What IS NORMAL?
Like snowflakes, no two infants are exactly alike. A baby grows
and develops at his or her own rate. However, we sometimes expect babies to do the same things (roll over, sit up, walk, talk,
etc.) at the same time.
Parents often worry about whether a child is developing at a
"normal" rate, without realizing that the average ages given for
certain developmental stages are just that
Averages that can vary as much as six months from one child to the next. The key is not to compare
your child to others. Think of your child as the individual he or she is, and accept the differences that
make every child unique.
Most healthy babies who have plenty of love and attention develop new skills in a completely natural and
continually surprising way. So much development takes place in the first 12 months that this is an amazing process for parents to watch.
Babies grow and develop at tremendously different rates – and often with blissful disregard for what
parenting textbooks say they’ll be doing!
Your instincts, plus knowing that your baby eats and sleeps well, and that she isn’t grizzly whenever
she’s awake, tell you far more than a growth or development chart can.
Enjoy the variations. These variations are what make development so exciting and memorable.
DEVELOPMENTAL MILESTONES
Developmental achievements are called ‘milestones’. Growth and development milestones are a useful
guide, but they aren’t something to get too worried about. Developmental milestones are grouped under
headings according to the parts of the body they refer to:

Large body movements involve the coordination and control of large muscles and skills like walking,
sitting and running.

Small body movements (or manipulation) involve the coordination and control of small muscles, and
skills like holding a rattle, picking up crumbs and scribbling with a pencil.
 Vision is the ability to see near and far, and to interpret what’s seen.

Hearing is the ability to hear, listen to and interpret
sounds, whereas speech is the ability to produce sounds
that form words.

Social behaviour and understanding is your child’s
ability to learn and interact with others, including
skills for play and connecting and communicating.
Introducing babies to solid foods is not so difficult as it seems.
Usually, babies tend to start giving some clues when they are
ready to try their first foods. The timing when to give the food
and following the sequence or the order in which the baby should
be introduced to foods is important for baby’s health, proper nutrition and good eating habits in the baby. Here are some tips that can help you feed ‘real’ foods to the
baby in a way that he will enjoy:

Babies are very sceptical about ingesting solid foods as they have only been fed on breast milk or
formula until now. So, they may push the food out of their mouths or may purse their lips together
so that you cannot get the spoon or the food inside their mouth. This is just natural.

Breast milk or formula provides enough nutrition for the babies younger than 6 months of age but
older babies need additional calories and nutrients that can be supplemented by solid foods. One
year olds may need about 400 extra calories from solids while 2 year olds may need about 600 calories.

If you try to force feed a baby, he or she may not be able to use the tongue to push the food
properly from front to back and may gag on it.

Try to make baby eat only one or two teaspoon of any new food or at least taste it. The experience
with eating should be positive for the baby.

You have to be patient and know that this process has to be slow and force should never be used to
make the baby open the mouth. This may mean that baby is still not ready to take in solid foods or
it may take as many as 20 tries before he trusts a particular food to ingest it.

You may start introducing baby to solid foods between the
ages of 4 to 6 months as the reflex of pushing food outside
the mouth with the tongue disappears
We offer many single first time foods for infants to try. We
puree single vegetables such as potato, pumpkin and carrot, which
we have the children attempt, often only as much as one teaspoon. We also offer fruits pureed such as apple, pear and
mashed banana.
Green vegetables and citrus fruits are not initially given as they
may be harder to digest. Make sure you speak with staff about
your child’s first foods
COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
Infants use all their senses to learn about the world. They
"talk" with others through actions and sounds, and experiment with objects and noises. They enjoy watching the results of their actions. This is how children learn, make
sense of the world, and learn to communicate. When babies
coo, babble, and interact with others, they are developing
language skills.
Children quickly begin to understand the meanings of symbols - that a smile and pleasant tone of
voice mean the person speaking to them is happy, that dimming lights mean it is rest time, and
that putting on a coat means a trip outside.
Young children think that when they cannot see someone or something, that it is gone forever.
When important people in their lives leave, they do not understand that they will return. This
period of development is hard on parents and children.
Parents can make these times less stressful by letting a child hold and keep personal objects,
such as stuffed animals, blankets, or a family photo. Around the second year of life, children
begin to form mental pictures of objects, and that makes it
easier for them to say goodbye to mums, dads, and other people
they care about.
KEY POINTS: COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
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Talk to your children in the same way that you want
them to learn to talk to you.
Use signals and routines to help children understand
what you want. For instance, dim the lights before naptime, read a story or turn on a lullaby tape before bedtime each night, or talk to them about where you are
going and what you will do when you get back to help them prepare for you to go.
Give your child a soft blanket or stuffed toy for comfort, if necessary.
CRYING
Normal physical development requires that babies cry. Crying helps improve the heart and lungs.
The most important reason a baby cries is to tell you that he or she needs something.
Most parents quite naturally respond to these signals, feeding the baby, changing nappy, holding
or cuddling the infant. Many parents wonder if picking up the baby right away will encourage crying for attention .However, children will generally cry less when parents and caregivers respond
to their signals in a sensitive way. A parent who reacts quickly helps to strengthen a sense of
trust in the infant. This reacting to the child does not always mean you have to pick them up,
speak to your child, let them know you are near and will attend to them soon, gain their sight and
acknowledge them.
SETTING LIMITS
Infants are not born knowing right from wrong. They must
learn by watching others and through trial and error. Once a
baby begins moving around the house, he or she may find a
world full of "no-no's." All children are naturally curious about
the world around them. Without the desire to explore, children would learn very little. Before your infant begins crawling or pulling up on tables and chairs,
childproof your home. Making your home safe for your child to explore will help keep this stage
of development pleasant and safe. Cover electrical outlets with plugs or tape, keep pathways
through the house clear, move breakable objects and plants to high shelves (but make sure the
shelves are sturdy), and use gates at stairs and doorways.
Make rules and limits appropriate for the age of your child. In other words, don't expect an infant to understand the meaning of everything you say or to be able to do everything you may
want.
Set limits that you're sure your child can understand. Use single words and a firm tone of voice.
Give gentle reminders, and be understanding when your child forgets. This will let your child
know, in a positive way, that you care about his or her behavior.
KEY POINTS: SETTING LIMITS

Childproof for safety and peace of mind. Be consistent and clear. Accept the fact that
you will have to repeat things; that's part of teaching
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
Infants learn about the world through touch, sight, sound,
taste, and smell. They learn about relationships from how
people touch and hold them, and from the tones of voice and
facial expressions people use when caring for them. When
babies have their needs met - being fed when hungry, comforted when crying, held and touched gently, and kept warm
and dry - they begin to trust the adults that care for them.
This early sense of trust will help them develop positive relationships for the rest of their lives.
If adults handle a baby roughly or if they always seem anxious and irritated when they feed and
change an infant, that child may learn that being with other people is not a pleasant experience.
A basic sense of trust will not develop and the child may have difficulty relating to others.
KEY POINTS: SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
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
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Use gentle touches.
An infant's first relationships can set the pace for relationships that will come later in
life.
Use eye contact and always talk to the baby so he or she will begin to know these as ways
of communicating.
Connecting with your baby means communicating with your eyes, your
voice, your facial expressions and some comforting cuddles
WHAT TO EXPECT
You’re really getting to know your baby’s personality and temperament
now, including when and how she tries to communicate and connect with
you.

From 2-6 months, your baby will begin to engage in two-way interaction. His language skills are developing now, even before he utters his
first word.

From 6-9 months, your baby is developing ideas about who she is. She’s working out the differences between parents, caregivers, strangers, adults and children. She has positive and negative emotions and is beginning to express them. She’s also getting interested in communication that is more than
two-way. That is, communication that involves a third person, or is about a third person or object.

By nine months, your baby’s memory is improving. He’s getting attached to people and objects – especially the ones he spends the most time with.
COMMUNICATING WITH YOUR BABY
Baby communicates by looking at you, smiling, gesturing and making sounds. You communicate with her
using face and eye contact, talking, singing, smiling – and lots of cuddles, of course!
‘Hellooo sweeetie baaabeee’
The special way we talk to babies is called ‘parentese’. Babies love it. They prefer the sing-song tone of
parentese to plain adult tones. In fact, this animated, lilting speech, with exaggerated facial expressions, might help babies learn the sounds of language.
Faces and eye contact
Babies spend their days looking at people’s faces and listening to them talk. Your baby loves watching
how your face reacts to something he’s done.
Researchers say this helps baby understand the world and form relationships. When your baby deliberately catches your eye, you can look right look back into her eyes. And keep maintaining that eye contact until she looks away. When she makes noises, you can encourage her.
Smiling, nodding and encouraging baby’s abilities (‘What did you say?’, ‘Aren’t you talking well!’) all help
your baby to keep communicating.
Talk, baby, talk
As your baby moves closer to 12 months, he might start to babble. When he begins to make lovely little
sounds (‘ba ba ba’, ‘da da da’), you can try repeating them back. Try not to interrupt until he’s finished
with his ‘sentence’.
Repeating what you say to baby ( ‘Are you hungry?’ ‘You’re hungry, aren’t you?’ ‘Ohhh, I’m hungry!’) can
teach your baby what words mean. You can also try games like ‘peekaboo’. These can help baby learn
that language is based on taking turns.