Becoming and being a parent is an incomparable experience; it’s also a role that holds so many responsibilities, including caring for and nurturing their little one.

At birth, baby’s little eyes quickly seek out your eye contact. They follow your eyes, your smile and seek reassurance. Soon their attentive eye movements will become head turns, and sooner rather than later, little shadows that reflect everything you do.

These moments are so precious, both for the child and the parent. It is a very short period but holds a lot of significance which will define the person they will become and thus shape the way they think, speak, act, communicate and more.

Did you know that a newborn’s brain doubles in size in their first year of life, and that it reaches half its adult size by the time they are 3 months old? In fact, a newborn’s brain grows by 1% every day for the first 3 months of life.

This is why it is important to promote alertness and stimulation from the very first day of a baby’s life.

Below, you will find 3 strategies that will help you integrate strategies to help stimulate your child to promote their development:

1- Communicating, exchanging and talking: both with your eyes and touch

Your child wants and tries to communicate with you from birth. A newborn’s gaze seeking your eyes, your toddler’s requests for guidance and even changes in behavior are all examples of how your child tries to communicate with you.

To promote communication, aim to dialogue with your child using descriptive words, words that will appeal to their imagination, describe steps, and sequences. You can tell them about your day, your plans, your ideas and your observations. For example, when you go for a walk, you can explain what you see and help them make links with other elements they may have seen before, “Look, that’s an apple tree; remember the book at home with the grey cat, the children went to pick apples from a tree like that one”.

2- Invite your child to do what you do

As a child grows up, he or she wants to do what mom and dad do. When they are younger, they observe everything you do, your moves and your expressions. Imitating and being involved in role-playing helps children learn in many areas, including their ability to coordinate their movements, integrate the coordination of their movements with what the child perceives, and it also helps them develop socially and emotionally.

At a young age, you can involve your children in games such as “Simon says” or “do as I do” to invite your child to imitate your movements, whether it is during chores, or in the context of a game, a dance, or an imitation of a walk. Older kids can progress to imitating your tasks and activities; you can invite them to simulate your activity in parallel, for example, your child can become a chef by using the same objects as you, or a young gardener by using similar tools to yours.

3- Be attentive and present

Daily routines often preoccupy parents’ attention and minds, which can make uninterrupted play with your little ones difficult to achieve. Without putting aside and ignoring parental responsibilities, it is important for children to develop a bond of affection, trust and confidence with their parents.

To achieve this, focus on being present during your 1:1 moments, that is, put aside, as much as possible, your worries and your stress, and let yourself be carried away in play with your child. Being present is more than being physically close to them, it is being there to listen attentively with your eyes and ears, to exchange, to take turns doing an activity together, and to enjoy the moment with your child.

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Occupational therapists at M|CARE Occupational Therapy Clinic

 

Website : www.mcaretherapy.com

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