Playing with your Newborn - changes with maturity

Playing with your baby is something that confuses and confounds parents at times.  They often feel that  they seemingly just work out what their baby needs and wants and then it doesn’t work any more. The number of times I have heard this in frustration from parents is infinite.

 

Babies mature fairly slowly in comparison to other animals. Animals in the wild really need to mature quickly for survival.  We tend to be dependent on our adults for survival for longer. However that doesn’t mean that human babies learn less or more slowly. Human babies are learning much more broadly and are taking in more than is obvious.

 

Babies routines and behaviours will change fairly rapidly in the first few months. For example, the first day your baby will be fairly sleepy, second day feed all the time and 3rd day milk comes in so babies feed more calmly and less often again.

 

Newborns pretty much only feed and sleep for the first 7-10 days, maybe 2 weeks if you are lucky then start to wake up and let you know that he or she is here.  What used to work often doesn’t work any more for settling and maybe even feeding.

 

Then you work out your baby, get into a new routine and then 6 weeks hits and another change in behaviour. He or she is more alert again, now smiling and wanting to interact with you. If you haven’t thought it before, many parents are now thinking ‘why doesn’t my baby know when it’s time to go to sleep and just go to sleep?’ Because things have changed and you as the parent have to help your baby learn his own body signals and teach him or her what he wants is not necessarily what he needs.

 

One of the things a lot of parents do without knowing it is they tire out their baby with a lot of play.

 

When your baby starts to respond and interact with you more it is easy to get caught up in the excitement of it and miss the signs that your baby is tired and ready for a break. These are often fleeting as your baby gets older and are easily missed.

 

Playtime is fun and one of the activities that you want to enjoy because it brings everyone so much joy. It is helpful to be mindful of watching for that your baby doesn’t get over tired and thus harder to settle because of it.

 

So yes things will change with maturity, however as you get to know your baby more you will be more in tune with him or her and be able to work it out. It will take time and it won’t be a magic answer but you will do it. You know your baby better than you think. If you take the time to observe it will become easier. Enjoy playtime with your baby and bear in mind  those signs that your baby shows to say “I need a break now”.

 

For ideas about signs that your baby has had enough get our sleep ebook- it tells you all about early tired signs. "