Today Tile Triggered Content

Mealtimes can be a great time to help your baby learn, and also help you bond. Here are some tips for making the most out of your time at the dinner table. 

When you sit your baby down for a snack or a meal, you may notice them look to you, babble or talk, or explore their food with their hands and mouth. We say: use this time wisely! 

Screen time for babies and young children can be a controversial topic – particularly as ‘official’ recommended guidelines either aren’t in place, or recommendations differ.  We've looked at what screen time guidance is out there and some things you might want to consider for you and your family.

You may have noticed your baby is paying more attention to sounds. Their little face might change expression when they hear something unusual, or you may see them jump at a loud noise. Interestingly, we don’t all react to sounds in the same way.  

Now that your baby is sitting up and enjoying watching the world around them, it’s likely that your local park will become a regular haunt. When it comes to putting them in a swing for the first time, here are some safety reminders to keep everyone smiling (or at least upright – not all babies react joyfully to a first swing!).

What type of swing? 

Did you know, by moving in a variety of ways your baby is developing their spatial perception? Spatial perception helps us understand our bodies in relation to the environment. 

When babies start to move around, they learn much more about the spaces they are in.  

Your baby may have started to crawl, creep, bottom shuffle or have an entirely individual style of moving. No matter how they achieve this, they are on the move! Your baby has come such a long way since birth. Movement is amazing for both the body and brain, helping to enhance motor skills and build strong sensory systems. Let’s explore the magic of movement and how your baby will thrive from it. 

An intrigued baby 

Your baby is experiencing a life full of challenges and achievements. They are now showing signs of wanting to stand and this is a huge skill for them to master. There’s no need to rush it. Your baby is using their whole body when trying to stand; this is a massive physical, mental and emotional challenge for them. Here are five top tips to support the action of pulling to standing: 

Bubbles are great for many things! As well as being super fun to play with for children across a wide age range, they have many developmental benefits too. From building muscles to providing sensory stimulation, bubbles can offer it all. 

Visual skills 

Everyone has different feelings about sharing images of themselves or their baby online. If you find social media is the perfect way for you to share with friends and family, there are some things you might want to think about.  

It’s natural for parents to want to take plenty of photos of their child. There may be little moments that you want to look back on, there might be special days that you want a keepsake of, or you want to keep wider family and friends in the loop with what you’ve been getting up to.  

The idea that there are male and female brains, with these sex differences accounting for a whole range of things from women struggling with map reading to men not being able to read emotions, seems to be widely accepted, but is not supported by science.^[1] 

Myth: Male and female brains are different.