As your arrival into this world got closer, I began making my rounds. I got together with aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, and anyone else I could think of to reminisce about all the fun times. I had convinced myself that once you came, being the mother of two children would drive me to boarding up the windows and becoming a recluse. We would be a very happy family, just pale and sensitive to the light. But as it turns out, adding another child was more difficult, but it became the norm very quickly, and we did eventually leave the house – mostly for nipple cream and Motrin, but we made it out nonetheless.

But it hasn’t been without a few hiccups.

You are only 11 months old, and I have already raised you nothing like how I raised your brother to that age. This is why I decided to go ahead with the apology letter now so that perhaps later on in life you will know that, if nothing else, at least I’m aware. So please read the following and remember that mommy loves you.

I’m sorry I dropped you – I did. Honest to God, I dropped you, and this one was a toughie to get over. You were sleeping on my chest in my bed and just rolled off. Splat. I think I was more damaged than you though. You cried for a few minutes and then started smiling. I was convinced at that point serious damage had been done. In my defence, it was a crowded bed. There was your dad, and then your brother crawled in and pushed me to the edge. And remember, I was exhausted from staying up all night nursing you and holding you. Don’t forget that part. I thought about having a specialty cliff diving suit made for you. You know, the one that makes you look like a flying squirrel. But instead we just decided to invest in a bigger bed.

I’m sorry I don’t know any facts about you – Your brother’s baby book contains so much information about his first year, he could look back to discover every time he farted. I was on him like a crazy woman. “Oh, did you see that. His lip went up like Elvis. Oh my God, so cute. What’s today’s date? What time is it?” “Oh my God! All his toes wiggled at the same time. What’s today’s date?” And just today, I turned the corner after your brother calls me to, “help wipe the poop off his butt,” and there you are. You’re standing up, holding the Swiffer, which is somehow helping you to balance. Wow. You are already a tightrope walker and I had no idea. When you open your baby book to reminisce when you’re older, it will read, “Place photo here”, and you will know that mommy didn’t have time to write down silly stats. I was too busy loving on you. And wiping your brother’s butt.

I’m sorry I let your brother pee near you – I’m lying. He did pee on you in the bathtub. Specifically on your arm. Perhaps some remnants of spray may have landed on your face, but mostly your arm. In fact, I’m sorry your brother does bad things to you daily. It’s not so much he’s mean, but he literally acts like you don’t exist. If you’re crawling in his path, he will run right into you until you topple over. If you have something in your hands, he walks by without hesitation and takes if from you. But you laugh at everything he does and you follow him everywhere he goes despite his abuse. I correct him every time, and I make him give you hugs and kisses but right now it’s just not in the cards. One day, you will be great friends. But right now, I just have to help you get back at him because you haven’t grown into your deviant side yet. When we get your brother an icy pop, you lick all over it first before I hand it to him. It would make him crazy if he knew that.  Also, when he’s at school, I let you play in his room. And when he asks why his train tracks are messed up, I blame it on an earthquake. It’s our little secret, buddy.

I’m sorry you look like a candidate for “What Not To Wear,” baby edition – Your brother had all brand new super cute clothes, and you wear mostly his hand-me-downs, so that’s why it’s hard for me to figure out why you are always so dishevelled. Getting two children ready to go somewhere is like participating in a five km scavenger hunt. But we reach our destination, sometimes a little late, and then your brother runs off to cause chaos, and I look down at you as I take a breath only to discover in shock that you are wearing a very interesting get up, and you have what appears to be a 5 o’clock shadow on your face from the food I forgot to wipe off at lunch. If “hobo baby” becomes a trend, you will definitely qualify as the setter. But I think this is a good lesson for you. You may look back and wonder why every outfit you were wearing is covered in dried up food. But it’s not the clothes that make the boy. It’s all about the attitude, and you seem very happy.

I’m sorry I don’t love you less – I know as you get older, mean people will try to tell you that the second child is loved less. That there is no way you can love another one as much as the first. Well, I’m sorry to say that’s a lie. And as you continue to grow, you will hear more and more of them. They say, “A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes.” From the second the doctor placed you on my chest, I have never been more sure of anything in my life. It is possible to love so much it hurts, over and over and over again. I would give my life for you and your brother without hesitation. I will love you just as much as I love him for eternity. Don’t you ever believe anything other than that. I may have accidentally dropped you a few times, forgotten to document your first fart, let a little pee fly, and dressed you like an idiot, but I have also loved you with every piece of me, and you will never hear an apology for that.

With all the love in my heart,

Mom

The post An apology letter to my second child appeared first on All4Baby.

Physical-motor development activities

• Allow your baby to draw large circles, using texture elements such as shaving cream, jelly, tomato sauce, etc. Let them draw lines right across the tray from top to bottom, diagonally and horizontally in both directions, using each hand respectively.
  

  © blessings

• Use stickers and place them on the baby’s clothing and allow him or her to remove the stickers.
• Use clothes pegs and place them on your baby’s clothing, and they will need to remove the pegs.
• Allow your baby to climb over objects, up and down stairs and manoeuvre in whichever way they’d like. Let him explore, and use his body to stretch and manoeuvre himself.
• Sing rhymes and songs with your baby which will encourage movement as well as awareness of body parts.
• While playing with your baby, colours and crayons can be strategically placed so that he or she needs to stretch and move.
• Encourage your baby to kick a ball and throw and catch a big ball.

Social-emotional development activities

• Help your baby to develop problem-solving and decision-making skills.
• Avoid comments that are judgmental and instead, frame them in more positive terms.
• Encourage your baby in all that they do – let them know that you believe in them.
• Identify and highlight your child’s strengths.
• Provide opportunities for children to help around the house.
• Give children the opportunity to interact with children their age and with adults.
• Teach manners and respect.

Play development activities

• Allow children to play with toys and blocks, it is a great way of enhancing eye-hand co-ordination
• Puzzles are a fantastic aid in improving eye-hand coordination because children use their hands and fingers as a result of what is seen. This concept will serve well for children during their early maths, writing and reading practices.
• Beanbag game for eye-hand coordination is an excellent option, wherein children use their muscle power to move a series of beanbags. Beanbags can also be used to throw into a hoop, carry on their head, catching, etc.
• Interlocking building blocks are great ways to play while building fine motor skills and strengthening manual dexterity.
• Allow your baby to develop a sense of creativity and critical thinking skills by allowing the child to merely play, role-play, experience and explore their apparatus and environment.

Cognitive development activities

© Monkey Business

• Give your baby objects which can be used for imaginary play. This will aid their creative thinking skills.
• Allow your baby to build towers with bricks of wood.
• Encourage children to take part in household tasks, such as sweeping, cleaning, cooking, etc. This will give them a sense of purpose, as well as teach life-skills.
• Do not use baby words for objects. Call objects by the correct name.
• Action songs and rhymes, play and sing action songs and rhymes with your baby.
• Teach your baby the sounds associated with familiar animals and objects e.g a clock ticks, a sheep says b-a-a etc.
• Match shapes into the correct opening in a tub.
• Match objects, shapes and pictures with their pair.

Language and speech development activities

• Talk to your baby throughout the day – say the names of all the objects that you come into contact with.
• Introduce the child to names of shapes and colours. When you are explaining an 0bject say what shape it is, and the colour of the object. This will make the child aware of the words, and begin the learning process.
• Read stories to your baby – the more books a child is exposed to, the more their vocabulary will increase and the more they will understand.
• Allow your child to ‘read’ through the book in their own made-up language.
• Blowing Bubbles as this strengthens the mouth muscles in preparation for speaking.
• Allow your child to listen to a wide range of different types of music and develop music appreciation.
• Play and sing action songs and rhymes with your baby

That’s the WHAT and WHY. For the HOW, contact [email protected].

About the Author: Dr. Lauren Stretch is the founder of Early Inspiration, an organisation which aims to enhance the development of young children in South Africa through practitioner training and home interventions. She is one of the youngest PhD graduates in the country, and has completed her studies in the effectiveness of pre-school teachers, particularly in underprivileged settings, at the University of South Africa (UniSA).

The post Your baby at 12 months: Activities to support development appeared first on All4Baby.

Child and sleep expert, Dana Obleman (http://www.sleepsense.net), looks at the ideal time to take your baby or toddler’s pacifier away at bedtime in this YouTube vide.

The post Video: When should you take your baby’s pacifier away? appeared first on All4Baby.

As your child’s nervous system matures with age, so does their capacity to cope with sensory stimulation in their ‘awake’ time.

Here is a guideline of approximate ‘awake’ times before ‘stress’ levels are reached:

0 to 6 weeks            :                40 to 60 minutes

6 to 12 weeks          :                60 to 80 minutes

3 to 6 months         :                1 ½ hours

6 to 9 months         :                2 hours

9 to 12 months       :                2 ½ hours

1 to 2 years              :                3 to 3 ½ hours

2 to 3 years              :                4 to 5 hours

3 to 5 years              :                5 to 7 hours

Parents of children that don’t sleep often think that by simply keeping them awake all day, will ensure that they will sleep all night long. Nothing could be further from the truth. Sleep makes sleep – that is for sure!

The post Healthy sleep cycles for your baby and toddler appeared first on All4Baby.

Iron

Babies are born with a store of iron that only lasts for about six months. After this period it is very important to make sure they get the iron they need from their food. Plenty of iron is vital for red blood cells, building muscles, brain cells, cartilage and other connective tissues. We know from research that iron deficiency can cause tiredness and poor concentration, leading to problems with learning and co-ordination.

Zinc

Zinc gives the immune system a boost and helps cells grow and repair themselves. Superfood quinoa contains zinc but it can also be found in meat, fish, eggs, peas and beans – although there is often no way of telling whether your baby is getting enough, so make sure they get a good balance of all these foods.

Vitamin A, B, C & K

Vitamin A doesn’t just help to develop eyesight; it also helps your baby fight off viral infections. Ensure a good balanced diet of Vitamin A-rich foods like meat, fish, eggs, milk, and cheese.

Vitamin B

B vitamins, including folic acid, enhance the immune and nervous systems, maintain healthy skin and muscle tone, promote cell growth, and regulate metabolism. These are found in meat, whole grains, potatoes and bananas.

Vitamin C

As well as helping us fight off germs, Vitamin C also plays a supporting role, helping our bodies absorb iron and calcium.

Vitamin D

Vitamin D’s important functions include boosting calcium absorption, so it’s vital for strong, healthy bones. Our bodies can produce it when we’re exposed to sunlight.

Vitamin E

Vitamin E is hugely important. It protects and develops the body’s cells, is an important antioxidant, protects against UV damage, boosts cell growth, and helps the nervous system develop. You can find Vitamin E in nuts, seeds, green veg, and vegetable-based oils.

Vitamin K

Vitamin K is not a made-up vitamin like so many of us believe. It helps with blood clotting, and protects against fractures and even some cancers.

To download the “Nutrients Babies Really Need” printable, click here. We hope that makes it easier to understand, because the more you know about what goes into your baby’s body, the more you’ll understand just how beneficial informed weaning can be for you and your baby.

The post What nutrients does your baby really need? appeared first on All4Baby.

The post Video: What to do when your baby wakes in the night appeared first on All4Baby.

Depth perception

A good way for your newborn to start learning is by moving interesting objects into their field of vision. And, when your baby’s vision gets a little less ‘blurry’, you should also occasionally pick up toys and move them around while your little one is watching. This will teach your baby to focus on moving objects and help them develop their depth perception.

Let your baby use their mouths

Now, as much as you might want to, try not to stop your baby from putting things into their mouth. At this age it’s one of the few ways they have to explore and learn about the objects around them. But that being said, always remember to keep an eye on your little one. And never ever let them play with anything with which they might accidentally hurt themselves.

Don’t overstimulate

As cute and as little as they are, keep in mind that at this stage your baby can easily be overstimulated. They’re also most likely quite sensitive to bright light and loud noise, so try to avoid these as much as possible when encouraging your newborn’s stimulation.

Help them explore

Every day is just another chance for your toddler to explore! So it’s really important to make sure that your little one’s toys are always within reach and that everything around them is neat and tidy so they can find their toys easily too.

Importance of reading

Try to read a little to your child every day as this will help them to develop auditory perceptual skills. Just remember to choose age-appropriate books and pick a time when your baby is feeling calm and relaxed. This will ensure that they can really get the greatest benefit from this activity. And, if you find that the story is too long, simply describe the pictures to your tiny tot instead of reading it all.

Let them find their toys

As tempting as it may be, don’t simply hand over toys to your poppet to play with. Instead, allow them to look for and discover their toys all on their own. By encouraging your little one to look for something themselves you’re giving them the chance to hone their visual perception skills. And it’ll keep them busy for a short while too!

Visit www.mysmartkid.com or www.myslimkind.com, or call 0861 555 224 for more information.

The post Top tips to help your baby broaden their horizons appeared first on All4Baby.

With the days getting longer and the sun getting hotter, it’s time for a wardrobe change!

Clicks launches their exclusive Baby Spring Summer ‘14 clothing line in selected stores from October 2014. With a bright and fresh look, quality fabrics, cute designs and attention to detail, we’ve created a clothing line for babies from 0 – 18 months that moms can trust!

From crisp core body vests to floral dresses; shorts & t-shirts to adorable vest & bib gift sets, we are making dressing kids fun and easy.

Clicks baby clothing is made from 100% cotton and is proudly South African. Clicks baby clothing is available at selected Clicks stores. For more information visit www.clicks.co.za

The post Clicks launches their exclusive Baby clothing line appeared first on All4Baby.

Social-emotional development is also evident; you can gauge this by seeing if they are responsive when spoken to, if they long for encouragement and praise. He or she should also respond to and understand words and sounds and react to an audience and on praise repeat their action. Your baby should also give affection, and they should recognise their family members.

There are no age specific activities to do with a seven-month-old, but there are things you can do between the ages of seven and 12 months:

Physical-motor development activities:

• Aeroplane: it is imperative that the child moves through space. They love this, and its very good for their brain development. Move the child through the air back and forth, left and right, around and around.
• Place your baby on a blanket on the floor – then get other siblings to help move the baby around and around.
• Allow your child to sit in your lap, facing away from you with their legs on your legs. Then lift their one leg up, lean it to one way, roll them over.
• Get your child to spend time on their tummies, and reach for and play with hanging objects.
• Roll your child back and forth,
• When pulling a child up, pull their left hand towards their right knee.
• Wrap a toy in bright coloured paper – allow your child to unwrap this, as it will aid in enhancing fine-motor development as well as excitement and fun!
• Encourage your baby to hold objects, to grip them and keep control over objects. They should be able to clutch toys.

Play development activities:

• Play skittles with objects filled with rice so that it makes a noise. Hold the baby standing up, and help him roll a big ball onto the skittles.
• Play peek-a-boo games, particularly with a favourite toy, or something that makes a noise. Hide half the objects away at first, under a blanket. Rattle it, so that the baby knows its still there. Then reveal it. Do this a few times.
• Any child loves songs, books, rhymes, poems! Use actions, make it fun for the children, and allow them to anticipate the next action. As they get used to the songs, they will be able to anticipate movements.
• Explain body parts, constantly talk to them about parts of their body that they are using, and explain purpose of parts.
• Hide an object under the napkin. This will help teach the child the concept that although he can not see something, it is still there. This develops abstract thinking skills.

Cognitive development activities:

• Texture in the environment: Walk around the house, and take the baby on a texture tour. Allow them to feel the curtains, ornaments, the trees, grass, stones, etc.
• Bubble bath: This is a great sensation for your baby, and at the same time is good for hide and seek games.
• Allow your child to play and explore on his own. They need to be able to learn through experiences, and by giving them the time to do so, is great.
• Have a small bowl with sand in, and get your child to pull the safe objects out from the sand.
• Stickers off clothing: A great way to enhance laterality, crossing the mid-line and bilateral co-ordination.
• Give your child toys, which he can use to make a noise with – tupperware, wooden spoon, pots, drums, blocks, etc.
• Encourage your child by clapping your hands when they do something right. Show them how to clap their hands, and then allow them to do this.

Language and speech development activities:

• Expose your baby to many animal sounds and sounds from the environment – then explain what that noise was. Repetition is key.
• Use material or plastic books, as your baby will surely try and put the book in their mouth. The books should have simple pictures or babies and animals.
• Pulling funny faces and making noises will create an opportunity for the child to begin imitation. This will enhance their social and language development. Activities such as sticking out the tongue, opening the mouth are all good.

These are only but a few suggestions of what you can do with your child to encourage their development both physically and mentally. React to your child, what they enjoy and encourage their participation with you and other family members and close friends.

That’s the WHAT and WHY. For the HOW, contact [email protected].

About the Author: Dr. Lauren Stretch is the founder of Early Inspiration, an organisation which aims to enhance the development of young children in South Africa through practitioner training and home interventions. She is one of the youngest PhD graduates in the country, and has completed her studies in the effectiveness of pre-school teachers, particularly in underprivileged settings, at the University of South Africa (UniSA).

The post Practical activities for your 7 month old baby appeared first on All4Baby.

Secondly, your baby can sometimes have an off day, or week even, due to illness or teething which can lead to loss of appetite or there could be other distractions causing them to show disinterest in food.

As long you follow your baby’s lead and listen to what they are telling you, and, more importantly that they are growing, then we advise not to worry too much and create an emotion with food.

Bumbles™ have created a new Make SuperFoods SuperFun™ printable to help ensure  that your baby is getting the correct amount of nutrients. Their How Much Food printable is easy to follow and is especially for Bumbles™ moms!

Download and follow the simple chart. You may even see that baby’s sleeping pattern will become more predictable and, who knows, you may even find a glimmer of normality returning into your life.

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