baby - When To Start Teaching Your Baby (1)

When is it that I should start teaching my baby? That is a question that may come to mind for many first time parents; other parents may never consider the question at all, and just leave things to evolve naturally. In a way, that is an unnecessary question as, whether you like it or not and whether you mean to or not, you begin teaching your baby while it is still in the womb, and then continue through its early years, teenage years, and even into adulthood. So, perhaps it is better to rephrase that question slightly to "when should I consciously start teaching my baby?" Even with the rephrased question, the answer is the same: while the baby is in the womb. How can that be? While the baby is in the womb it starts to learn about its environment after about six months of pregnancy, when it is capable of hearing external sounds. Of course, it is aware of its internal environment earlier than that, but there is little you can do to enhance that. But when it comes to the external environment, you are in a position to have some influence even from that early stage of development. What Can You Teach Your Baby In The Womb? With the baby in the womb there is clearly a very limited scope for teaching as such. However, you can provide additional stimulation that will form an important part of their learning at that stage. You can provide many hints as to what the outside environment is like, in a way that sets a good foundation for their feeling of love and security. The main external awareness of a baby in the womb is sound. If you can make the external sounds comforting and welcoming then that will help the baby more than you may think. Music is a proven stimulation to babies, especially classical music; a daily dose of Mozart will stimulate the baby's brain and senses. With any luck, they will become a musical talent, but that is not an issue at this stage of their development. You do not, of course, have to restrict her to classical music. Whatever music you like, just turn the volume up a bit more than usual to ensure she hears it. The sound will be muffled, but by the time baby is born, she will be used to your musical tastes. Your aim should be to make the outside environment familiar to the baby. Most of that will happen naturally, and she will become used to the daily sounds, such as vacuum cleaner, liquidizer, lawnmower and other domestic noises that are penetrating. Our baby daughter was born in the Philippines, where our usual form of transport is a tricycle. I do not think it a coincidence that, once she was born, she was contented with the noise of a tricycle; and they are noisy here, I assure you, especially outside the womb! However noisy the tricycle, she would always be asleep within a minute or two, and even now at 20 months is particularly relaxed on a deafening tricycle. If you want to insist on having a most important sound in the womb, then it must be the voices of the parents. Getting to know the voice of mum and dad will come naturally, but dad especially can get up close and talk to the baby in the womb. It will not talk back of course, but you can rest assured, if she is awake, she will be intrigued by your up close and personal voice. It is something I did every evening with Saffron. That also had the effect of keeping her awake as long as possible during the evening, so she was less restless at night. That can be very helpful for mum to get a good night's sleep. Another external stimulation which I never learnt about for my now grown up children, and that is light. This can be even more useful for keeping baby awake in the evening. If you take a powerful flashlight, switch it on, and hold it close to mum's tummy, the baby in the womb will respond to it. I must say I thought it a silly idea, until the then unborn Saffron started moving every time the light was switched on. So, the flashlight became another tool in the "keep baby awake in the evening" campaign to stop mum being kicked so much during the night. Maybe Saffron did not appreciate my "keep her awake" tactics. She was probably wondering "who is this guy keeping me awake all the time; doesn't he realise I want to get some sleep?" However, she does seem to have done well on it. She has slept like a log all night, every night apart from one, since she was just a few months' old. The odd night? Apparently, a bad dream at 11 pm. A quick cuddle and words of reassurance, and she was back to sleep again. Whether that has any connection to her in-the-womb experiences, I cannot say for sure. But I will definitely be using the same tactics again next time, if we are blessed with a baby sister or brother for her. This teaching baby article was written by Roy Thomsitt, owner author of the Bouncing New Baby website. Ably assisted by his baby daughter, he is also responsible for the Baby Blog Article Source:http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Roy_Thomsitt baby - Parenting: How to Help Your Firstborn Become Friends with the New Baby It's normal for a firstborn child to feel upset and unwanted when a new baby arrives. He or she is used to being the only child and had the family's complete attention so far. So when your second bundle of joy arrives, he can easily feel jealous because he sees a most of the attention going to the new arrival. Remember that the big brother or sister will need plenty of attention when the new baby arrives. He or she may not be able to articulate his need for a hug or to sit in your lap. All the same, his needs do not diminish just because there's a new baby in the house. The older child needs reassurance that he is still loved and important enough to warrant time and attention. He may equate time with love. A new baby will naturally take up more of your time and energy, but it is often difficult for an older child to accept that. Some children regress to earlier behaviors like thumb-sucking or wanting to drink from a bottle. These behaviors remind him of an earlier time with life was more comfortable and secure. Here are 10 things you can do to make it easier for the older child to get over his frustrations and become friends with the new baby. #1. Before the baby arrives, paint a realistic picture of what it will be like with the baby. Tell him about the endless diaper changes, night-time crying, need for sleep, etc. Let the older child know that the new baby won't be a playmate or a friend for a long time. #2. Involve the big brother or sister in preparing for and helping out with the baby. For example, ask for his opinion on whether you should buy the feeding bottle with the trains on it or cats on it. #3. Make sure you find time to spend with the older child. This could be when the baby's sleeping, or when someone else is looking after her. Do the things you used to do with the older child before the baby came -- reading stories, playing with toys, etc. #4. Request friends and family who drop in to see the baby to visit with the older child first. #5. If it is possible, suggest to friends that a small gift for the firstborn would be appreciated when they bring gifts for the baby. Now, it may not always be appropriate to make this suggestion. If so, keep small toys or other gifts handy to give the child when baby receives a new gift. At this stage, don't worry about teaching the child that he won't get a gift every time someone else does. That can come later. #6. If your firstborn reverts to earlier behaviors, take it as a signal that he needs more attention. Don't pay attention to his regressive behaviors, though. #7. Let the older child participate with you to a small extent in taking care of the baby. For example, he could start up a crib mobile, or could offer a pacifier to the baby. #8. Allow the big brother / sister to hold and cuddle the baby, under close supervision. #9. Give the firstborn a 'baby' of her own to play with, dress, feed, etc. #10. The older child may express some of his frustrations to you. He can't sleep because the baby cries too much, or he doesn't get to spend time with mommy, etc. Empathize with him. Let him know that you share his frustrations and feel the same way. Use these simple suggestions and watch your firstborn get over his frustrations more easily and become friends with the new baby.