Hello there dear readers and welcome once again to our popular Tiny Tots Corner. What a joy it has been to receive so many heart-melting, cute entries for this edition, that made our judging process no easy task at all. Congratulations to our top three and many thanks to all the parents for sharing your little cherubs with us and our readership. Every single entry was special and we encourage you to keep those entries rolling. Who knows, your little angel could be featured in our upcoming editions. So parents keep snapping those cute photos, follow the competition rules below and send them through to us.
Competition Rules
- The Editor’s decision is final.
- This competition is open to all babies, between the ages of six and 24 months, who live in the Laudium Sun main distribution area.
- Closing date: Monday, April 20.
- Entries must include a recent, clear photo of your baby, accompanied by the full name and age of infant, and also parents’ names and addresses…as well as contact numbers.
- All entries must be hand-delivered to the Laudium Sun office in Laudium or e-mailed to: info@laudiumsun.co.za or posted to: PO Box 786, Pretoria, 0001, and are to reach us before the closing date.
Getting to know your baby – Part 1
Many parents have not had a lot of experience with babies until their first baby comes along. If you are one of these parents you will probably find you have many questions about this new person who has come into your life and who is so small and helpless. It can be overwhelming and scary when you realise your baby is so dependent on you for everything, especially if you feel you don’t know a lot about babies. Understanding what babies are like may help to make it easier to care for your little one.
Baby’s feelings and brain
In the first months of life your baby is in a very strange world they know nothing about. Babies:
– need to learn that the world is safe and there are people who will look after them
– learn this when you give them food, comfort, warmth, smiles and cuddles. They learn to love you and trust you and that they are lovable. Your baby’s brain is growing faster now than at any other time of life. Billions of cells are expanding, connecting and building pathways to thousands of others. Their ‘brain wiring’ is being laid down for the future. What they experience every day causes connections and pathways to develop.
-When babies feel loved, safe and secure the connections for feeling good and learning are strengthened.
– When you talk to baby, smile and look into their eyes, the connections for talking, learning, thinking and all the other things they will need are strengthened too.
– When baby feels unhappy or stressed a lot of the time, or is not touched, noticed or talked to, the connections that react to stress are strengthened.
As baby grows they may be less able to learn and develop their best.
Did you know that babies…
love it when you smile, talk and play with them
· communicate from birth using their own special signals
· learn from what they feel, see and hear every day
· grow best when they feel loved, safe and secure.
When babies feel loved they learn to love you too.
Baby’s signals
Babies communicate in their own special way from birth. They give little signals and cries to show their feelings and needs. These can be small and subtle or quite obvious.
– When babies feel good they may make eye contact, little noises, smile, copy your gestures, look relaxed and interested.
– To show they need a break or a different approach babies may look away, shut their eyes, struggle or pull away, yawn, look tense and unsettled or cry.
When you respond to baby’s signals you are building your bond with them. It lets them know they have been heard. It is the start of two-way communication and learning to talk.
*To be continued in the next edition of Tiny Tots Corner.