Babies need positive attention and guidance to grow healthy and happy. In your baby’s first year you may have many questions about guidance and discipline.

The first years of your child’s life are critical for healthy development. You may be faced with hundreds of parenting decisions in the early years about sleeping, nourishing and caring for your baby. The experiences your child has in these very first years will certainly play a role in shaping the adult they will become.

More than anything else, your relationship and presence impacts the way your baby feels, learns and grows. 

Social and Emotional Baby Development

While your baby can’t talk yet to express feelings and needs, your baby is communicating with you often. With smiles, eye contact, and even how your baby clings into your arms is a way of expressing needs.  These are early social and emotional skills that are still in development. As your baby  grows these skills will mature and help your child understand and navigate her world.

The first year of development for your baby is amazing. Your baby will learn to move, to find parts of her body and how to use it. Your baby will be watching you to understand your emotional reactions, facial expressions and how to use words.

Stimulating Baby and Learning

Everything your baby hears, sees, smells, touches, feels and tastes in these early months stimulates the brain. Positive attention, playful interactions,  calm responses from you all reinforce safety, security and well-being.

Simple baby toys can help your baby practice skill development. While practice is important – playful, open ended and low key interactions are much more important than structured, rigid teaching. Sing songs, read stories, talk freely and simply share experiences with your baby.  Make eye contact and touch your baby with gentle, kind hands.  This kind of stimulation is much more important and what helps your baby brain develop. While toys that have music and talk can be fun, these are not substitutes for meaningful, interactive experiences with you.

Baby Misbehaving – Discipline for Babies

• When does discipline begin?
  • The discipline approach that helps babies thrive is one that focuses on your relationship and helping your baby express her needs while learning how to follow healthy and kind boundaries.
• Do babies need discipline like time out?
  • Timeouts used to be highly recommended but here are new and better alternatives that help babies and toddlers. 
• What if my baby hits a friend during a play-date?
  • Babies and toddlers may become aggressive or angry and need help to manage such big feelings. 

Positive Parenting principles of unconditional love, respect and kind, clear guidance can be helpful from the very start of your baby’s life. Check out our library of articles below for inspiration and to make confident decisions about care and guidance in your babies first year.