Forget the flash cards, videos and other commercial products being foisted upon you. In Dad's Adventure's new book "
Hit the Ground Crawling", new dads are given a crash course in "How to Help Your Baby Grow" by explaining what makes for a stimulating environment.
1. Warm and caring. Babies who are cared for, held, soothed and smiled at feel more secure. This equates to a baby who learns to calm himself and grows into a school age child who performs better and makes friends easily.
2. Secret language. Your baby continually learns to communicate through his body movements, voice and expressions in response to yours. Communicate with your baby often and he will learn to interact with others and seek to fulfill his/her needs with confidence.
3. Vocalize. Your voice sooths and delights baby and after a while, baby will begin to pick up upon inflections and gestures. Talk, sing and read to your baby often.
4. Play is powerful. Having fun is the best brain developer of all. Early on, play will consist of him grasping your finger and you showing baby his reflection in a mirror. Play improves muscle development and control as well as his senses.
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5. Know when to "amp down". Babies' minds are furiously active when they are awake and they will need downtime to recharge. If baby is not responding to you when you try to play, he may simply be too tired.
6. Mozart "madness". In the late 1990s, there was a frenzy about the importance of stimulating a baby's brain - so much so that parents began playing music into the womb during pregnancy. Nowadays, we've learned there is no scientific research on the effect that listening to music has on a baby's intelligence. Needless to say, all that Mozart isn't necessary. Feel free to break out the Rock and Roll.
7. TV time out. Television is very alluring and to some parents, acts as a handy babysitter. But, your baby is exposed to an intense stream of audio/vision stimulation. New research (and common sense) indicates that a significant amount of TV is bad for your baby. The rapid movements and pacing have been shown to have negative effects on babies' brain development.
"
Hit the Ground Crawling" is published by
Dads Adventure, a sponsor of
Boot Camp For New Dads that donates royalties from book sales to support Boot Camp For New Dads programming. Providing practical, hands on tips, "Hit the Ground Crawling" is based on over 15 years of working with more than 100,000 fathers. "Hit The Ground Crawling" is available online at
amazon.com.