Today’s Tip - Track your baby’s milestones to make sure they’re developing correctly

Its important to make sure that your infant doesn’t have any developmental problems, but if he or she seems slow in one area, don’t worry about it too much unless they’re way behind or your pediatrician seems concerned. Everyone loves to compare their accomplishments to others, but the fact is some babies are fast in verbal development, but slow in the physical department, or vice versa. If you’re worried about it, ask your pediatrician. At two months old, your infant should be able to:

• Smile in response to your smile
• Follow an object in an arc about 6 inches above the face to the midline (straight ahead)
• Respond to a bell or sound by startling, crying or quieting
• Vocalize in ways other than crying

Probably will be able to:

• Lift head 45 degrees on their stomach
• Follow an object in an arc 6 inches above their face past the midline (straight ahead)

They might also be able to hold their head steady, push themselves up, roll over, grasp a rattle, pay attention to a small object, reach for an object, say a vowel consonant combination, smile spontaneously, bring both hands together, life head 90 degrees, laugh out loud, squeal in delight, follow an object from one side of the face to the other.

Taken from What to Expect the First Year

Parenting, Verbal, Physical, Development, Emotional

Today’s Tip - Start teaching your baby simple sign language hand signs as early as possible

Found a great article by the folks over at Ask Moxie about the benefits of signing to your baby at a young age. Babies are the most fertile for learning multiple languages at an early age, and anything that stimulates visual and motor communication at the same time as vocal communication seems like a good idea.

Read about early sign language success After reading it, I plan on teaching my son to sign as soon as possible.

These folks have put together a pretty useful resource if you want to know more about teaching your baby sign language. Signing Baby

Parenting, Sign, Language, Development, Communication

Hey everyone! Apparently I need some tips on how to use blogger, because I was completely unaware of the comments that were out there. I’ve since set up the system to notify me of your comments, and I’ll do a quick check back over previous posts to make sure I answer all of you personally. Thanks for the feedback and I can’t wait to check out some of the resources I’ve already seen some of you post. Keep it coming!

Today’s Tip - Stay on top of your baby’s fits and they’re bound to be less intense

The past few days our son has gotten himself worked up into some pretty hellish fits - his face turns beet red and he’s crying so hard he can barely breath. Then I realized that we weren’t attending to his needs quick enough. He’d get sort of upset, not come down from it, get a little more upset, and so on and so forth. Today I tried distracting him when he stuck out that bottom lip and making sure I was on top of the diaper/feeding/pacifier trifecta. I tried to make sure he never cried for more than a few seconds. By the time the height of his fit should have been hitting, he was napping like a log. Hopefully I’ve hit on something and I didn’t just get lucky.

Parenting, Cry

Todays Tip - Passing your child around, time in the sun and traveling will make your baby zonk out

Ours slept like a corpse after a full day of driving to across Michigan, playing outside in the sun for a but, and attending two family parties. Our usual routine includes a fussy period of about two hours right before bed, but instead he spent that so far into dreamland that we could barely wake him up for his nightime feeding. And, unfortunately, he woke up earlier than usual the next morning. We’re definitely looking forward to getting him back on his usual schedule.

Parenting, Routine, Sleep

Todays Tip - Read with your infant when they’re their “quietly alert”

Since attention spans are miniscule at this age, timing a little reading time with your baby is a challenge, but important. If you read to them when they’re upset, they won’t pay attention. If you read to them when they’re tired, they won’t pay attention. If you read to them when they’re activly alert and bopping all over the place, they won’t pay attention.

I had success today with my two-month old. I read to him right after he was fed and changed, I laid down on the floor with him on his back and held the book Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See above us. He was alert, but not thrashing around, and all his needs were immediately satisfied. And he rewarded me with a couple smiles as I flipped the brightly colored pages!

Parenting, Reading, Mental, Development

Today’s Tip - Don’t go crazy trying to recreate your home environment elsewhere

Tonight my paretns will be watching our baby while my wife and I go to a hockey game. Since they live almost two hours away and we forgot the noisemaker, our baby monitors, a stroller and his bedtime book, we figured he’d be fussing all night and waking up every hour.

He slept for 7 hours straight. As long as you don’t get into any really bad habits like taking him for a ride in the car every night before he goes to bed, or picking him up the second he cries in bed, a loose interpretation of your home environment and bedtime routine should work great for your child.

Parenting, Sleep, Babysit

Today’s Tip - Try to time trips out of the house for the two-three hours in between feedings

There’s nothing more frustrating than being stuck in a store with no where to change a screaming infant that’s hungry or needs a diaper change. My wife and I plan our shopping trips to begin right after he’s been fed and changed. Then, he falls asleep in the car ride, naps while we’re in the store, and then hopefully he doesn’t start crying until we get back to the house.

Parenting, Shopping, Trips

Today’s Tip - Make funny faces and noises to get a grin out of your baby

Our son had his first real smile today! My wife stuck her tongue out at him and he smiled from ear to ear. Pretty soon he figured out that if he stuck his tongue back out at us, we’d continue the game. He lost interest after a few minutes, but it was our first real interaction with him where he wasn’t crying or pooping.

Parenting, Smile, First, Development

Today’s Tip - Keep blankets and covers off your baby in the car seat

Especially during the winter time. You’ve probably bundled him up quite a bit for the cold. Then, he gets put in the car, which heats up, and the covers usually stay on. Then, you’re exposing your baby to overheating at worst, heavy sweating at best. A onesie and a jumper are usually more than enough to keep him warm in the car when the heat is cranking. Save the blankets for when you take him out into the elements.

Parenting, Car, Seat, Overheating