Your Baby and You: Week Fifty
YOUR BABY
Physical Development: Gaining independence
Your baby may now be able to stand independently, but when it comes to pulling up, cruising, standing and walking there is a wide variation in terms of when babies achieve these milestones. If they are able to stand now, without the aid of any furniture to hold on to, then walking is the next step, so to speak!
Behavioural Development: Biting
It sounds very animalistic, nasty even, but biting is actually a very common behaviour in many babies at this age - and not a malicious one. Most biting is the result of frustration, pain (perhaps due to teething), excitement, and even just curiosity (they are looking to get a reaction).
- Try to remove or soothe key triggers to avoid biting happening in the first place
- Tell your baby firmly 'We don't bite' when it happens, and then remove them from the situation
- It may help to suggest 'No, we don't bite, we cuddle, like this'. Praise your baby for joining in with the cuddle, to encourage affectionate behaviour
- Do not bite them back, no matter how gently. This idea of teaching them a lesson is ill-founded. They are too young to understand that they are causing you pain, no matter if your bite hurts them. All they are learning is that adults bite too - so it must be OK
Speech & Communication: Using more sounds
Words may still not be clearly perceptible, but the sounds your baby is making should be becoming more pronounced and be beginning to sound like words. You may also find that your baby is using particular gestures in order to communicate certain things with you - this will be especially apparent if you have been teaching your baby how to sign.
Feeding: Letting them do it themselves
By now your baby should be able to feed herself to some extent. This will depend largely on the approach you have taken to weaning, so if you followed a baby-led weaning take on feeding her then your little one may now be quite accomplished with feeding herself. If, however, your baby has had fewer opportunities to do it for herself then she might be a little less successful when it comes to getting the food straight in her mouth. It can be messy, but remember that self-feeding is an important part of their development.
Feeding Tip: Don't disguise it
Resist the urge to disguise food by always mashing it, grating it, or chopping it up into small pieces. You may even be doing it unintentionally. Make sure that your baby has enough opportunities to learn what different foods look like, feel like and taste like when presented individually. The old fashioned approach to meals with meat and 2 veg is simple to prepare, healthy and educational too!
Care Advice: Monitoring your baby's sleep
The recommendation for sleep at this age is a total of 14 hours a day. The NHS recommends that this is broken out into approximately 11.5 hours at night, and 2.5 hours during the day. Of course all babies are different, but if your baby is getting significantly less than is, or if they are showing signs of persistent tiredness then it is worth reviewing your routine to see whether you can encourage them to sleep more.
Common illnesses and ailments: Head injuries
As your baby becomes more mobile, particularly once they begin to pull up, or take their first tentative steps, injuries are sometimes inevitable. It is important that you do all you can to make sure that your baby cannot fall onto sharp objects, corners or down steps - see our baby safety section for more information on this. However, if your baby does fall and bang their head, here are some key tips for treating the bump:
- Call 999 immediately if your child loses consciousness or has a seizure after the fall
- Treat swellings to the head with a cold compress
- If they are conscious, monitor your baby for 24 hours, for signs of any injury to the brain such as:
- Pale or blue skin
- Changes to their breathing - particularly while asleep
- Twitching on one side of their body
- A change in their usual coordination or balance (at this age it may be evident in the way in which they crawl)
- Crossed eyes or uneven pupils
- Blood or any watery fluid coming from their ear Persistent vomiting (vomiting immediately after the incident may just be a reaction to the distress, but still call your doctor if you are concerned about your baby's symptoms)
If your instincts tell you that something isn't quite right with your baby, you should seek further advice from your GP.
THINGS TO DO WITH YOUR BABY THIS WEEK
Entertainment: Get out the oats & sand!
Whatever the weather is doing outside, there is still scope for messy play inside! Babies love to experiment with the texture and movement of materials such as sand and oats, dried lentils and pasta are also interesting for them. Your child will need supervision, of course, to ensure that they aren't eating their play stuff - particularly the sand! But they will love pouring, scooping, stiring and piling as they play - give them spoons, funnels and little containers to make the play even more interesting.
Activities: Is it OK to use my smartphone or tablet to entertain my baby?
In general, most experts and paediatricians agree that screen time be that on any device, is good for a child of this age. Resorting to electronic devices is something that many parents do, because it is easy (we nearly always have our phones to hand) and effective (it is practically guaranteed to keep them quiet for short bursts of time). However, despite the number of apps and programs marketed to all parents as being educational for babies, there is little evidence that they are of any benefit to their development, and they may even be detrimental. There are lots of other ticks that you can have up your sleeve for those occasions where you need to keep them entertained whilst you make a phone call, finish getting ready for work or tackle the supermarket shop. Here are some ideas:
- Keep a small box or bag of interesting objects in your room (anything from spoons to bangles) that you can pull out when you need them to sit quietly with you in the morning
- Keep a small pouch of toys attached to the buggy to entertain them with when you're out and about - change these toys regularly to keep your baby interested
- Have a CD of their favourite nursery rhymes, put it on regularly and go through the actions with them so that they become very familiar with it. Then use it in the car, or around the home to engage them when you need to get a few things done. Audio CDs are more beneficial for babies than DVDs or TV because they promote greater use of their imagination and often more interaction.
- Invest in a toy that has lots to keep little fingers busy, but that is easy to strap on to a high chair, buggy or car seat when you need to. There are lots of soft toys available with different textures and noises that can keep babies entertained for long periods of time.
ALL ABOUT YOU THIS WEEK
Your Relationships: Plan a date
Book a sitter and plan something different to do. Book tickets to a comedy show, go and see a play or a concert together, or get tickets to go on the London Eye or up the Shard if you can get to London - or find something else new to do in your nearest big city.
Things to do: Have lunch with an old colleague
If you are returning to work soon, it can be daunting for a number of reasons. Visiting your place of work beforehand is a good idea - especially to meet with your boss to discuss changes that have occurred since you have been off. However, it is also useful to have a catch up with any old friends at your work, they can fill you in on what might be seen as the 'less professional' news that you've missed out on, i.e. the gossip! Meeting old friends from work can really help to make you feel more confident about returning to your job.
