How fortunate your daughter is to have a mother who is so invested in her well-being! Here are seven simple techniques to support your baby’s emotional and cognitive development.
1. Responsiveness is important, but leadership is even more important
The presence of an adult who is receptive to their wants and emotions is one of the most crucial components in the development of a healthy human being. That implies you respond when a baby expresses a need or emotion.
In other words, your child needs to know that you will always be there for her. However, a newborn should not have the impression that they are constantly the centre of attention or that their world revolves around them.
Human newborns are built to engage with their loved ones and observe family and community life as they grow. That implies your child’s primary need is to interact with you in a loving, warm, and pleasant manner, as well as to observe you as you go about your everyday activities.
As a result, pay attention to her requirements and provide an environment in which she can explore and develop. When she’s hungry, feed her, and give her the option to nap when she’s tired. Take as much time as she needs to observe the bug on the sidewalk. However, include your infant in your daily activities such as cooking, folding clothes, grocery shopping, and chatting with neighbours. Don’t make everything about your baby; that level of stress would make any child nervous! You don’t want her to have the impression that you’re always looking at her, asking, “What shall we do now?” She needs to know that someone bigger than her is in command; it would be frightening for her to believe that she is in charge.
2. Create a routine
Set up a plan and routine that works for her: “Mom does the dishes in the morning while I play with my toys nearby; then we go out to run errands.” Little ones benefit from routines because they enjoy knowing what to expect. Routines help them build cognitive understanding and a strong sense of security. Routines also encourage cooperation because there is no power struggle over what happens next.
3. Interrupting a baby’s play is not a good idea
Please do not feel obligated to “entertain” your child. Babies are constantly working and learning, observing, gripping, and moving their limbs. Our duty is to help them do their work by providing an environment that stimulates discovery, not to interrupt their work by trying to teach them what we think they should know! Make it a habit not to interrupt or disturb your child when he or she is occupied. Avoid interrupting a baby who is engaged and playing by herself in the same way you would avoid waking a sleeping infant.
Overstimulation does not benefit babies. They require a lot of engagement with us, but they also require a lot of time to play with their toes, listen to music, stare at dust motes in a shaft of light, and simply figure out how their own muscles function. They don’t need us to hurry in and justify our existence by teaching or occupying them during those moments; they’re already occupied. All babies require time to play in the safety of our presence, but away from us. Learning to do so is a significant step forward in one’s growth.
That means you have “play time” with your baby on a regular basis throughout the day, where you sit next to her and let her play. As much as possible, keep your mouth shut. Unless she’s growing irritated and wants your assistance, keep your hands to yourself. As she becomes engrossed in something, move across the room and do something else. Pick her up when she’s had enough. Your kid will learn to engage and explore on her own with time, and the length of her play will increase.
4. It’s important to remember that babies learn the most when they interact with us
Even while your baby’s brain is constantly forming new synaptic connections in reaction to her surroundings, the most crucial work she’s doing is creating trust and intimacy. As a result, her most important work is “connecting” to you, and it sets the tone for her connection with the rest of the world. She uses you as a safe haven from which to explore the world, and she turns to you for guidance on how to make sense of it all. Her brain forms the neuronal connections that will mould her for the rest of her life as she interacts with you.
To put it another way, emotional comfort is the bedrock of human intellectual progress. That means you should spend most of your time with your baby, connecting with her, responding to her, showing her the world, and soothing her when she expresses fear about something. Infants with the highest advanced intellectual, emotional, and physical development are those whose parents are the most attentive, responsive, and warmly engaging with them, according to studies.
5. Encourage attachment strength
All babies need to form a strong bond with their particular persons. Feelings provide a secure attachment:
Safe – Knowing that your special people will look after you and protect you in what may be a large and frightening world.
Seen – Believing that your particular people understand and love you precisely as you are, even when your emotions are overpowering.
Soothed – Trusting that when life gets tough, your particular people will comfort you and make you feel better.
This means that we accept a child’s entire range of feelings.
Trying to get the infant to laugh is one of the most common blunders people make when playing with babies. That’s typically entertaining for us, and it can be entertaining for the infant in moderation. Take your cues from your infant, and don’t be too intrusive in your attempts to generate a laugh. Babies display a wide range of emotions, and it is our role to accept and respect what the baby is expressing rather than jostling and tickling to achieve the response we want.
6. Engagement and discovery, not being taught, are what develop intelligence
A baby’s brain does not require intellectual or sensory stimulation; she will find plenty of opportunities to enhance her cognitive growth as she interacts with you in everyday activities. She doesn’t require you to concentrate on her intellectual growth in the sense of counting, ABCs, or any other traditional intellectual chores. Hide-and-seek games, pulling all the pans out of the cabinet, and observing the world through the protection of a backpack or baby carrier as you grocery shop or engage with others will provide her with plenty of intellectual stimulation. You may have heard that reading to a baby is beneficial to her development, and this is true. But talking to and with her is even better.Include her and talk to her as you go about your regular duties, such as folding clothes, washing dishes, and preparing dinner.
Should you engage in some brain-training activities with her? There’s no harm in it, but make it participatory and age-appropriate—that is, sensory rather than cognitive. Sing to her, perform pat-a-cake games with her, massage her, play various types of music for her, and dance with her. Make sure she has plenty of opportunity to interact with other newborns and kids.
If you’re stuck for ideas, go to the bookstore and browse the baby section for half an hour. There are a number of books out there that offer specific game ideas, and you don’t necessarily need to own them to be inspired. (And in the Resource section below, you’ll find some useful links.)
Is it appropriate for you to allow her to watch Baby Einstein videos? It is strongly discouraged by experts. First, because babies who watch any video spend less time interacting with real people, studies show that their language development is affected, and we assume that there are other delays as well. Second, screen time alters brain development. We don’t know enough now, but screen time during the early years of life, when the brain is still developing, has been linked to lower concentration spans.
7. Make Exploration and Getting Outside Easier
Your daughter will soon be crawling, and she will want to investigate everything. It’s worth noting that babies who are frequently told “No” learn to think outside the box. If you want to improve your daughter’s intelligence, baby-proof everything and keep an eye on her, but let her curiosity run wild. It’ll take a few months of daily restocking of your bookshelves, but she’ll soon be through this stage and on to the next, having decided that the world is worth exploring and that nothing should stop her.
Changes of scenery are quite appealing to babies. Allow her to play on the floor if she’s squirmy in her sling, practising turning over and lifting herself up onto her hands and legs. Take a break and let her play with the water with you if she’s not content being left to her own devices while you clean the bathroom. Babies are fascinated by how things function, second only to their interactions with their parents in terms of fascination.
Also, remember to take your infant outside as much as possible every day. All humans, including babies, need to be outside as much as possible. We’re only beginning to understand all of the scientific reasons why nature makes us feel more calm and cheerful, but we already know it does. Because babies’ brains expand so quickly in response to their surroundings, it’s possible that spending more time outside will help them develop happier, calmer brains. Even if it isn’t true, newborns enjoy being outside and quiet down more easily when they are, and parents report that spending more time outside allows them to be more patient and present. That should suffice as motivation.
Finally, while making every minute count is a noble goal, you don’t want to educate your child that being productive at all times is the most important thing. Making every moment with your daughter special shouldn’t mean cramming it full of activities. I hope that objective inspires you to slow down and be as present as you can, as often as you can, so that your daughter learns that every moment has the potential for aliveness, presence, and joy.
Your daughter is a really fortunate child. Because you’re following her example, you’ll be able to pick up on what she’s saying and offer her what she wants. Enjoy her and make the most of your time with her. The fact that we enjoy them is arguably the most important thing we can provide them.
FAQ
- How can I improve my baby’s brain development?
Give your baby a head start before he or she is born.
– Increase the volume of the baby chatter.
– Play games that need you to use your hands.
– Pay close attention.
– Encourage a love of books from a young age.
– Develop your baby’s appreciation for her own body.
– Select toys that encourage babies to explore and interact.
– When your infant cries, respond quickly. - Which is one of the most important nutrients for the brain development of a baby?
Iron, zinc, copper, iodine, choline, folate, and vitamins A, B12, and D are among the most critical nutrients for a baby’s brain at this period.
- What stimulates a baby’s brain?
Indeed, experts conclude that talking to your baby, playing with your baby, paying attention to your baby’s interests, and leveraging those interests to build curiosity lays down the wiring that ultimately stimulates your baby’s brain to grow and develop.
- How can I increase my baby’s IQ?
– Buy a book. According to linda clinard, a literacy consultant and author of family time reading fun, your child is never too young to be read to.
– Cuddle up.
– Sing.
– Try to make eye contact.
– Describe your day.
– Use the right tone.
– Count loudly.
– Raise your finger.
