Baby Week 45

BABY WEEK 45

Becoming her own person

Your baby may now assert herself among her siblings and begin to engage in parallel play contentedly playing alongside (but not with) another baby. Informal baby play dates can be a great way to encourage your little one to develop social skills. Just remember that babies this age are still too young to understand the idea of making friends. Think of these play dates as helping your baby build a foundation to interact with other and she may get new play ideas from these first buddies. A bonus: You'll have some help and support from the other babies' parents.

Time to start setting limits

Your baby now understands simple instructions, though she may purposely choose to ignore you when you say "no." (To help the word carry a little more weight, use it sparingly, for setting important limits.) Even though your baby may not always remember tomorrow what you've said today, it's not too soon to set certain boundaries and start teaching her some important distinctions, like right from wrong and safe from unsafe. Use your best judgment as a guideline. You're not being mean if you don't let her devour a second cupcake, for example you're setting a healthy limit. If she pulls the cat's tail, move her hand, look her in the eye, and say, "No, that hurts the cat." Then guide your baby's hand to pet the animal gently.

Comments are closed.