Enhance Your Baby's Brain Development Using Easy Parenting Tips
The human brain contains 100 billion nerve cells, which are all present at birth but have few connections between them. Babies' brains develop by forming a complex network of these cells.
According to research, there are specific types of experiences you may provide your kid in order to foster long-term bonds. And the good news is that they're all simple to implement.
Your baby's brain develops swiftly until he or she is roughly three years old. During this vital period, parents can do a variety of activities to encourage healthy baby development, including favorable brain development.
Did you know that play is the most crucial way you can interact with your child? Building your baby's brain may sound intimidating, but don't be. Parenting is an art rather than a science.
Get to know your child
The most crucial thing that any parent can do to assist their child's development, particularly their child's brain development, is to be able to interpret their child's cues. This allows you to engage in what we call "serve and return" contact, which is a type of responsive parenting.
A baby provides a grin, a coo, a babble, or a gesture, and the parent or caregiver responds with something related to what the baby just performed. Baby makes a sound, and you respond with the same sound. When a baby gestures to something, you point to yourself. It is reciprocal. It can be started by the baby. It can be started by the parent.
All of the critical learning occurs in the context of play for very young children. Exploration is achieved through play. Playing means trying new things. Play is discovering that when you do one thing, another thing happens. Play aims to foster a sense of mastery over the universe. Much of this is accomplished by creating a safe environment that also gives opportunity for learning.
Why are a child's early years so important for brain development?
The early years are critical because young children's experiences and relationships with important individuals in their lives literally impact the formation of their brain.
And that early foundation influences all subsequent learning, behavior, and physical and mental health over a lifetime. The importance of the early years cannot be overstated.
Here are five parenting tips To Enhance Your baby's brain development.
1. Let's talk about nutrition.
Babies require nutritional foods to help their brains develop, but you don't need a cookbook to feed your baby well. All you need is a fundamental understanding of baby growth milestones and some healthy dietary suggestions.
Six Months of a Baby
It's all about a nutritious liquid diet for the first 6 months. Breastmilk, formula, or both can be used. Wait until your infant can sit straight with help, which is usually between 4 and 6 months.
If you are unable to breastfeed or are not producing enough milk for your baby, don't feel awful. Lactation consultants can assist mothers who are having difficulty breastfeeding, and the service is frequently reimbursed by insurance. You can also look for breastmilk banks in your city or town that provide donated breastmilk.
If you're going to use a formula, make sure it's iron-fortified. Iron is required for optimal red blood cell development in babies. Many newborns suffer from anemia during their first few months of life because their bodies are growing faster than they can manufacture red blood cells. Red blood cells transport oxygen to the brain, organs, and muscles. Babies with anemia are less energetic and cranky. Iron-fortified formulations can be beneficial.
6 Month Marker
When baby hits the 6 month mark, it's time to start introducing solid foods. This includes "baby food" or easy-to-chew foods. Healthy foods like puréed berries, beans, veggies, and meats can help baby's brain flourish. A purée (or mash) is a semi-liquid paste made from cooked food, such as applesauce or hummus. You can buy pre-pureed baby foods or mash and combine fruits and vegetables like bananas, avocados, and sweet potatoes yourself.
7 Month Marker
Beginning at 7 months, introduce more textures, such as soft carrot slices.
12 Month Marker
Start substituting puréed foods with solids once your kid gets teeth. This normally happens around the 12-month mark.
2. Low Lights When Awake
A newborn's eyes take a few weeks to acclimatize to more intense light after 9 months in the low light of the womb. When awake and in dim light, infants will open their eyes and glance around the room for a few moments. This early staring helps them practice using both eyes together (it's normal for a newborn's eyes to not stare in the same direction) and also works their pupillary reflex, which causes the pupil to dilate or constrict depending on the amount of light. By gradually adjusting the intensity of the light, you can aid in the development of your baby's brain-eye connection (avoid strong lights, such as direct sun). When your infant is awake, you can use a dimmer switch, a low bulb, or curtains.
It's unpleasant talking to someone who doesn't respond, but the evidence is clear: there's a direct relationship between a child's IQ and the quantity of words spoken to them. Your infant is continuously listening to the intonation, rhythm, and patterns of your voice during the first few months. Even though they can't understand what you're saying right now, their brain is creating the basis for language acquisition.
Some tips for talking to your baby:
Try the reading position shown above — your baby will be more interested in the book you're reading if they can see your face as well! This position also allows you to use your legs to support ungainly, slumpy small bodies.
Talk to your infant about what you're doing together — just tell him or her about your day. Talk face to face during the time change.
Make eye contact with them and react to their cues. Talk back if they begin to coo or vocalize. Communication that involves "serve and return" is a well-studied aspect of a child's brain development.
Speak in the slower, higher-pitched, that comes easily when conversing with babies. Babies are hardwired to hear higher tones and learn more from the stretched-out vowels of "baby speak."
Sing to your baby (singing-song voice), even if you don't think you have a good voice; your baby will appreciate it since it's you. Singing is more appealing to babies than talking.
4. Games can help your baby's cognitive development.
It's all about interaction with very young babies in infancy, bringing in pictures and noises, looking your baby in the eyes, building that personal connection, and being attentive to your baby's feelings.
The best games foster an emotional safety that allows for growth. Your baby is learning when you hide your face with a cloth and play peekaboo, saying "Where's baby, oh here's baby." Why does the infant still laugh every time you do this? The first is the human interaction, which is really satisfying. Second, the baby is grasping the idea of objects disappearing and reappearing and recognizing that they still exist.
5.Skin-to-skin contact
Skin-on-skin time can be inconvenient at times, but it's always worthwhile. It provides numerous advantages to your kid, including enhanced digestion, temperature management, weight gain, higher immunity, greater sleep, and even brain growth. There are many advantages for parents: When you and your baby have direct skin contact, feel-good hormones are released.
Related: The Healthy Total Water Intake For Our Bodies (Keep hydrated)
In Conclusion
Have fun with your baby.
Play might happen when you are feeding a child, changing the child's clothes, or bathing a youngster. These are all opportunities for adults and children to interact and learn via play. Make the concept of serve and return' straightforward, welcoming, and enjoyable, rather than a duty or anything extremely technical or rigorous.
When you return your baby's smile, don't stop there; utilize it as an opportunity to begin playing. Remember, you're assisting in the formation of brain connections during these times!
Serving and returning may not always work the first time you try it. However, the more you play, the easier it becomes.
