8 Ideas on How to Play With Your 0-3 Month Old Baby
For the most part, newborn are not very exciting. They sleep, they eat, they require a diaper change, and then they sleep again. For parents this can be a difficult time because you are exhausted and your baby is not at an age where they can yet interact with you.
However, here are a few ideas of ways that you can play with your baby that will not only help you bond but it will also help their development.
♦ Dangle objects over your infant that they can practice batting at. Objects that will get their attention will work best for example ones that make noise or change colors. This activity will help improve your baby’s hand-eye coordination.
♦ Babies love things that make noise! Noisy rattles and shaker toys are a favorite at this age. Look for them in different colors, textures, and shapes. Give them to your baby when they are on their tummy to encourage them to try to reach for the objects. Give them to him or her when they are on their back so that they can better explore them.
♦ When your baby is having tummy time you can place mirrors, or pictures in front of them to encourage them to hold their heads up to look at the items.
♦ Help your baby develop the ability to visually track an item by taking a large object like a balloon, stuffed animal, or picture and move it in different directions in front of your baby. Keep in mind that your infant at this age can only see about 20-30 cm away from his or her eyes, so keep the object pretty close.
♦ Babies at this age are not mobile at all so you can help your infant build motor skills by moving their arms and legs for them. For example, you can lay your baby on their back and then gently help your baby make bicycle legs, kicks, and other various motions. You can do the same things with their arms… just remember to be gentle.
♦ Place pictures on the sides of your baby’s crib or bassinet to give them something to look at our focus on when they are laying down. You can also put them near the changing table to give them an interesting object to study while you clean them up.
♦ Playfully rubbing your baby’s body with lotion is another great way to help them develop and bond with them.
♦ Talking and singing to your baby is a great way to bond and to teach them early verbal skills too.
“These are just a few of the many ways that you can play with an infant. Remember that the bonds that you make at this time will only grow and strengthen as your child does. Soon they will be doing much more and able to interact with you much more… but for today, enjoy this precious time because they grow up so very fast.”
If you've enjoyed reading this post then please subscribe to our Full Text RSS Feed. And if you just can't get enough of us, feel free to follow LittleStarZone on Twitter or join the Facebook group "Fans of littlestarzone.com".
Related Posts
- 5 Ideas on How to Play With Your 4-8 Month Old Baby
- How to Establish a Better Baby Sleep Schedule
- The 411 on Creating Your Baby Registry, Part Two
- How a Bowling Birthday Party Really “Bowled Me Over”
- 5 Ideas to Help Kids Keep in Touch With Family Members Far Away
