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Day One: A Positive Beginning for Parents and Their Infants
Welcome to an overview of New Horizons for Learning's Day One: A Positive Beginning for Parents and their Infants. Day One is a video teaching program designed to answer the questions of new parents and caregivers about giving children the best start in life.
Contents
Congratulations!
You have a new baby! Even though he or she may seem delicate and fragile now, this is a whole, capable human being with abilities, senses that really work, emotions, and a unique personality.
Knowing how to parent doesn't happen magically when your baby is born. Good parenting is something you learn.
The suggestions in this preview are a starting point for learning about parenting your new baby. As you learn more about your baby, your parenting skills will grow.
To understand what you see your baby doing, it is important to be aware of the mental development that is going on during the important first year of life.
Your baby has all the neurons or nerve cells he or she will ever have right now, but during the first year of life there is more rapid growth of connections between those cells than there will ever be again.
These connections make it possible to think and learn.
Research proves that a loving, nurturing, and stimulating environment encourages the growth of these connections and lays the foundations for healthy physical, emotional, and mental development.
Three things are crucial to this spectacular growth and development: love, good nutrition, and stimulation of the senses in a relaxed, playful manner which is responsive to your baby.
Your newborn is capable of learning from day one. Babies learn by using their senses to explore and gather information about the world. The more encouragement and loving attention they receive, the more they learn.
Communicating-- Alert Times
Alert times are the times when playing and interacting with your baby will be the most fun and the most successful in terms of encouraging healthy development. Mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers, and other people in your baby's life can all join in.
Your baby's alert times will be very short at first. They may only last 4 to 10 seconds, but much learning can take place in that short time.
Your baby will show you signs of alertness by:
- Turning the head towards you
- Relaxing or stretching forward fingers and toes
- Reducing body activity
- Relaxing abdomen
- Breathing and sucking rates ease
- Opening eyes wide
Your baby will also tell you when it is time for peace and quiet by:
- Turning away
- Closing the eyes
- Becoming quiet or fussing and crying
Take your cues for active times and quiet times from your baby! By careful observation, you will learn to understand your baby's communications of needs for cuddling, food, changing, sleep, or play.
All of the senses are active at birth. Following is information about what newborns can do and activities that can help them to develop. Remember not to overdo! The key is not how much you do but what you do, in a relaxed, responsive manner.
The Senses-- Sight
Your baby:
- Is sensitive to harsh bright light
- Sees better in dim light for the first few months
- Can focus on objects within 13 inches
- Can track moving objects
- Can focus eyes from one object to another
- Prefers, and sees more easily, highly contrasting colors, especially black and white or red and white
- Loves to look at human faces
Suggestions:
- Offer your baby interesting patterns to look at, such as a smiling face drawn on a paper plate, or pillows made up of checkerboard or bulls eye patterns
- Take your baby to interesting places where there are colorful things to see
- Occasionally change pictures or posters in the room
- Look at colorful picture books together
The Senses-- Smell and Taste
Your baby:
- Has a well-developed sense of smell and taste
- Can tell the difference between sweet, sour, and bitter
- Will begin to suck at the smell of breast milk or formula
Suggestions:
Because of the possibility of allergic reactions, it is best to check with your doctor before allowing your baby to taste foods.
- Bring baby into the kitchen while you prepare meals
The Senses-- Hearing
Your baby:
- Likes to be held on the left side of your body to hear your heartbeat
Suggestions:
The Senses-- Touch
Your baby:
Suggestions:
- Most babies enjoy gentle massage
The Senses-- Movement
Your baby:
Suggestions:
What to Expect
All babies eat, sleep, cry and smile, but each one does so differently. Here is some information about what to expect when you and your baby are home:
Most newborns love to eat. They'll do so 6 to 10 times a day and probably at least twice a night. Be sure to hold your baby during feeding, as it enhances the bonding between you and stimulates all the senses. Sucking instincts are strongest during the first three months, so your baby may also suck thumb, fingers, or pacifier.
Newborns vary widely in their sleeping patterns. During the first few weeks of life, some will sleep as little as 9 hours a day; others as much as 18 hours a day. Remember that new babies don't sleep in one long block the way we do. They will nap, averaging 6 to 8 sleep periods in 24 hours.
All babies cry. Some cry more, some less. It is a powerful way to communicate, and the most important thing you can do when your baby cries is to respond. Responding builds trust and confidence.
Smiling is another, effective way for babies to communicate. Smile back at your baby and you will be building bonds of trust and affection. Whether crying or laughing, your baby is communicating. Your repeated, positive responses offer assurance of safety and security, which are important for healthy development.Your Unique Baby
Every new baby is as individual as a snowflake. Babies are born with unique temperament traits which will give you clues about how they will respond to those around them and to their world. They vary in
You, the Teacher
Because you are your baby's first teacher, you are very important! You introduce your baby to the world. You help create attitudes of learning, loving, and trust. Your baby is also an effective teacher, who can help you learn to understand his or her need s and how best to respond to them. Learning from each other will create an important bond for life. The whole world is your baby's classroom. Everything your baby sees, touches, hears, smells, tastes, and does teaches a lesson in living. The lessons are everywhere, and they have their greatest impact during the first year of life. You can enrich your baby's environment by providing a variety of experiences in warm, gentle, playful ways. These need not be expensive, complicated, or time-consuming. The suggestions we offer in this overview are easy to do and fun to share with your baby. Try them and see!
All parents want their child to be bright, happy, healthy, and whole. Your loving interactions with your baby lay the foundations for learning that will last a lifetime. These foundations include trust, self esteem, intelligence, curiosity, creativity end love. You are extremely important to your baby! The activities you foster are those your baby will learn. The traits you model are those your baby will imitate. As a parent you are the center of your child's universe. If that center is healthy and happy, your child will have a greater opportunity for a healthy and happy life, from Day One.
Resources
You will probably wish to know about other sources of information as your child develops. Please go to Resources From Day One for suggested reading and links.
Copyright © 1996 New Horizons for Learning, all rights reserved.
More information on Day One: A Positive Beginning for Parents and Their Infants
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