriate at this age. Your little one will grab and eventually pick them up, learning how to knock them together and make music (at least to his or her ears!). Though babies this age don't yet have the dexterity to stack blocks (and other stacking toys), they get their kicks by unstacking.
⢠Soft dolls and stuffed animals: Handling them builds dexterity. As
your cutie gets bigger, dolls with different textures and features (buttons, zippers, laces) will excite the senses and help improve small motor dexterity.
⢠Finger foods: As they're introduced into baby's diet, finger foods can help build pincer grasp skills. Oat circles, soft peas and carrots, and other small, but safe to eat foods will help baby learn how to use his or her thumb and index finger to pick up bite-size morsels. Until then, foods that can be palmed (whole-grain breadsticks, cubes of cheese, chunks of soft melon)âonce they've been introducedâwill help develop small motor skills.
⢠Real or toy household objects: Babies usually love real or toy cell phones, mixing spoons, measuring cups, strainers, pots and pans, paper cups, and empty boxes.
⢠Balls: of varying sizes and textures, to hold, to squeeze, to swat at, that light up or make sounds. They are especially fun once baby is able to sit up and roll them or crawl after them.
⢠Stacking containers: first to just hold and drop, then to try to clang together, then to actually stack one into the other (though it'll be quite some time before baby's able to manage that skill!).
⢠Finger games: At first you'll be the one to play clap hands, pat-a-cake, The Itsy-Bitsy Spider, and similar games, but before you know it, baby will be playing along. After you do a demonstration or two, assist baby with the finger game while you sing along (don't be surprised if baby pulls your hands into his or her mouth).
Social skills.
The middle of the first year is a very sociable time for most babies. They giggle, laugh, squeal, and communicate in a variety of other ways (like kicking their little legs when they're excited) and will share eye contact and a smile with anyone who's within cooing distance (whether it's an admirer in the park or a stranger at the supermarket or their own image in the mirror). Now, before stranger anxiety starts to rear its fearful head (that's usually later in the first year), is the perfect time to nurture the budding social butterfly in your baby, to go places where you'll see people (of all ages), to let your little life of the party interact and be interacted with. Let your baby learn from your social experience, too. Teach through example a simple greeting like “hi,” and model some of the other basic social graces, such as waving bye-bye, blowing a kiss, and saying thank you. Remember, you're just planting seeds now, so no pushing is needed. Feeling a little more socially ambitious? Consider joining a playgroup. The babies won't group play, per se, but they'll definitely get a kick out of watching each otherâexcellent, if not required, practice for the years of socializing ahead.
Cognitive skills.
Comprehension is beginning to dawnâand it's pretty exciting stuff. Names (mommy's, daddy's, siblings') are recognized first, followed by basic words (“no,” “bottle,” “bye-bye,” for example), and pretty soon after, simple, often-heard sentences (“Do you want to drink?” or “Make nice to the doggie”). This receptive language (understanding what they hear) will come well before spoken language, but it's hugeâtransforming a baby's perspective on the world (“Now I get it!”). Other types of intellectual development are also on the horizon. Many years ahead of that first math class, your baby is actually taking the first steps (though it won't seem so at first) toward acquiring the skills of rudimentary problem solving, observation, and memorizationâconcepts that appear simple to you but are complex for your baby. You can help by:
⢠Playing games that stimulate your baby's brain (
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) and help explain concepts: cause and effect (fill a cup with water in the tub and let baby turn it over) and object permanence (cover a favorite toy with a cloth and then have baby look for it or play peekaboo behind your hands, a book, a menu). Point out: This teddy is soft, that coffee is hot, the car goes fast, you're sleepy, the ball is under the table. While using objects, describe what they're for: This broom is for sweeping, this chair is for sitting on, this towel is for drying, a book is for reading. At first your words will be meaningless to baby, but eventually, with lots of repetition, the concepts will start to crystallize.
⢠Tuning your child in to the world of sounds. When a plane goes by overhead or a fire engine speeds down the street, sirens screaming, point them out to baby: “That's an airplane” or “Do you hear the fire engine?” Emphasizing and repeating the key
words (“airplane,” “fire engine”) will also help with word recognition. Do the same when you turn on the vacuum or the water in the bathtub, when the teakettle whistles or the doorbell or phone rings. And don't overlook those favorite funny noisesârazzes on baby's belly or arm, clicks with your tongue, and whistles are all educational, too, encouraging imitation, which in turn encourages language development.
⢠Encouraging curiosity and creativity. Give your child a chance to experiment and exploreâwhether that means pulling up tufts of grass in the garden, smearing applesauce all over his hair or her t-shirt, or squeezing out a wet washcloth in the tub. A baby will learn volumes more through experience than through instruction, and this kind of play and exploration is absolutely free. So step back and let your baby call the shots by choosing what to play with and how.
Now that your baby hovers on the brink of learning your language, what you say to him or her takes on new meaning. You can help your baby's language skills along in the following ways:
Slow down.
When baby is starting to try to decode your language (which is just jargon to those tiny untrained ears), fast talk will slow those efforts. To give your baby the chance to begin picking out words, speak slowly, clearly, and simply.
Focus on single words.
Continue your running commentaries, but begin emphasizing individual words and simple phrases commonly used in baby's everyday life. At feeding time, when you say, “I'm putting cereal in the bowl,” hold up the cereal and add, “Cereal, here is the cereal.” Hold up the bowl, and say, “bowl.” Always pause to give baby plenty of time to decipher your words before going on to say more.
Downplay pronouns.
Pronouns are still confusing for your baby, so stick to “This is Daddy's shoe,” and “That is Gray's shoe.”
Emphasize imitation.
Now that the number of sounds your baby makes is growing, so is the fun you can have imitating each other. Whole conversations can be built around a few consonants and vowels. Baby says, “ba-ba-ba-ba,” and you come back with an animated “ba-ba-ba-ba.” Baby replies, “da-da-da-da,” and you respond, “da-da-da-da.” If baby seems receptive, you can try offering some new syllables (“ga-ga-ga-ga,” for example), encouraging imitation. But if the role reversal seems to turn baby off, switch back again. In not too many months, you'll find your baby will begin trying to imitate your wordsâwithout prompting.
Talk it up.
Talk to your baby about everythingâand anythingâas you go about your day together. Be natural in your conversation, but with a baby-friendly inflectionâas feels comfortable to you, that is.
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for more on talking to your baby.
Build a repertoire of songs and rhymes.
Ever find yourself tuning out after too many rounds of “Wheels on the Bus?” While it's mind numbing to you, repetition is music to your baby's ears, which pick up more and more from the same-old, same-old. It doesn't matter if you lean on Mother Goose, Dr. Seuss, or your own creativityâwhat counts is consistency.
Bank on books.
There's a world of words in even the simplest board booksâopen up that world by opening up books often with your baby. As you read, do plenty of pointing out of single objects, animals, or people. Start asking, “Where is the dog?” and eventually baby will surprise you by placing a pudgy paw right on Spot.
Wait for a response.
Though baby may not be talking yet, he or she is beginning to process information, and will soon start having a response to what you sayâeven if it's just an excited squeal (when you've proposed a walk in the stroller) or a pouty whimper (when you've announced it's time to come off the swing).
Be commanding.
In time, your baby will learn to follow simple commands such as “kiss Grandma,” or “wave bye-bye,” or “give Mommy the dolly” (add “please” if you want the word to eventually come naturally to baby). But keep in mind that baby won't follow through on your requests for months to come, and even when he or she begins to, the response won't be consistent or immediate (baby may wave bye-bye, but not until 5 minutes after your friend has left the building). Don't show disappointment when baby doesn't perform. Instead, help your little one act out your request (waving bye-bye yourself) while waiting for him or her to catch on ⦠typically not until closer to the first birthday.
The Seventh Month
Still a social animalâwith a serious charm offensive and a smile that happily just won't quitâyour baby is also beginning to notice that there's a fascinating world beyond your adoring face, just waiting to be explored. And explore it your baby willâthat is, as soon as he or she figures out how to get around in it. Which is just a matter of timeâsince the days of being able to plop your baby down in the middle of the floor, secure that he or she will stay there, are numbered. It may be weeks or it may be a month or two or more, but before you know it, baby will likely be twisting, rolling, creeping, and crawling from one end of the room to the other (though some babies opt out of all fours and skip straight to two feet, especially if they haven't spent much time on their tummies). With independent mobility just around the corner (and with it, access to such dangerous baby temptations as the stairs, the dishwasher, and the glass coffee table), it's time to do a thorough childproofing of your home if you haven't yet.
Sleeping.
Your baby should be logging in around 9 to 11 hours of sleep each night and 3 to 4 hours of sleep during the day, probably split up into a morning and afternoon nap. That's a total of around 14 hours during each 24-hour day.
Eating.
Though baby has probably starting eating solids now, most nutritional requirements are still being filled via breast or bottle.
⢠Breast milk. Your baby will feed around 4 to 6 times a day (some babies will nurse more often ⦠possibly way more). Baby will be drinking somewhere between 24 and 30 ounces of breast milk a day, though as more solids are added to the diet, that amount will decrease.
⢠Formula. Your baby will probably drink 4 to 5 bottles a day, filled with 6 to 8 ounces of formula, for a total of 24 to 30 ounces per day. As more solids are added to the diet, baby will feed on less formula.
⢠Solids. How much will your baby eat, solids-wise? For a newbie eater, think about 1 to 2 tablespoons (or less) each of cereals, fruits, and vegetables (as they're introduced), twice a day. Once baby gains eating experience, total intake may range anywhere from 3 to 9 tablespoons of cereal, fruit, and vegetables each (or less) per day, over 2 to 3 feedings. Just remember: Baby's the boss when it comes to intake. Let appetite rule the high chair.
Playing.
Baby will love to play with action/reaction toys (ones that light up or play music when baby presses a button, for instance), stacking toys (ones with different-size rings or multicolored cubes, though baby won't be able to stack them properly yet), toys that encourage crawling (cars, trains, balls that roll, light up, make music) roly-poly toys (they right themselves when rolled over), and toys that encourage pulling up to standing (make sure they're sturdy!). Don't forget to keep a rotating stock of colorful board books for baby to page through with you, and on his or her own.