Start Reading with Your Baby Today!

 

Although babies may not understand what the book is about, reading to your children from early infancy has many benefits that last a lifetime. Reading with your baby will help develop language skills. Reading together this is a good way to bond with her your baby by sharing quiet moments close together. Your baby will associate books with security or feeling close to you and she will have positive feelings about books and reading.

 

Brain Science for Your Baby

 

It may feel a little silly to be reading to your 2 month old.  But researchers have shown that book-sharing helps babies gain language.  Researchers found that when parents share books with their babies they simplify the text and use less complex language.  Most importantly, parents reading to infants had that very important "serve and return" (or back and forth) interaction going.  Both the talk and the "connection" gained with sharing a book help build connections between brain cells!  Your baby will be learning language long before he can talk to you.

 
A Baby Buffer Prescription for Your Baby
 

Make reading part of your daily routine!

 

Read when your baby is generally happy, like after a nap or before bed.

 

Allow your baby to interact with the book as you read, even if this means you skip around. Let her touch or turn the pages or even chew on it.

                                                                                           

Select appropriate books for your baby!

 

Choose books made from materials that your child cannot rip or tear: board, fabric, or bath books are great for babies!

 

Babies like books with faces and bold, colorful pictures. 

 

Remember, babies have very short attention spans so she may not be able to sit through a whole book.  Stop when she get's fussy. 

A baby Buffer Prescription for You   

 

Like baby, reading is a great way to relax and keep your brain active too. 

 

Set aside time to read for enjoyment. Create ways to ensure you get this much needed "me" time.

 

Join a book club (even with 1-3 other people). This will help you set aside time for reading and can be a great social opportunity as well! 


 

  

 

 

 

 

What Your Baby Can Do - Developmental Milestones 

 

Your baby will love being held and touched by you from the very beginning, this is the beginning of your relationship with your baby. Click on the links below to find out what your baby should be able to do:

  
Gene's Research Tip

It's important to understand your baby's emotions and how to help him manage them. Emotions and stress go together! When we feel fearful or anxious our bodies make a chemical called Cortisol, or the stress hormone.  Cortisol works quickly to give us extra energy and make us more alert. If Cortisol is activated a lot it wears the body down and can cause us to get over weight, not sleep well and get diseases like high blood pressure, heart disease and even contribute to arthritis and diabetes.  Read more

Baby Buffer Blog
Written by Kathy Ellerbeck, MD, FAAP

When one of my friends told me "she slept like a baby" I asked what was wrong with her!   When my babies were babies - they didn't sleep much! We have funny family stories now - but back then getting our two girls to sleep was exhausting!

 

When babies are eight or nine months old, they often have separation anxiety.  And going to bed meant SEPARATION to my Samantha.   In the beginning we would stay with her until she fell asleep.   This would take well over an hour.  And she would wake up with the smallest noise.  I remember my husband sitting by Sam's crib until she fell asleep...and then rolling out of the room so that the floorboards wouldn't creak and wake her up!  Read More

"Like" us on Facebook! 

 Sign up for Baby Buffer emails! 

 

Visit www.babybuffer.org for more great parenting information