Sensory stimuli for your baby
For a small baby, the world is a fascinating place full of colours, sounds, shapes and smells which are all new and intriguing. For the first couple of months, although her hearing is fully developed, she won’t be able to grasp any toys, or focus on anything further than 20-30 centimeters away, so you’ll need to choose things that are accessible to her. These will generally be things that she can either look at or listen to.
Baby Gyms
A baby gym (see our Kit section for help on buying equipment) is a good investment for new babies. Essentially a playmat with various sensory toys suspended from a soft overhead bar, or set at eye-level, baby gyms are equipped with age-appropriate stimuli to help your baby’s development and provide her with a safe and interesting environment. As your baby’s motor skills develop, she will start to bat at her favourite toys with her hands and kick them with her feet. Colourful play mats will also occupy your baby whilst you let her have some supervised tummy time, something experts recommend your baby does once or twice a day.
Listening
Babies’ hearing is fully developed at birth – in fact, their hearing is far more acute than an adult’s. You may want to try experimenting with a selection of gentle lullabies and rhythmic nursery rhymes, or slow and energetic classical music, to see what she responds to. Try fitting a musical mobile above her cot or changing table – small babies find it hard to track moving objects, so ones which move slowly and in a repeating pattern are best. Remember that mobiles must be out of your baby’s reach for safety.
If you are feeling self-conscious about singing to your baby why not invest in a nursery rhyme CD you can sing along too. It will also remind you of the words to nursery rhymes you may have forgotten - something that will come in useful once you start to go to mother and baby sessions and nurseries.
Even small babies love listening to voices – and their mum’s voice in particular.
Talk to your baby as you go about your day together, explain where you are, what’s going on, and who you are with. It’s never too early to
start reading to your baby.
Older babies who can sit up and focus on books will love being read to and looking at the accompanying pictures to a story. Interactive touch-and-feel books can help engage children from an early stage, and books with buttons which your child can press to make noises are often a hit too.
Communicating with your baby is essential in the early days and will provide her with just as much stimuli as playmats and mobiles. Communicating with her at this stage is a matter of responding to your baby's needs. A newborn baby cannot be spoiled with too much attention so be prompt when she cries to let he know that she is important and that you are there for her. At first it can seem frustrating trying to work out
why your baby is crying, but for small babies, unless they are ill, it can only be a number of things such as, they are hungry, tired, windy, bored or in pain. Some babies are comforted by a rocking motion, or they settle quickly once they are in your arms and close to you.
Some babies like the hum of a vacum cleaner or a radio on static and it can seem to calm them down.
Looking
Small babies can distinguish high-contrast colours, such as black and white, better than similar tones, and toys with patterns and shapes in high-contrast colours will focus their attention first. Small babies are also fascinated by human faces and will gaze back at you in wonder. They are fascinated by their own reflection in a mirror, so try placing an unbreakable mirror at eye level on their play mat, or changing table.
Over-stimulationThe world can be a fascinating place for newborn babies, but it can also be a place which overwhelms them. New sights, sounds, smells and constant relatives cooing over them can be a stark contrast to the peaceful world of the womb. Some babies can handle new experiences well, but others will get
over-stimulated which results in them being irritable and crying for no reason, usually in the early evenings. The best idea is to avoid over-stimulating situations like loud noisy rooms, bright lights or lots of activities going on around them. If you are going out put your baby in a baby sling so that she is shielded from prying eyes and brightness, or drape a muslin over her pram when you go out so that she can have some quiet time if she needs it (Obviously making sure she is safe and it cannot fall on her and hinder her breathing).
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Last Modified: 18/06/2007
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