Browsing Category: Child Development

Bath time: for development, fun and SLEEP

bath time

Harley used to hate bath time. She was so tiny, I used to give her baths in the kitchen sink. I’d make sure the water was perfect, I’d be sweet and gentle with her, but she just hated it… until she could sit up. Ever since she was able to sit on her own in the bath tub, she absolutely adores bath time, and it has become an important part of our daily routine. There is so much that can be gained from bath time, and it can really help to establish a helpful sleep pattern.

I remember I used to love bath time. I had a couple fun toys; I remember an awesome wooden paddle boat with a rubber band around a wheel so you could wind it and then it would paddle off down the tub. That was the best, obviously, but I also had rubber duckies, and random bottles and containers that I could fill with water and pour out. My mom would sit with me and we would chat and laugh while I was playing in the bath, and then we had silly routine conversations about the names of body parts that we would play when she would dry me off and get me into my PJs. Surprisingly, it all plays an important part in helping a little person to grow and learn, as well as unwind and eventually fall asleep. Continue Reading

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Activities for baby development – 9-12 months old

Harley is screaming ahead in her development. It seems that every day there is a new discovery, a new ability, a new goal. I want to do everything I can for my little one to develop, to help her reach her milestones and understand the world around her. I want to help her become a little genius, not just the savant kind that is only good at one thing – I want to help her become a balanced, brilliant, creative, free-thinking, kind human being. Of course it’s all conjecture about how to do that at this point, but here are some ideas for what helps little blobs develop into cool people.

This is a really important time for baby development. That first year of life is incredible if you think how much they accomplish. To go from crying, helpless blobs to tiny people who can play, get around and sort of communicate… it’s amazing! Because they are growing so much during this period, it’s important to work with them on motor skills, as well as social and mental development. At this point, physical stuff is still the most important as it’s how babies experience the world and understand everything from how their bodies work to how the world and physics work (yes, Harley knows that things drop now, even though she still enjoys testing it out). Continue Reading

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Build a (literal) sense of direction in your kid by swinging

improve your sense of direction

I don’t like to brag, but there is a cool trait that I have that I am so happy to have. I have a great sense of direction. Plonk me in unfamiliar territory, give me a map or just a vague sense of where I am and where I need to go, and I can figure it out. My internal compass is pretty damn strong, and I do well with remembering streets, landmarks and a general sense of where I exist in space. It has made travel much more enjoyable, as well as made moving cities way less daunting. After driving somewhere once or twice, I can find my way there and back again without too much hassle. It’s sort of like in those Ubisoft open-world games – I sync my map internally and then I can access that info whenever I need it, even years later.

For a long time, I figured this was just an innate trait. I mean, sure, my father taught me about reading maps, and we had cool map drawing classes in my Waldorf elementary school, but in actual fact,I was drawing maps even before then. When my brother would play games, I would be the one drawing maps of dungeons, telling him where we needed to go. He was the one doing the controls, but I was always the navigator. However, after doing some digging, it seems that there was something else I did that helped give me a sense of direction, and it really isn’t hard to pass this awesome ability on to your little one… and maybe even improve your sense of direction, too. Continue Reading

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What is midline crossing, why it’s important and how to encourage it

Until I started this parenting journey, I had no idea about midline crossing. I’d heard about it occasionally in other contexts, but I didn’t really understand what it was or why it mattered. I remember talking about it with my mom what feels like forever ago, when Harley first started at TopTots, and even though she has a degree in early childhood education, she was also pretty in the dark about it all. It’s relatively new research, so your parents, in-laws or even teachers might not be aware of it, but ask any occupational therapist about it, and they will rave about how important it is. So, here’s a bit about the whole midline business, and why it’s such a big deal, as well as some ways that I’m encouraging Harley to do it as much as possible.

First up, the what. The main one people talk about is crossing your left-right midline. Imagine a line drawn down the center of your body, dividing your left and right sides. Other midline crossing that is often encouraged is the front to back line, as well as the top to bottom line. For the first, imagine lying down and being sliced in half as if you were making a sandwich, while with the second imagine the typical way that a magician would pretend to slice an assistant in half. Okay, so now you know where the lines are, but why do they matter?

powerpuff midline Continue Reading

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Activities for baby development – making the most of car rides

In case you haven’t noticed, I’m a part of #CarseatFullstop – an initiative to raise awareness about car seats. It’s an awesome campaign and we hope that by boosting awareness we are able to save lives. But it also got me thinking about how much time we spend in the car every day. Most of us in car-centric cities spend a lot more time in our cars than we might like or be aware of. For example, every morning, Harley and I take Dean to work and then return home. In the afternoon, we pick him up again before returning home. Sometimes, we go shopping together, or go to a meeting, or go to TopTots, or visit friends or any number of activities. Each of those require strapping her into her car seat and sitting in the car for anywhere between five and 30 minutes. On an average day, that’s what – at least an hour spent in the car? Why not make the most of those trips by encouraging development in the car?

Luckily, Harley often sleeps in the car. It’s something about the movement and the noise that combines to conk her out like nothing else. In fact, when I went to an awesome seminar earlier this week, I timed it perfectly – changed her nappy, nursed her and then drove to the event. The combination of clean bum, full tummy and car ride combined to successfully knock her out for a couple hours so I could actually engage with the learning opportunity. But when our little ones are awake in the car, it can also be a learning opportunity, too. Here are some ideas of ways that you can make the most of the time spent with your spawnling in the car. Continue Reading

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