Parenting tips for the first two years of life. Part. 2

▪️6-9 month old baby tips

📍Did you know?

At 6 months, your baby can eat anything except honey which should not be given until she is a year old.

◽️When asking a question, give lots of time for the answer. Count to 10 in your head. If no answer comes, then answer the question yourself. Try an easier question the next time.

◽️Say your baby’s name as much as possible. She will look to see who is saying it and will try to reach out to the person.

◽️Never speak or sing too loudly, as this may scare babies.

◽️Smile as much as possible and provide your baby with comfort and trust.

◽️Give your child clean, safe and colourful things, such as a wooden spoon or plastic bowl, to reach for and touch, or bang and drop.

◽️Make simple picture books, puzzles, hand puppets and dolls to develop your baby's curiosity and help him learn new things. To make a simple puzzle, just glue a picture on a piece of cardboard or other material and cut out the sections.

▪️9-12 month old baby tips

📍Did you know?

To increase infants’ self-esteem and confidence, always take a positive approach to your child’s learning process. Try to say “yes”, “good”, “well done” more often, rather than “no”, “bad”, “not good”.

◽️Play hide and seek with your infant and see if he can find the objects you hide. You can hide something under a cloth, and say: “Where did it go?”, “Can you find it?”. You should see an increase in your child’s curiosity and willingness to find out what happened to the object.

◽️Tell your infant the names of things and people. She should show interest and soon will try to make relationships between words and objects or people.

◽️Show your child how to say things with hands, like “bye bye”. Soon your child should try to imitate you and wave “bye-bye” on his own, making a relationship between a movement and a vocal expression.

◽️Point to the eyes, nose and mouth on a doll. After showing one part on the doll, touch the same part on yourself and on your baby. Take your baby’s hand and have him touch the eyes, nose and mouth on the doll, you and himself. Slowly, the baby will be able to memorize and identify these different words and relate them to his body parts.

Yours, William Ava

Child psychologist