How do I interact with my 1 month old baby?

As a new parent, you may be thinking, what does one do with a sweet [and to be honest, a little boring] little baby for these longer stretches of time? “What do I do with my baby all day?!“

First off, know that it is entirely okay to let your baby play by themself on a playmat. Or lay them somewhere that they can look at something engaging/interesting. You can even set up a book or contrast cards for them to look at. Unrestricted movement on a flat surface as well as uninterrupted “play” are both scientifically healthy and beneficial for your baby.

Flat Surfaces For Play [And Sleep]

We recommend flat surfaces because they help prevent flat spots, torticollis, and help overall improve the quality of your baby’s movements. Babies that spend excessive amounts of time in swings or bouncers can have underdeveloped muscles in certain areas. It’s best for their movement to be unrestricted.

Try to balance back time with belly time!

“Containers” are fine when you need to make dinner or take a shower, but pay attention to the amount of time your baby plays in them.

**Please remember NO inclined seats, swings, chairs or bouncers are rated for safe sleep. Always place your baby to sleep on a flat and firm surface that meets safety standards.

Let Your Baby Take The Lead!

As parents, we often feel we have to be the entertainers for our children, but that has two consequences.

1. If you are continually engaging a child, you are taking away their chances to naturally engage with their environment.
2. if you are the entertainer at 6 weeks, you better believe you will be expected to provide the same level of engagement at 6 months, and even at 6 years. Our goal is to raise children who are comfortable playing or doing tasks by themselves…at least some of the time!

Newborns innately know what skill they need to work on. They know if they should be kicking their legs, looking at distant objects, or even wiggling side to side a bit. If we are holding them and trying to constantly control their play, they are missing out on these natural opportunities for growth. The benefits of this are endless.

Our two favorite benefits of a baby learning to play independently are that:

1. A baby that can play independently, can often sleep independently and
2. It’s an extremely helpful skill when you, as a parent, need to make dinner, or take a quick shower.

How to Talk With/To Your Baby

Babies aren’t exactly the best conversationalists. Especially before they coo, smile, or even make eye contact!

Early exposure to language has been linked to developmental benefits later on in life. [This only counts for real-life voices, not television or radio.] Especially if you are home alone with your baby, it can be difficult coming up with a conversation starter. Here are some ways to seamlessly introduce language/stimulation to your baby:

• Call a friend or family member on the phone. You can make eye contact or silly voices at the baby while you catch up.
• If you’re reading a good book, read it out loud! Baby books are amazing, but they aren’t exactly intellectually stimulating material for adults. Your little one doesn’t understand swear words or steamy love scenes yet, so use this fleeting moment in time to read whatever interests you. Hearing the flow and intonation of your words is just what the developmental specialist ordered.
• Narrate what is going on. When you change their diaper, talk about how creamy the diaper cream is. Talk about how they are growing out of their newborn onesies and how you are going to have to put them in 0-3 month clothes. Tell them you’re pulling up their pants, and now you’re going to pick them up and walk them over to the couch. Parents sometimes feel much more genuine speaking in this way.

Reading to your baby:

Not to knock board books! They definitely have a time and a place. And if you expose your baby to a love of books early on, this directly translates into a higher chance of enjoying reading and education later on in childhood- YAY!

Some of our favorite board books are:

Babies Everyewhere

All The World

Planting A Rainbow

The Going To Bed Book

Moo Baa La La La

Closing Notes

How do I interact with my 1 month old baby?

Please know that it is COMPLETELY okay to lay on the floor with your baby and enjoy every kick and coo. You may want to spend every minute with them, and you may never run out of things to say. We never criticize how any parent safely wants to raise their baby! So how you interact with your one month old baby is up to you.