How do we help our 6wko's development?

[Cosmo89]

This is a really lazy post, and I'm so sorry for it; My reading got as far as pregnancy, labour and the Basic Parenting issues before DS turned up in June. I always assumed that I'd tackle Development as I went along, but (as most actual parents would have guessed) I've been too knackered to engage with any reading at all. Trying to get DS to sleep has been No. 1 on our list for the past 2 weeks at least.

So can anyone provide me with any pointers - even if it's just to suggest what books/approaches I should have a look at. I want to challenge him in his mental and physical development and introduce this at Play time (which at the moment is basically just me cooing or singing at him in his bouncy chair, or taking him for walks around the flat/garden/park so he can see new things). I'm sure I should be getting him to grasp more, and maybe getting a play gym, but Im a bit unsure where I should start with this.

Many thanks for your help.

Right now, just take a break if he's happy to lie in his moses basket doing his own thing. It won't last long, I promise. Play gyms are good for them to lie underneath, but you might be going overboard with challenging his mental development at this age.

I was like you with my pfb though, and would take him for walks and talk about quantum physics when he was still a newborn.

What you are doing sounds fine

Talking, singing, walks. You could get a gym.

6 weeks old?

singing is good

i can't even remember that far back!

ooh, i know! one of these chairs

that's what i put dd in at 6 weeks - it entertained her for at least a fortnight!

that's all you need.
:)

He doesn't need challenging. What you're doing is fine. You can't 'get him' to grasp more - when he's ready he'll reach out to grip things and you can't do anything to make it happen quicker. Gross motor skills are genetic. Given that he can't see beyond 6ft away at the moment, and mostly what he wants to look at is your face, what you're doing at Playtime (sic) is perfect.

Just him being with you and watching the world go by is all he needs

Plus love, hugs and plenty of talking and singing

So, going to the park and letting him look at the trees is enough

What you're doing is great - honestly - I just nattered non stop for most of my babies first few months. I have 3 daughters and I just took them out for walks/shopping, watched tv with them, obviously what I wanted to watch .

I had a gym and my first daughter loved it, used to play and bat the animals for ages, my second and third couldn't be bothered with it at all. I don't think any of mine were doing any deliberate grasping until a few months.

I found a play mat handy for DD from about three weeks, purely as it was somewhere to 'put' her that wasn't her moses basket. At the time I thought it would be great for development etc and now she is 7mo and I look back and see the only real benefit of it is that she seemed content to just 'be' somewhere.

She only really started to interact with the objects from around 3 months.

We also used to sing at bathtime too.

Changes of scenery and places with other people, especially other babies were DD1s favourites things.

Being pushed a long a path with lots of overhanging trees calmed her at your DCs age. I guess it was the high contrast pattern of branches against the sky.

Between 6 weeks and being able to crawl she liked supermarkets, especially queues with other babies.

NCT bumps and babies, again they sat in their car seats and just watched each other.

Going shopping, until I stopped to try anything on, then scream.

Basically, I think babies evolved to live in large family groups. Sitting at home with just Mum until you can move and properly interact with things is boring!

I honestly don't think you have to plan a complex educational program. Just don't expect a small baby to find home and a baby gym while you do the house work very for-filling.

DD2 was either BFing or had DD1 about to entertain her. She also got the idea of toys.

(DD1 only liked things she shouldn't have, so most baby toys were pointless)

At 6 weeks, all she needs is for you to smile and talk to her. You are the best toy she can possibly have. You don't need to try and make her grasp things - this isn't something she learns, it's something she will naturally do whether you encourage it or not. I know it feels like you should constantly be pushing, but honestly, enjoy your baby being tiny and make the most of just sitting down and cuddling her. Loads of time in the future to worry about development - now is time for bonding, that's all.

Tiny babies don't get bored, but they can easily be overstimulated. Bear in mind their nervous systems are incredibly underdeveloped and overstimulation can cause all sorts of problems with sleeping. What you're doing right now is great.

Just enjoy him! Lots of time yet for challenging. They don't usually even smile until around 6 wks, so you're only just starting to get a two-way relationship going. I remember very clearly the first time my ds actually looked at, reached for, picked up and brought to his mouth, his wee toy elephant - he was 3 months. It was lovely to see as it was proper curiosity, interaction and exploration, all done under his own steam. Don't put yourself or your baby under pressure!

Ok, perhaps very tiny six week babies don't get bored, but older ones certainly do.

DD1 used to cry for no apparent reason. She was fed, dry and the right temp, but still she cried. Put her in the push chair and find some other people and she'd instantly cheer up.

As I say she wasn't very interested in toys.

The really weird thing is that she is the one who has never been good at making friends and from preschool age prefers her own company.

Personally I think a 6w baby needs love and bonding, not "development".

A child that has confidence in themselves and their place in the world will learn the P&Q's later - teach them they're loved and supported and they will learn what they need to, at their own pace.

:)

the baby is six weeks old and you want to challenge his mental and physical aptitude :O
dear god you will be wanting it in school at two

Really just relax. We did have a playgym that both DCs loved. I used to go for walks for my sanity and meet friends also for my sanity.

Even now my DCs are older I follow their lead and don't think of new ways to challenge them.

A family friend is a social worker, and she once had a grandmother caring for a young baby who was raising concerns because she chronically overstimulated the little mite. I've never forgotten that. She said that normal care was to love, cuddle, talk to and sing to a baby, while going about normal life. That they need down time and to just observe the world going past, and that babies who are interacted with let you know what they want.

Since having my own, I've realised how right that is. To a six week old, the whole world is new, learning to locate their own toes is a challenge, and they have a shut-down response when everything is overwhelming. That's why white noise can send them to sleep, supposedly. If you put them in a bouncy chair to watch you, and use a sling if you like the things, then the world and its novelty will provide all the stimulation your baby needs, over and above normal cuddles and chatting.

Babies are programmed to thrive. If they have parents who love them and are engaged, they don't need more. If they did, we'd all be snookered as the books are usually different in advising, anyway, and we're all too knackered to read them.

At 4 months or so, if memory serves, they start to get really fed up and to want constant stimulation, because they can't yet crawl yet need more than sitting and observing. But mine made that point very clearly when the time happened. And I got a big bundle of 2nd hand toys from Ebay and played when that time came. But at this age, just watching the world is hugely challenging, and I think your job is to provide love and security and milk and clean nappies. Thankfully, it doesn't need to be more complex than that.

Just time with mummy will make your LO very happy, looking at your face, singing and talking with arm movements.

High contrast patterns like black and white lines and tummy time are also good for mental stimulation and learning control of back and neck muscles. Don't expect LO to spend too long or achieve too much with tummy time to start with though!

Relax, use a sling and go to baby cinema! This is the last chance you will get for years to do things for you with the baby alongside, grab it!

Tate advantage of the fact that sitting in a chair watching you go about your day is stimulation enough. My DD also liked a play gym from around this age but was equally interested in me folding the washing.

Talk to him.just chat all the time.

And, to quote my wise old mum "Babies need to be gazed at. It helps them grow"

Get a sling, and a blanket. Go about your daily business, see friends, go to shops, go to the kind of baby groups aimed at very small babies, etc. (and yes! Baby cinema!) When you get tired of the sling put the baby down on the blanket, or in a bouncy chair type thing. They don't need to be hothoused, they just need to be able to observe and be a part of this funny human world so they can learn what it means to be a human.

I always think it must be better for second children as they have a ready made person to watch go about their everyday life! With a first you'll have to settle for bringing her to observe adult life as much as possible. Slings are useful because they bring the baby up to adult head height.

You don't need to do anything special at all. It helps to get into a habit of chatting to them (and not swearing!) now.

Time in an upright and supportive sling like a stretchy wrap (moby etc) counts for the same as tummy time, too.