How can I aid in my baby's development in the first 6 months?

There are many ways you can stimulate your baby. The first is by stimulating her senses. Small babies love high contrast so black and white stripes, shapes and checks are interesting to them. They also love to look at pictures of faces and of course real human faces too. You can stimulate her sense of touch by giving her different textures of fabric to play with. By varying your diet you expose your baby to many different flavours through your breastmilk. Babies love music and will particularly enjoy music they may have been exposed to while still in the womb. Try classical music with an upbeat tempo and also a more relaxed tempo to see how baby responds. Be aware that babies can become overstimulated too. Baby will begin to fuss, cry, thrash her legs and arms in what appears to be an uncontrolled fashion, yawn and turn her head away from the stimulus if she becomes tired of it. Also, be aware that baby will not always be in a receptive mood for play and other stimulation. A baby who is calm-alert will respond well to stimulation.

Make eye contact with your baby and have conversations with her. Babies who babble will naturally create pauses for you to respond if you chat to your baby often. Talk all the time. Describe things around you, talk your baby through nappy changes, bath time etc and employ repetition to encourage your baby's development of verbal language.

Take every opportunity to play with your baby and sing to her. Babies love singing and play and it is a perfect opportunity for you to not only stimulate your baby but also to bond with her.

It is unlikely your baby will become spoiled under the age of 6 months. When your baby cries it is important that you respond to her. It will have a positive effect on her self esteem if she feels valued and acknowledged from an early age and can be confident in the fact that, when she is unhappy or uncomfortable her parents will respond to her. Also important for your baby's self esteem is encouragement. You need to be excited about her attempts at doing things so that she is encouraged in her exploits and has the confidence to try new things and develop in many different areas.

Above all, have fun with your baby. She is excited and inquisitive about EVERYTHING around her. We can learn a lot from this child-like wonder and it should be cherished and encouraged as it does not last forever and, sadly, has usually worn off by adulthood.

Kerry