Enhancing Your Baby's Brain Development

As a parent, you feel the weight of the responsibility for your child. Their medical, social, mental, physical and emotional development is solely in your hands, and for those who are first timers at the joy of parenting, this can be a daunting task. Here are some tips for developing your baby's brain that will be a good starting point and springboard for your daily activities with your baby. Enjoy!

Have meaningful discussions with your baby

When they coo and gurgle at you, reply with words and sentences, albeit at a slower speed than you would with others in your life. Use a higher pitched voice and slowly enunciate your syllables. This is called the art of "parentese" and will help your baby find language enjoyable and engaging.

Stress the importance of books

Select books that have large print, vibrant colors and engaging images. Read the book to your baby making noises for the animals or vehicles on the page. Point with excitement. Be animated. Show your baby that books are exciting.

Choose brain stimulating toys

Select brain stimulating toys for your baby that allows them to interact and explore. Toys such as building blocks teaches your baby the "if-then" reasoning and the relationship of cause and effect. If they stack too many big blocks on top of a small one, then it will topple. This allows your baby to "key in" the information to their brain.

Learning to sort and categorize

When it is time to clean up, ask your baby to help you pack up their toys. This is an excellent way they can learn about categorizing various shapes and colors. They will learn that their bed time toys have a storage space that is different from their vehicle toys or stacking blocks. You may want to take it a step further and have different baskets for different colors. Rather than save the activity for clean up time, you can play sorting colors as a game. Assist them in selecting the correct basket and praise them well when they have selected the correct choice.

Ensure a healthy diet

For your baby's brain to develop properly and to function well, it needs essential nutrients, vitamins and minerals. Mother's milk has everything a baby needs, but if your baby has been weaned already or has started on solids and nurses less, be sure to look for alternate ways to supplement your baby's diet, especially if they are picky eaters.

Sing to your baby

Music is a universal language and it can cross the barrier from your language, to your baby's. Sing upbeat songs to your baby such as those they will learn in kindergarten so they become familiar with the lyrics and tunes. Many kindy tunes come with hand and finger motions that your baby will love. It will also aid them in recognizing the tempo, rhyme, rhythm and language pattern of the way you communicate in song.