9 weeks - www.kidspot.com.au baby’s first year update

torstai 6. tammikuuta 2011

9 weeks - www.kidspot.com.au baby’s first year update


	Baby's First Year Kidspot

Welcome to week 9!

This Week Your Baby Is:

Laughing

First he started smiling and now he's laughing, and suddenly it seems he's becoming his own little person. Laughing out loud makes for a nice change from the months of crying and now that he knows how to do it, your baby will start to experiment with a range of 'laugh' sounds - cooing, gurgling, and squealing, along with the rarer belly laugh.

As your baby experiments with these exciting new sounds, he'll discover other noises he can make with his mouth and these will all be the foundation on which he can build his language skills later in the year.

Learn how to communicate with your baby

Hot Topic:

Dummies

To dummy or not to dummy that is the question… some babies are born with a strong sucking need that just isn't satisfied with feeding and so, for their parents, there's only one decision - dummy or thumb? And while thumb-sucking has an upside (you can't lose your thumb), you can't force a baby to suck her thumb AND it's more difficult to get rid of in the long run.

So, the dummy… a wonderful invention and a God-send for sucky babies, but when do you get rid of it? Those in the know say that using a dummy when your baby is very young is a great idea and the sixteen week mark is the ideal time to chuck it. After that you can become a slave to it - up and down all night retrieving the lost dummy that has become so necessary to your baby. The added bonus of ditching the dummy early on is that your baby will adjust to life post-dummy surprisingly quickly and at this age her sucking need has lessened.

Find out what the pros and cons are for using a dummy

Kidspot Tip:

Bath time

Although most children end up loving their bath time - so much so that it can be hard to get them out of there - young babies are often not the biggest fans of getting wet. Whether it's the shock of getting naked, the unexpectedness of the water, or not feeling secure in the bath - they often cry and cry and cry, which doesn't make you feel any more confident about bath time either!

Try topping and tailing every second day - just strip the top half, wipe down with a warm wash cloth, pat dry and dress and then repeat for the bottom half - because, aside from his bottom and his face (both of which you clean separately during the day anyway), he's not really getting very dirty.

What you need to know about bathing a newborn