By: Now that your baby is growing up, it’s one of the most crucial stages of parenting – the baby is forming habits, learning skills, and also interacting with the world around him or her. They have also grown out of the newborn stage and their sleep schedule is better synchronized. Thus, in short, it’s time for you to increase your activity levels. Increasing the activity levels has multiple benefits – they can pick up words, skills, interact with everyone, and also tire out in time for bedtime, for a good night’s rest, which is crucial for baby growth. So, how do you go about choosing the best activities? Well, we are here to help you out with just that – you can follow these simple seven tips to keep your baby engaged and also promote growth. These tips are ideal for babies from a few weeks old to eight/nine months old.
Make eye contact and talk to them
Language is an important skill that must be inculcated in the little ones. Even when they are too young to understand words, babies do pick up emotions from words and your tonality. As they grow a little older, it’s a good idea to make eye contact with them frequently while talking to them – you can narrate everyday life or try and teach specific words!
Sing to them
Even when they are in the tummy, babies can still hear and react to the noises around them – especially voices and music. Music also plays an important role in a baby’s brain development as it helps develop language, memory, and reading skills as they grow up. Music also inspires emotions and helps soothe them. And when you sing to them, you also help deepen that bond with your child.
Make faces at them
Another great activity for parent and child bonding, making faces, and encouraging them to register emotions is another great tip to keep your baby engaged. As they get a little older, they also learn to recognize emotions through facial expressions. They can mimic you and greatly engage with you through facial expressions.
Take them on a walk
Whether you’re more comfortable with a stroller or a baby carrier or even if you’re exploring – baby wearing, there’s nothing like enjoying a quiet walk with your little one. This is the stage where they are exploring the world around them and observing every little thing. From a flower to an insect – everything can amuse at this stage and keep them engaged.
Tummy time
Another great activity with many health benefits – tummy time is a recommended activity for babies. It ensures that the back and shoulder muscles get stronger which ultimately aids in better growth and faster milestones like crawling and sitting. It also helps aid digestion. You can scatter some toys around your baby to make this activity more fun.
Read to them
Although they may not be able to fully understand you – they can pick up on emotions and the excitement of reading a book. You can choose age-appropriate books with plenty of pictures and sounds to keep your little one engaged. This also helps set a routine for your baby – like a bedtime story!
Let them explore textures
At this stage, babies are exploring sounds, colours, and even textures. So you can introduce them to various toys, ribbons, and other baby-safe things that have different types of textures. As they grasp things, they not only develop hand-eye coordination but also motor skills, all the while having fun with textures!
