Babies health from birth to six months.

This article is for parents, nurses, midwives and ECE teachers. It focuses on early care and recognition of e developmental stages. In my previous article I have talked about the strength of babies at different ages. That article can be found here. Strength of Babies.

All babies learn to talk by listening to voices and sounds made by their care givers, usually mom, dad or a sibling. Soon your baby will begin to make sounds an to tell you how he/she feels or what he/she likes and dislikes in ways which only you will understand, initially. Babies develop at different rates, so some babies will be able to some things ar a slightly younger age than others. However, most babies must develop most age appropriate skills by appropriate ages. If these developmental signs are not present it may be appropriate to take your baby to be seen by a medical practitioner or a pediatrican.

Picture 1. Baby recognises your face by six months of age.

Caring for very young babies to promote learning and emotional growth is important. Try and do the following: Talk with your baby when you are washing, dressing of feeding him/her. This talking should be in a soft soothing voice. To promote learning at an early age the care givers should also sing songs and Nursery Rhymes. Simple hide and seek games like pik-a-boo are stimulating and should keep a baby engaged for a long time. Colourful picture books are also useful stimulants for a very young child.

Three Month Old babies should be able to:

1. Make noises like, cooos __, & gurgle
2. Turn towards a new sound
3. Smile at you. This indicates that your baby is recognising you.
4. Be reassured at the parents calming voice.
5. Jump/panic/ be shocked at any loud sound.

Six month old babies should be able to:

1. Look at you when you are talking to it.
2. Cries in a different way when hungry, cries differently when he/she has abdominal pain.
3. Should be attempting to make sounds when you are talking to it.
4. Should be able to recognise, and smile at familiar faces. Usually the principal care giver or siblings.
5. By six months of chronological age, your baby should be able to initiate (make) noises to get your attention particularly when hungry or in pain.

Missed milestone mark?

If your baby is more than seven months old and does not smile at you or make incomprehensible sounds then he/she needs to checked out by a peditricain.

By about the age of six months your baby should be able to recognise and to react to your voice or other sounds. If your baby is not doing any of these things. The second milestone which must be present.

Early intervention is important because the optimal learning period is from birth to the age of about five years. Rocongising a difficulty allows early intervention. For example, if the baby is deaf, he/she will not be able to hear therefore will not be able to “cooo”. This deafness may contribute to the child being educationally challenged or educationally subnormal. This term has different implications for different countries. Early diagnosis and treatment of deafness will facilitate normal development of other developmental stages.

Your baby is your biggest investment. He/she will bring you many pleasures which cannot be purchased with money. If the upbringing is not right, he/she may bring you lots of misery.