The Beginner’s Guide to A New Baby

• Whether you are a first, second, or third-time parent, there are some things that we forget. One of many being the importance of Early Childhood Development. Child development is important because some parents are unaware of how-to guide their love’s physical, cognitive, linguistic, and social-emotional development. Being blessed to have two precious children ages 4 years old and 7 months, have given me so much patience and not so patient moments. I learned to be in the moment, which I believe helps so many parents be positive/peaceful parenting.

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What is Early Childhood Development?

• Early Childhood Development is guiding your precious love’s growth and development by providing them the tools and support to grow.

• Some misconceptions some caregivers may have are, babies are too young to learn. This is a misconception because babies are ready to learn as soon as they enter this ever-changing world.

How to get started with Early Childhood Development

• To get started you need to connect with your love, be patient with yourself, and do your best to understand that all children learn and grow at their own pace.

Tips for Success in Early Childhood Development

• In order to be successful at guiding your love with his/her development, you must remember to talk to your love, play with your love, laugh with your love, read with your love, be silly with your love, and show him/her unconditional love.

Common Questions/FAQ About Early Childhood Development

• How do I communicate with my love?
  • During the first few months of your love’s life, you might notice that your love enjoy looking at faces from day 1. This is because it helps him/her connect with caregivers/siblings and helps you enhance your love’s eye focus. Also, talking to your love is a great way to communicate because you are stimulating parts of your love’s brain that helps with their developing vision.
• When should I start focusing on my love’s physical skills, cognitive skills, linguistic skills, and social & emotional skills?
  • You can start focusing on all these skills from the time your love comes into this world. These skills are truly important in guiding your love to reach certain milestones.
• When should I start tummy time?
  • Tummy time can be started as soon as your love is born. If you are a nursing mom, you may have done skin to skin with your love while nursing your precious love for the very first time. During that moment you may not be thinking about tummy time, but skin to skin is a great tummy time starter.
• How do I encourage my love to grasp?
  • Around 4- 6 months you may notice that your love may show interest in small items. Providing safe items with different textures is a great way to help your love practice the concept of grasping. For example, the Lamaze Freddie The Firefly toy has many intricate pieces, perfect for your love’s growing hands, which I believe helps promote grasping skills.
• How do I trust and/or engage my older love(s) with my baby?
  • I am pretty sure that your older precious love(s) has shown some interest in helping you with taking care of the baby. What has worked for me is talking to my older daughter and asking her if she trusts herself to help change her brother’s diaper or hold him to rock him with my help. Once we explore the meaning of trust, she feels very confident in being the best helper and her brother’s favorite person.
• How do I know how often I should nurse/bottle feed my love?
  • In general, babies have to get fed every 2 – 3 hours. During the first few weeks of your love’s life, he/she will cluster feed (every hour). As your love grows, you will notice that he/she will transition to feeding every 2-3 hours. As a tired mommy, 2-3 hours will seem like 2 minutes. An app that helped me tremendously with my 4-year-old (when she was a newborn and infant) and now my 7-month-old son is Baby Nursing. This app is my saving grace!

The Last Thing You Need to Know about Early Childhood Development

• Speaking from a mommy’s perspective and a former early childhood educator, I know for sure parenting is challenging, but always remember that your guidance is very special and important to your love.
• If you are a parent who wants to grow with your love during their developmental stages, please join  me on this precious journey. Also, If you liked this blog post, I would love to hear from you. Please share this post with your friends and family!