Boosting baby’s development
Here are some tips on how to help your baby’s mind grow and develop in the best way possible.
YOUR newborn is like an empty slate waiting to be filled. The first three years of his life represents a time of immense growth in all areas of his development.
While his brain is only one-quarter of the weight of an adult’s brain when he is first born, it is still packed with millions of cells and starts making hundreds of trillions of synapses (or connections) between these cells straight away.
This is also a critical period for different aspects of brain development, including for vision, language, cognition and movement.
A report by the National Academy of Sciences stated that:
l The foundation of your child’s healthy development is dependent on your relationship with him.
l His development is influenced by both the traits he was born with (nature) and what he experiences (nurture).
l All the development areas (namely social, emotional, intellectual, language and motor) are inextricably linked. They each depend on, and influence, the others.
l His development as he adapts to the world is shaped by his experiences, which includes how his parents respond to him.
In this article, we take a look at your child’s first year and how you can encourage his brain development in order to give him a good start in life.
Baby is his own person
Always bear in mind that every child is unique and will develop at their own pace and in their own manner.
Thus, it is important that you understand your child and learn what his strengths are, and where you will need to offer him support.
To begin with, it is important that you help your newborn feel comfortable with his new world during his first two months of life. Everything is new to him, and he is still learning how to regulate his eating and sleeping patterns, and trying to sort out his emotions.
Do your best to keep him content and ensure that he feels safe and secure.
Between birth and two months
Active observation will help you figure out what his cries are telling you.
Any experienced paediatrician (or parent) will tell you that babies have different cries for different needs. Learning how to identify them will make your life just that little bit easier!
After observation comes response. By responding promptly, you are ensuring that he feels loved and important. This will help build a positive sense of self and encourage him to communicate more.
Remember, you cannot spoil a baby. A loving response helps him to learn the skills he needs to eventually soothe himself.
Best of all, you are forging a strong bond with him, thus, ensuring healthy brain development.
Also, keep him entertained by giving a running commentary on what’s going on around him.
This is also the time he will start to establish eye contact, grasp your finger, enjoy your touch and respond to your voice. Objects that are brightly coloured may also start to interest him.
While he may not understand your words, hearing your voice and your tone, as well as eye contact, will go a long way in forging a closer bond between the two of you.
Between two and six months
Babies tend to be very interactive at this stage as they try to communicate with you. They will smile and babble with occasional pauses as they wait for your response.
Your baby will also start to imitate you, which is all part of the process of learning new skills.
By actively participating in these early “conversations”, you will have plenty of opportunities to expose him to many new words before he learns to talk properly.
Babies will also start to learn about the world by looking at, holding, and putting their mouths on, different objects at around three months of age.
For safety, do ensure that any object your baby can get to is safe for babies and does not fit entirely in his mouth (to prevent swallowing).
By the time he is four to six months old, control of his body would have improved.
He may be able to roll sideways, be better at reaching for and grabbing things, and may even be able to sit up with some assistance.
Make sure you get down to his level and check that your house is safe for him, e.g. plug up all electrical outlets, block off access to stairs, cover all sharp edges to prevent injuries, ensure all cabinets/drawers are baby-proof, etc.
Between six to nine months
Most babies at this age love to communicate with sounds, gestures and facial expressions.
They will start off with monosyllable babble, but some sounds might be associated with specific people, e.g. “mama” for Mummy and “papa” for Daddy.
Be sure to keep talking to him, e.g. “Here’s your favourite toy, see how fluffy it is?”.
If he responds to you, be sure to reply to him. Keep your “conversation” going as long as possible.
His motor skills should improve further at this age.
Encourage him to roll, creep, crawl or stand as much as possible.
If he wants a toy, don’t keep giving it to him, let him work for it instead; hold it up so that he has to grab it or put it just out of his reach so that he has to walk to you.
By letting him do things on his own, you are also building up his confidence. However, remember to keep the environment babysafe.
Between nine to 12 months
This is quite possibly the most delightful stage for most parents, as most babies are able to communicate effectively with actions and sounds by now.
At this stage, your baby can understand more words than he can verbalise and can even follow simple instructions such as “Pick the ball up”.
Your “conversations” now will help him learn language.
If you see him looking at things, tell him about them, e.g. “Isn’t the moon lovely? See how bright it is!”.
Imitation of sounds may emerge and it is important that you associate these sounds with actions or objects around him, e.g. “mum-mum” for food,
His exploration will continue and he will creep, crawl or walk everywhere.
Let him have his “exercise”, but make sure it is safe for him to move around.
Alternatively, you can play with him as he moves about, e.g. make a trail using his toys or play peekaboo or hide-and-seek.
By now, he knows that things (and people) still exist even though he can’t see them. Playing hide-and-seek helps him better understand this concept.
Similarly, if you need to go somewhere without him, do not sneak out! Be sure to tell him what you’re doing and say goodbye.
This helps to build up his trust in you and aids him in working out difficult feelings.
By repeatedly doing things, he is actually working on his motor skills and memory through play. It also helps him to figure out how things work.
You can help by playing along, e.g. if he keeps banging building blocks together, try to see if he would prefer stacking them instead.
Try to enrich his experience with other activities, e.g. rolling or tossing a ball, shaking or banging a rattle, or letting him play with a bead maze/puzzle.
This will help to teach him how things work, while building up the muscles in his hands.
Other things to try
Demonstrate how cause-andeffect works by letting your baby be involved with actions that have observable effects, such as letting him turn on the lights or a tap.
At this point, it is important for you to follow his lead. Take note of what piques his interest, and if it is safe to do so, allow him to explore it.
Try to encourage him, and remember to talk to him as he explores.
You can help him to fully engage his senses by pointing out things such as smell, sound, texture, taste or look.
Remember, like it or not, your baby is learning every single second of every day, so make it a point to show him that he is loved and important to you.
In this way, you will give his social-emotional skills the boost it needs.
Lastly, don’t be afraid to talk to your child’s paediatrician if you have any questions about his development.
Remember, early intervention may help to minimise any delays in his development. Dr Rajini Sarvananthan is a developmental paediatrician. This article is courtesy of the Malaysian Paediatric Association’s Positive Parenting programme in collaboration with expert partners. For further information, please email starhealth@ thestar.com.my or visit www. mypositiveparenting.org. The information provided is for educational and communication purposes only and it should not be construed as personal medical advice.