Look Who's Talking...Or Not

I have been reading up on language development as I have been concerned lately that my 18 month old daughter is not talking as much as I believe she should be. There is all kinds of information on this topic and the range of what is considered "normal" development is broad.

After some research, both online and by talking to friends, I have decided not to worry and to continue promoting her language development through talking with her, singing, and reading to her.

Here are some things you too can do to promote language development:

From birth to 2 years

- Introduce animal sounds and associate the animal with the sound. For example if they see and hear a dog, say "that's a dog and they go woof woof".

- Identify colours

- Count items

- Use gestures to convey meaning, like waving good-bye

- Read, read, read!

- Sing to them, specially songs with gestures, like "head, shoulders, knees and toes" or "patty cake"

- Watch what they do and verbalize what they are doing.

- Talk to them, tell them what you are doing, where you are going, what is happening.

These are all things that you incorporate into your daily activities.

As for me, I know that I have to relax and continue doing what I have been doing and before I know it I'm going to be asking her to be quiet.

Building A Foundation - Your Child's Development from 0 to 2 Months

From their first hour alive, babies begin to learn about the world around them. Our support, attention, awareness, and response, will have a very strong influence on their social, emotional, intellectual, motor, and language development.

One of the most important things you can do for your newborn is to help them feel comfortable in their surroundings. They are just starting to regulate their eating, sleeping, and emotions, that is why finding out what soothes and distresses them is very valuable. Always respond to their cries as this is important for their social and emotional development. It also nurtures trust, confidence, and self-soothing.

Even though we may not realize it, newborns use their body movements, facial expressions and sounds to communicate their feelings. Things like looking away, arching their backs, or frowning when they need to take a break. They will have different cries for when they want to eat, sleep or get a change of diaper. Acknowledging and responding to them will help build a positive sense of self and will encourage them to continue to communicate. (source)

To further develop a newborn's communication skills talk and sing to them. Tell them what you are doing and what they are doing. See if there are sights and sounds they like. Find toys or everyday items with different colours and textures and let them explore. In fact your face and those of loved ones will be what baby will find most fascinating. You can play with them by putting your face close to theirs and letting them look at you and touch you. Play a game of naming the parts of your face they are touching and do the same to them.

The most important thing you can do the first two months is to always respond to your baby, pay attention to what they need and provide them with what that may be. All this will contribute to the foundation for their social, emotional, and language development.

What's in a Gift

I have had a number of friends ask me lately what toy I would recommend to give as a gift to a newborn. Now, though receiving blankets, bottles, clothing and other newborn gifts are very useful, a beautiful toy that can stimulate baby and help her develop but it can also go a long way. Personally I find that any of the Whoozit Baby toys make great gifts, though they are not the newest toy on the block they are timeless and baby-approved.

Whether you give the classic Whoozit, the Baby Whoozit, or the the Starz Lights and Sounds Whoozit there is no doubt that the child will play with it for a very long time. My daughter Isabel received a Whoozit as a gift and has played with it since she was just a few weeks old. It is very interesting how she is always discovering new ways to play with it.

Other toys that are beautifully crafted and make great gifts, are the grasping toys made by both Haba and Melissa and Doug. Both these brands make such quality toys that they will be enjoyed by future generations. The Clutching Toy Bonita by Haba is a stunning toy, it has four flowers and each flower has something interesting and special, from a mirror, to a bell, to a shiny jewel.

All the grasping toys by Melissa and Doug are fun and vibrant, be it the Monkey Face, Froggie Face, Wiggling Worm or the Friendly Fish. The primary colours found in each of these toys will certainly attract any little one's interest.

Another great tip that I give my friends is that newborns will not be newborns for long, for this reason it is also a good idea to look at the toys that are for older babies, such as the stacking toys, or the pull and push toys. Parents will really appreciate this because they now have something to take out when their little one is 6 months or older.

Whatever toy you choose, there is no doubt that the child will love it.

Playing, Singing, Toys and More

I want to share with you one of the great places that I was introduced to after I had my daughter. In the province of Ontario there is a government service called the Ontario Early Years Centres. Each centre offers parents and their children up to age 6 a place were they can take part in some fun activities, obtain information on child development, and meet other parents and children from the neighborhood.

All centres offer different programs but they are all developmental and a great deal of fun. Some programs include, Get Fit with Baby, Sensory Exploration, Mother Goose and the Connecting with Families Drop-in. They even have a toy library were you can take out a toy and bring it back when your little one no longer wants to play with it.

All programs are free but many of them require registration, if you are interested in taking part in one it is best to register as soon as possible.

Links to the Ontario Early Years Centres and other places where parents can look for programs to take part in with their children can be found in the Resources section of BabyThoughts.ca.

Enjoy.
Karla

Choosing a toy for your baby

For new parents, choosing a toy for your baby can be a bit confusing at first. There is a lot of choice out there and not a lot of data points on which to make your decision. I have a 19 month old daughter, and I think I have learned a couple of interesting things about choosing toys, from the time she was a newborn, until now.

First - and I think this is the most important message to other parents on this subject - the most interesting, entertaining, and positively awe inspiring toy for your baby is you! Yes, that's right, you. Think of it like this: A baby is born with limited vision and only a handful of instincts to help her get started in life. Everything else is up to you. Baby will probably start breastfeeding almost immediately after birth and will have frequent visual, auditory, and tactile stimulation from mom and dad. Baby will learn mom and dad's faces and sounds and will draw a familiar comfort from it. From then on you will find that as baby develops she will appreciate you at different levels. I remember with my little one, coming home after work when she was about 2-3 months old, and just upon seeing me and hearing me calling out she would break out in hysterical laughter, every time. Now that she's older, it's about more sophisticated games, such as dancing, reading, or playing "where's daddy's nose?" (you get the idea). But the fun she derives from me and my wife is still beyond any toy we have purchased.

But then, there are some awesome toys too.

Let me start from the 0-6 months stage. As I mentioned in an earlier blog, multi-sensory toys are staples for babies under 6 months. Toys and mobiles with high contrast shapes (such as Wimmer-Ferguson toys from Manhattan Toy) and textures, such as the Whoozit will give baby interesting stimulation. I also found that toys that can be wound up to play a soothing song for 30 seconds or so can also bring comfort and stimulation to your baby. Toys that come to mind here are Whoozit Starz Lights and Sounds from Manhattan Toy and Fisher Price's Ocean Wonders Aquarium. There are always plush toys (such as teddy bears), but I find that baby will not really really appreciate those until later on. Also, don't forget grasping toys in many different shapes and sizes that your baby will use as a toy and teether at the same time. Brands like Haba and Manhattan Toy have some great grasping toys.

As they get a bit older and they can sit and play, I have found that blocks, Legos, balls, and other toys that can be stacked, squished and thrown and have interesting colours and themes are also big winners. As they start to stand up or get more aware of their surroundings you might find that activity tables with buttons, clickers, spinners, and music are also popular.

Last but not least, for babies over 12 months, there has been a strong resurgence of wooden toys and puzzles. Toys ranging from shape sorters to alphabet blocks, and puzzles are great learning toys and visually very appealing. Brands like Melissa & Doug, Plan Toys, and Hape Toys come to mind here.

Some of these products, of course, can be seen at www.babythoughts.ca.

Happy toy hunting!
Frank

Should dads get up too?

I'm going to switch gears a bit today and talk about an infamous struggle for new parents; sleepless nights. (If you are about to be a new parent, get ready and read on)

My daughter, who is now 19 months, spent the first 5-6 months of her life sleeping no more than 4 hours at any given time. Don't get me wrong, we were very lucky in that she was an absolutely healthy, happy baby. It's just that she had a constant cycle of sleep, eat, poop, and sleep again. This, of course, meant that my wife spent those first 6 months like a zombie, never being able to get a decent, restful night. I would occasionally chip in on the weekends and help where I could, but since my daughter was breast fed, there were some areas were I was, well, unqualified.

This leads me to a common topic of discussion, which I have had with a couple of other dads-to-be, on the type of involvement that a dad should expect to have during those sleepless nights.

The most obvious conclusion, which is what my wife and I thought before our daughter was born is that there are two main obstacles that will limit how much a dad can help. One is work. The other is breasts.

From a work perspective, we thought that there was no point in me being a zombie too, since I would not be able to perform my "9-to-5" duties. Therefore, I seldom, if ever got up in the middle of a week night to help out. From an anatomical perspective, my daughter was 100% breast fed until she was 6 months old, so there was not much I could do on that front. There was breast milk in a bottle of course, but there is only so much milk a mom can pump.

My perspective on this has changed dramatically after 19 months. If and when baby number 2 comes along I think I would like to do a couple of things differently. First, my job doesn't call for operating heavy machinery or doing dangerous tasks, so next time around I will get up with my wife at least once a night (yes, even during weekdays). Even if you do not feed the baby, as a dad there is a lot you can do, including burping, walking, rocking, and changing diapers (yes your wife is doing all of that too, while you are asleep). Secondly, I would introduce some portion of formula feeding after a couple of months. I would encourage parents to seriously discuss the breast milk versus formula topic before their child is born. For all of the advantages of breast milk (there are many) formula fed babies typically sleep longer and formula feeding gives dad a chance to give mom a break.

If nothing else, getting up will show much needed moral support during this zombie phase (yes, it is a phase and it does end). After you get the hang of it and your baby reaches 4-5 months, I would encourage parents to read a book called "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child". My wife an I are raving fans, since the sleep training discussed in the book helped us get our child to sleep continuously for about 10-12 hours every night!

Hope this helps.
Frank

So, what is a Whoozit anyway?

I encountered a Whoozit - a soft, multi-sensory toy from Manhattan Toy - for the first time almost 2 years ago through a friend who had a young toddler. Her son had one and it was quite the curiosity the first time I saw it. At the beginning of 2006, the young boy's Whoozit would eventually be passed on to my own daughter, who was born on September 2005. This particular Whoozit has to be over 2 years old, it has lint, has been washed many many times, has absorbed copious quantities of drool, and received many hugs. I have to say though, after all that mileage, she still loves her Whoozit.



But what is it? Well, it's a Whoozit, there isn't much else to compare it too, kind of like Mr. Potato Head. It's just Mr. Potato Head! However, it can be described. At first glance, it's like a soft round cloth cushion, about 10 inches across. One side has a black and white swirl, which I assume is a nice visual for newborns. The other side has a round fleece nose, like a clown nose, and a cushioned cloth handle that doubles as a smile. A couple of eyes are sewn on to complete the awkward, happy face.

But so far, we are talking about a glorified pin cushion. The magic of the Whoozit is about what's hidden inside. Once baby inspects the sides of the Whoozit she will find 7 hidden legs that can be pulled out and tucked back into the toy, each with a textured shape such as a star, square, triangle, and circle. The legs themselves are black and white in different checkered or striped patterns, which adds to the Whoozit's silly visual appeal. The shapes at the end can be squeezed to feel a new texture or hear a sound.

All of this adds up to one thing, a tried, tested, and true multi-sensory toy that is still a fixture in my daughter's crib.

You can see the Whoozit at BabyThoughts.ca (of course I have to plug the site :) ).

Bye for now,

Frank