Hi everyone, here goes my first ever blog! I hope you are all keeping well.  We here at Lifestart have access to amazing information on the ‘Growing Child’ and it’s time to start talking and sharing what we know!

As part of our blogs, we will give you snippets of each booklet and talk about what you can expect in the different stages of your child’s development.  And there is no better place to start than with Month One where we look at ‘Your Baby’ and ‘Talk to Your Baby’.

First things first if you are reading this and you are the proud parent of a new baby – Congratulations.  In the first month your baby likes to:

  • Suck, sleep and enjoy basic comforts
  • Listen to your voice
  • Stare closely at faces, especially eyes.
  • Listen to repeated sounds
  • Stare at movement and light
  • Be held and rocked
  • Lift her head when lying on her stomach.

The first few weeks are such a change to everyone’s life. Things before were simpler – you left the house with your handbag, keys and mobile phone. Now you have to think of nappies, wipes, change of clothes, bottles / breast pads, hats, cardigans, prams, bouncer – the list goes on. But sure would you change any of it! NO I hear you say… you soon realise each week goes so quickly and your little new born baby isn’t tiny for long.

‘Talk to your Baby’. The First sounds your baby makes are cries which usually mean hunger, pain or other discomfort. Soon however your little baby will begin to respond to you. After a few weeks of hard work and no smiles (unless wind smiles which may surprise you), you soon start to see this changing the more you talk to your baby, the more you talk the more you will get back. Remember everything your baby will do is on baby terms as it takes time to learn each wee milestone. When your baby starts to make sounds, if you copy these your baby will realise they are talking back to you – in their own very cute little language.  So the answer to my question is start talking to your baby from day one!

Thank you for reading and stay tuned for next week’s blog which will focus on a month from the toddler years.  Bye for now, Emma.