Purposeful Parenting Ideas - 0-2 years
Hey! I am so excited that you are here! I really applaud you for taking this step towards feeling confident to be the best parent that you can be. I know you are already an amazing parent just by being here. Your child is very lucky. I am keen for you to get so much out of this little series of ideas that are specific to YOU and YOUR child right now.
Here’s the easy part. As you read this blog, you will see below that I have 6 ideas for you and you can choose what to do next. You can choose to implement them all right away or just select the ones that appeal to you for now. You could try one each day or one each week. It is up to you but remember, something is better than nothing, what have you got to lose? Let’s do this.
When out and about with baby in the pram, have baby facing you for as long as possible rather than baby facing out to the world. We tend to think it is best for baby to look out at the world around them but in the early months it is more important for baby to bond with you and learn from you than the fast-paced world. Baby’s eyesight is still developing anyway so it is far better for baby to see you and interact with you while you walk and talk. Baby will learn to recognise your face, your voice and mimic those things in order to become an effective communicator.
Put a hat on your baby’s head right from early on before he/she has the ability or awareness to notice it, resist it and pull it off. The same may go for shoes and bibs. When you start feeding baby solids, put a bib on your baby right from the start so that you avoid resistance about wearing it later. Soon enough, there will be bigger battles to deal with so if you can prevent a few little battles early on, why not try it!
When your baby wakes up during the night, try to help him/her distinguish between day and night by keeping the room dark (except for a night light or lamp), keep your night time nappy change/feeds quick and quiet. You don’t need to talk and play with bubs which will let him/her know that it is not time to be awake for long. This way you decrease the chances of being up for hours with a wide awake baby in the night and everyone can get back to sleep quicker! Even better, you will have more energy for lots of talking, singing and playing with your baby in the daytime!
Talk to your baby. It sounds obvious to say that to you but I cannot stress it enough how important conversations are from day 1. The more words your baby hears from you and the facial expressions you show him/her, the better they will begin to communicate with you. Make the most of one on one opportunities to chat, sing and laugh with your baby. It will be just a few short years away when your child’s ability to listen and speak appropriately will be a major indicator of their development.
Encourage your baby to put their own toys away by making it fun. Don’t expect accuracy but praise all efforts when he/she attempts to put books back on shelves or put blocks back in tubs etc. Do it together and make it fun by singing, counting toys or talking about the colours and shapes of objects as you go. Be flexible about packing up, allow a little mess to build up but also make it manageable by not making too many different toys available to your baby at once. It is important not to stress about the house being in a mess all day, however, it may feel good to have toys packed away before each meal or just before a nap or even just once a day before dinner. Do what feels manageable and sustainable for you and your baby each day.
Rotate toys and books to keep baby interested and stimulated. Having too many toys available to play with can be overwhelming for children and make it hard to choose what to play with. Instead, have a small selection of toys available and accessible to your baby for a week or two and then rotate some toys to allow baby to develop problem-solving skills, keep them interested and reduce boredom. A way to make this a quick and stream-lined approach for you is to have toys in tubs, baskets or bins that you store in a cupboard and can rotate through regularly.
And there you have it! You now have 6 Purposeful Parenting ideas for your 0-2 year old! I hope you are excited to try some of these ideas or better yet, recognised that you already do some of these things because you are amazing!
Comments