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Your baby is beginning to explore his world.
Have you noticed how your baby responds to you with smiles and thinks that everything is a game? Or how he sometimes seems shy or afraid? From now on, you’ll find that your baby uses all his senses—sight, sound, taste, smell, and touch—to learn about the world around him.
You can help him explore his world by playing, holding, talking, singing, and spending time with him. What could be more exciting and rewarding than watching your baby develop a personality all his own?
Today, with more mothers working, more fathers are becoming involved in the care of their babies. In some one-parent families, the father is the main caregiver for his child.
There’s no question that fathers can form close relationships with their babies. Fathers can love, guide, teach, and nurture their babies. So how much should you, the father, be a part of your baby’s life? As much as you can!
After four to six months, your baby will be ready to eat solid foods in addition to breast milk or iron-fortified formula.
Increasing numbers of doctors recommend that babies not be given solid food until they are at least 4 months of age, and they prefer that parents wait until 5 or 6 months to begin feeding cereals and other solid foods. The reason: before 4 months, babies do not have full mouth and tongue control and usually push solids out with their tongues. Therefore, semi-liquid, mushy foods should not be given to your baby before she can sit up with support or has some head and neck control. Also, feeding solids too early in life may lead to overeating and obesity. Check with your healthcare provider before beginning solid foods.
After 4 to 6 months, your baby will be ready for other foods in addition to breast milk or iron-fortified formula. Usually an iron-fortified infant cereal is first. Choose a single-ingredient infant cereal such as rice, oatmeal, or barley.
Put a teaspoon of infant cereal in a dish (not in the bottle) and mix it with iron-fortified formula or breast milk. Don’t add sugar, salt, butter, or any seasonings.
For the first few weeks, offer the cereal once or twice a day after breast or bottle feeding. Use a baby-size spoon to feed your baby. Give her just a small taste at first. If she seems interested, give her a few more tastes with the spoon. If she doesn’t like it or pushes the spoon away, wait a few days and then try again. Don’t force your baby to eat. She will accept solids when she is ready.
Try only one new food at a time. For example, if you start with a couple of teaspoons of infant rice cereal, continue for a week before introducing infant oatmeal or infant barley.
The first feedings probably will be messy. Your baby has been only sucking up to now, but she soon will learn how to swallow solids. With a little patience, you can help your baby learn to eat and like different foods. Try to make mealtime pleasant for both of you.
Sometimes a new food can cause diarrhea, a skin rash, or even a runny nose. If you think your baby has an allergy problem, check with your healthcare provider.
Whenever my baby cries, I pick him up. My friend says I’m spoiling him. Is she right?
Most child specialists agree that you are not spoiling your baby when you react promptly to his crying. A baby’s needs are usually immediate. If he is hungry, he wants to be fed. If he is uncomfortable or scared, he wants to be held.
You don’t have to worry about spoiling him. Answering his needs makes him feel safe, loved, and worthwhile.
Not answering his needs and ignoring him may teach him that the world is not to be trusted. The basic need for trust is the foundation for self-discipline. It’s necessary for his growth into a well-adjusted, caring human being.
Your baby needs a lot of love from you—the most important person in the world to him.
This game teaches your baby to use his body and to lift his head and part of his upper body when watching a moving object.
Move objects slowly behind your baby’s head. See if he will move around to find the object.
Does your stomach feel tense? Do you often get headaches? Do your muscles ache? Do you sometimes feel like hitting someone or crying for no reason? These are some of the signs of stress—and you can do something about it.
Everyone goes through stress or strain at one time or another. Stress builds up from daily worries, crises, or life changes such as becoming a new parent or getting divorced or changing jobs. For some people, it can build up to the point at which they can no longer control their emotions or they strike out at the world around them.
It’s easy to ignore the first signs of stress. But if you listen to your body and your feelings, you can learn to read the warning signals and take action to reduce tension. Here are some stress-reducing suggestions and exercises.
Make sure all toys or objects given to your baby are safe. When considering toys for your baby, keep in mind these recommendations from the National Safety Council. Toys should be:
Birckmayer, Jennifer, Kathryn Mabb, Bonnie Jo Westendorf, and Jerridith Wilson (1996). Teens as parents of babies and toddlers: A resource guide for educators. Ithaca, New York: Cornell Cooperative Extension Service.
Brazelton, T. Berry, M.D. (1992). Touchpoints: Your child’s emotional and behavioral development. Reading, Massachusetts: Addison-Wesley.
Gnatuk, Carole A. and Sam Quick (2000). Keys to great parenting: Care for yourself, Key No. 1. Lexington, Kentucky: Cooperative Extension Service.
Gnatuk, Carole A. and Sam Quick (2000). Keys to great parenting: Teach self-control, Key No. 6. Lexington, Kentucky: Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service.
Herr, Judy and Terri Swim (1999). Creative resources for infants and toddlers. Albany, New York: Delmar.
Lerner, Claire and Amy Laura Dombro (2000). Learning and growing together: Understanding and supporting your child’s development. Washington, D.C.: Zero to Three. Phone: 1-800-899-4301.
National Safety Council (2000). Baby-proofing your home. On the Web at <www.nsc.org/library/facts/babyprf.htm>.
Pruett, Kyle D. (2000). Fatherneed: Why father care is as essential as mother care for your child. Washington, D.C.: Zero to Three. Phone: 1-800-899-4301.
Shelov, Steven P., M.D., M.S., F.A.A.P. (editor in chief) (1998). Your baby’s first year. New York: Bantam Books/American Academy of Pediatrics.
Snow, Charles W. (1998). Infant development (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Carole A. Gnatuk, Ed.D., Extension Child Development Specialist
Sam Quick, Ph.D., Extension Human Development and Family Relations Specialist
Sandra Bastin, Ph.D., R.D., L.D., Extension Food and Nutrition Specialist
From a publication originally written by Dorothea Cudaback, D.S.W., and colleagues at the University of California Cooperative Extension. Professionals at the University of Kentucky who have assisted in the preparation of the Parent Express series:
Sandra Bastin, Ph.D., R.D., L.D.; Donna Clore, M.S.; Ruth Ann Crum, M.S.; Darlene Forester, Ph.D., R.D.; Starr Gantz, R.D.; Carole Gnatuk, Ed.D.; Peter Hesseldenz, M.A.; Janet Kurzynske, Ph.D., R.D.; Suzanne McGough, M.S., R.D.; Larry Piercy, Ph.D.; Sam Quick, Ph.D.; Michael Rupured, M.S.; Diane Strangis, M.S.
Parent Express guides you through parenting of children through age 36 months. For other publications in the 27-part series, contact your county Cooperative Extension Service office.