What you need to know about the first marvellous year of baby’s life

During this first 12 months, a baby will learn many things. Parents can – and should – participate in this development by stimulating their baby right from the first month onwards.

In the first few days of life, your baby seems to only eat and sleep.  However, very quickly she begins to use all her intellectual potential. Around 3 months old, she already shows what she likes and dislikes using grimaces and smiles.

Around 8 months old, your baby begins to be more strong-willed and quickly starts to crawl in the direction she wants to. Approaching 12 months old, she can pronounce 2 syllable words and knows what she’s talking about. She also perfectly understands simple orders: you can see for yourself through her “innocent" eyes whether she is being cheeky or challenging mummy’s approval, knowing full well that she doesn’t have it.

In short, in a single year, your baby will have significantly expanded her possibilities. She will never again experience such amazing development, even when studying for her doctorate!

Baby’s senses to the ready, already…

According to several researchers, your baby’s senses should be stimulated right from pregnancy. His capacity for learning will be encouraged all the more when it has begun to develop while still a foetus.

During this first year of life, your baby’s senses will help him to discover and explore the world he lives in. At birth, his sense of sight is not completely active; however, his sense of smell is amazing, as is his sense of hearing. From the first minutes of life, your baby is capable of recognising his mother simply by smell, but also familiar sounds - especially voices - that he "heard' while still in the womb.

As for touch, this sense is “perfected” right from the start. During the birth, your baby’s skin was powerfully stimulated. Just contact with air is enough to "awaken” nerve endings and create new sensations essential to development. For example, if you touch your baby’s face, even just lightly, you will immediately activate his instinctive reflex to suckle and he will turn in the direction of your fingertips. 

As soon as your baby is born, he can also distinguish between 4 basic flavours: sweet, salty, bitter and acidic. He will of course prefer sweet tastes (as you would notice if you gave him sugar water). But if at the same time you offer him something acidic, bitter or salty, he will show disapproval by grimacing. His palate is limited, for the time being, to enjoying the flavour of baby milk and it is only after 6 months old, once solids are introduced, that he will have the chance to develop the sense of taste further.

Stimulating baby without overdoing it

There is no more fascinating a task for parents than stimulating their child to meet life’s challenges, exploring the world, and helping her to grow and develop intelligence joyfully, pleasantly and safely. All paediatricians will advise parents not to rush their child; their primary responsibility is to transmit trust and security, two absolutely essential bases for building a happy and balanced adult.

When your baby is over-stimulated, she is also more irritable. This can cause her to miss out some stages of her natural development, which is not healthy. Here’s some advice about what to do – or not to do – with your baby.

• Forcing a 3-month old baby to sit can be dangerous. As it happens, his spine is not yet able to support his weight and in the long term this could cause damage.

• Bright colours and different shapes will awaken your baby’s tactile and visual curiosity. Choose toys that will develop his motor coordination; objects that can be passed from one hand to the other.

• Another thing not to do: hold your child on your lap all the time in the same position.  He’ll get used to it and won’t want to move. The most recommended thing is to put toys on a blanket, place baby on his stomach so he can see the colours and shapes of the different objects. 

• Helping a baby to walk at 7 months old is like forcing nature. Another mistake is putting a baby on a tricycle, for example, before she’s able to control her foot movements. She’ll get to this stage around the age of 15 months, but some parents insist from 8 or 9 months onwards.

• From 8 months onwards, shapes that fit together make a great choice of toy. Letting your baby listen to music is also good. Toys that make several different sounds are excellent early learning tools.  Remember two things: toys should be washable and not hard – so she can put them in her mouth.

Follow the links below to discover what's going on with baby's development, month-by-month, and learn how you can help him along in the right measure.

Laurent Juillet

Copyright © 2010 Doctissimo

Posted 03.02.2011

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