music to my ears

here is a hyper link to a free resource of soothing baby sounds and ideas!http://www.parenting.com/article/Baby/Care/Soothing-Sounds-for-Baby

0 - 6 months Look whos Talking

At first baby will cry to let you know what they want, after a little time some mums soon learn which cry means what, and to what degree, how cold, hungry, tired, this kind of thing can go under the heading as 'womens intuition', by the time 6 months mile stones come through baby will making their 1st attempts to talk, lots of cooing, ooohing and such. you can help this by answering them back in the same way, parents report that they can have little conversations with their pre verbal babies, they are far more receptive than are sometimes given credit!

a good thing to do from birth is just to talk to your baby, even if its just a running commentry of what you are doing, washing up, laundry, make up, cleaning teeth, she will just love to hear your voice.

its known that doing this to the womb has proven benefical also, as its a way to welcome your baby. Babies ears begin there developmental process as early as 8 weeks, but its around the 8 month stage that develop the ability to hear, although feelings can be felt much sooner, so by talking and singing to your baby, pre birth i think thats a very beautiful thing to do. if thats your kind of thing!

6 things to do to give a head start

According to the University of Londons study entitled Effective Preschool and secondary education, there are 6 things in particular that contribute to the benefit of babies intellectual, social and behavioural outcomes, and they all involve quality time with YOU!

here are 6 simple things you can do from the moment baby is born:

Read to her : as well as being soothing an comfortable place for baby to be, snuggled up in your arms while listening to the rythemic sound of you voice, it teaches baby about language, about listening skills, about sounds, and is also a valuable tool for sparking their imagination and boosting learning. its even good to read to your baby in the womb, a way for her to get used to your voice, and a lovely way to bond pre birth.

Sing to her: Nursery rhymes have been past down for thousands of generations, and there is a reason. Its more than just good fun to sing, its a great learning tool for young children, as its fun it makes learning easier, they just drink it in! Music is something that a whole lot of babies respond to, even when distressed, if music is played or the sing song sound of our voice, that we naturally use when talking to babies, somehow it calms them down. Find music you babie seems to like, and make it part of your day! with older children, by having hand actions in songs, like incy wincy, it can improve motor skills and help develop co ordination! as well as songs being a good way to learn a story how it has a beginning a middle and an end. the benefits for learning are bountiful!

Play with letters and numbers : if a child is even slighty familiar with numbers and letters by the time they get to school, this really gives a head start, as its not totally new to them, its familair and by making numbers fun, like singing about numbers 1, 2, 3,4,5 once i caught a fish alive for example, you can almost garentuee it will have gone into the sponge like brain to be recalled at a later time.
let baby play with alphabet blocks and maybe foam numbers in the bath, keep it simple and keep it fun, is key!

Paint and draw : you may think babies are too young and floppy to participate in painting, but children are naturally very very creative, and we can foster this tendencie, by introducing colours and finger painting, letting bub touch the paint and play with sponges even at a very young age can be heaps of fun, and very stimulating. art you see, encourages abstract thinking, and problem solving, as well as enhancing sensory awareness with the differant colours and textures. remember we are creating experiences for babie to encouarage more connections to be created in the brain, the more of the right stimulis the better.

take her to the library: The libary is the gem of any community, they are always welcoming and helpful, a place for children to come and play and learn and interact. Lots of libaries have weekly story time sessions that often include craft and music.
it creates a positive enforcement that books and reading and learning is good and fun and will benefit our children in the later years, as we know that if children are reading books it has great applications for their IQ and future acedmic performance. babies are not instantly able to distinguise colours so its been said that its highly stimulating to introduce black and white patterns and pictures for your baby to look at, as the black and white really really stands out to baby and they find it fascinating. go to this link and get a free downloadable black and while book for your baby that this couple designed and have made it available for anyone who would like to try it ! http://www.youareborn.com/blackandwhite.html

Socialise: join a playgroup, star your own, invite other mums to your house, by being around other people and babies, baby can learn by listening looking, learning through imitation, this enables baby to gradually develops social-cognitive, language and behavourial skills. also the more comfortable and used to being around lots of people and differant places, this will prime him ready for later stages like pre school. See it also as a chance to get out of the house, make friends, meet people, and share interests. google baby activities, and have some ready for you mums to do when you meet up, even a lovely group baby massage would be lovely!

i wonder why?

why do we say "sleeping like a baby", when the darlings can have us up every 2 hours!

Food for life

i heard that in some parts of Australia, tribes have a ritual where all the placentas of all the members of the tribes, were buried under one tree, its said to make the tree huge and fertile and healthy and strong! i guess its better than eating it like i have heard some people do! really its in the same catogary as drinking your own wee!

no but seriously its a lovely way to mark the birth and arrival of your baby, plant a placenta tree, it will always be the same age as your baby, and a forever reminder of the time when she was born.

if this warms your cockles deep inside then go to this link for step by step instructions for creating your own! http://www.ehow.com/how_2087498_plant-placenta-tree.html

Power of the intention

if you are nervous about giving birth, dont be, research has shown that women who read some positive birth experiences feel much more relaxed and happier about the prospect.

it was part of a study by Midwifery Today, women were asked to rate their fear of birth before reading the stories and after and the result was on average the women felt 33% less fear after reading.

google positive birth experiences and focus and intend on having a positive experience!

EXCITING THINGS ABOUT THE BRAIN

babies are born with over 1 Billion brain cells.
some of these cells are connected and regulate heartbeat and breathing as well as babies control reflexes.
But most of the wiring of the brain is done after birth, in the first few months of life connections are made between the cells and this creates the complex curcuits that make up our emotions, actions and thinking, our feelings, behaviours and thoughts.
most of the connections have formed by the time we are 3 years old.
every experience thats taken in with the 5 senses helps build the connections that guide our development.
by playing, talking, singing, and being with your baby you can help them develop in the best way possible.
in this blog i will look at ways that you can interact with your baby, we will look at differant development stages in your babies life, and be able to go along side with where baby is at developmental stage and use corresponding activities and play time to stimulate your babies brain and increase the bonding between caregiver and child.

BABY HOOD

i AIM TO PROVIDE A PLACE FOR LEARNING ALL ABOUT BABYHOOD PARTICULARLY DEVELOPMENT OF BABIES I AM PARTICULARLY PASSIONATE ABOUT THIS SO I WILL START THERE AND SEE WHERE IT TAKES ME...