Raising a happy baby
There are a lot of moments we experience in our lives individually as a person, from childhood to adulthood, lots of achievements, growing up into adultness and celebrations, a lot of happy and sad moments which make us what we are. But the one that is the happiest among all of them is becoming a parent. Yes becoming a PARENT!
The best feeling in the world to hold the baby in your hand and feel the warmth of his skin on yours.
Why don’t we enjoy the feeling with love and passion rather than the burden of how to manage?
Most of us have gone through a tough time in getting married but then becoming a parent is a reward of all your struggles, seeing your newborn baby is the biggest happiness in a parent life, especially for mothers, from carrying a child in the womb for 9 months with all the care and restrictions, then delivering a baby and going back home to begin a life where an infant is totally dependent on mothers. But all the phases are to be the beautiful part of one’s life.
Though you probably had a baby shower where you have received a lot of advice about how to raise a baby still, you might feel like you have no idea of what you’re doing because the first year is very special but very sensitive too.
It’s easy to handle a baby with love, care, affection and attention. These are the things toddler’s demands to have.
How to raise a happy baby (birth to 24 months)
Most parents are worried in the first year of their newborn as they consider it difficult and challenging how and when a baby feels happy and how to make them happy?
The good news is, you don’t have to be an expert in child psychology to raise a happy baby, just start with the simple techniques of noticing your baby in different situations and with patience, the flexibility you’ll be able to witness the positive changes in your baby.
Raising a baby is not a difficult task. Unless you are a new parent. If you are new at this job, we welcome you in the family.
Learn to Read Your Baby’s Emotions
Most think infants are good at expressing because all we need is their facial expression and babbling they make to understand them. So, it’s easy to know the least the basic needs of a child.
As every day is passing by, your baby is growing and becoming more interactive by seeing the environment of home and your interaction and warmth towards your baby. By the age of 6 months, your baby will become a master of expressing their emotions about everything and anything which is making them happy, sad and hungry.
Bonding with your baby is probably one the most important and pleasurable part of raising an infant. Spending as much time as you can by making a constant physical touch will surely develop a deep and emotional connection.
This bonding plays a major part in contributing to their emotional growth, which also affects their development in other areas too, such as physical and mental growth.
You can begin bonding with your baby by gently massaging him or her daily while singing a fun lullaby and try making the skin to skin contact by holding your baby while feeding or cradling.
Babies love to listen to sounds, especially vocal sounds such as talking, singing and making sweet voices for them. Also, it helps to divert their attention when your baby is getting fussy.
Good Habits That Every Parent Should Have and Teach Their Children
The only source a baby has to look upon as a reference is their parents. Parents should start adopting healthy habits to teach your child the same because as a parent set up an atmosphere of a healthy lifestyle from the very beginning while raising your baby then it would be easier as your baby will habitually start following the routine of your habits. Look after the habits they are forming even after they have crossed the infant hood.
Eat Clean and Healthy
Most babies get attracted to the colourful packaging of junk food and fast food such as chips, biscuits, and chocolates. As a parent, you need to make them understand that eating junk regularly is damaging and not healthy for a human being. Start educating your babies about healthy food and eating them is beneficial for us, and it’s also very tasty.
Get them involve in physical activities
Don’t encourage the practice of sitting and watching TV for your kids all the time when at home or giving them mobile phones. Prepare them the old-school fun games where you have to be involved physically to win and have fun such as hide and seek, teach football, cricket, badminton, and other sports.
Set cleanliness as your priority
Cleanliness should be and must be taught to children from the very beginning, from organizing their school bags and wardrobe to cleaning the dirt on the furniture. Teach them the importance of cleanliness how much it helps us to become a better person.
Sharing Is Caring
Start teaching them about how you can care for others by sharing things among those who can’t afford it. Learn them to be grateful and modest enough to share things. Also teach them the value of sharing feelings, emotions, stories, and love. Start this exercise of sharing from home and let them witness this amazing experience. Teach him to share things with others. No doubt this is not a bad habit. You are telling your child to be more patient with sharing than others.
Give Respect and Be Courteous
Showing your kids about giving respect to each other and being courteous is the most important habit which as a parent you must develop in your kids from the very beginning. Treating him with respect is also a great way to make him learn what respect is. As parents it is important for you to respect the spouses, family members and our children. That’s where we become role models for them.
What makes a baby happy?
We all want our kids to be as happy as a clam. We want them to smile, laugh and also to cry but with us. As long as they are with us, the feeling will be infinite. But as we all grow there are some habits or sources that aid us to be happy. Also the same way it helps babies to bring the grin on their faces.
Talk to the Baby
When you talk to a baby he tries to respond. Either way could be a smile or forcing himself to speak. This is so common that you will be observing when you see him responding to your words. Talk to him with words and your actions, he will respond.
Listen to Your Baby’s Cries
Listening to your infant or paying attention will help you to make him happy. But how? See maybe he’s crying for food or maybe he can’t see someone near him. There could be a lot more reasons for baby’s crying but you being there would be a definite answer to their reasons.
Let’s Play
Playing has always and will be the best exercise in the world. It increases your happy hormones from your body and somehow makes you happy. That’s the process for the babies they need love, affection, and someone to play with them.
Take Them
Take your infant to different places and let the world be observed from his/her eye. Infants are usually happier when they are outside. Take them to park with other kids, let him crawl and come to you, give them small rides with holding their hands. Let them see the outdoor world.
Let Them Sleep More
Sleeping improves good health, fresh and more at peace. It also helps in the mental and physical health of a child in improved memory, behaviour and learning which can be a great source for him as a communicator.
According to The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends the infant under 1 year should get 12 to 16 hours of sleep. A consistent bedtime routine a help them to have a proper sleep.
Have Fun with your baby and make him laugh
Make them laugh
Laughing babies are happy babies.
How can we make them laugh? Well, they are several ways to do that but some are common that we mostly do.
Some tips to make him laugh:
Making a funny face
Make some grimacing face to make him laugh on what’s going on. Why don’t we define the situation to baby because we don’t want them to worry about the bills we had but I think the expression will make them giggle on our hopelessness?
Doing Something Not Normal
Tickling them could create a big noise but a cute sound from them. I think we all fail when we are being tickled.
These moments are forever.
Tickling them with their favourite toys
Personally I’ve noticed this too often, parents do this too much and undoubtedly I love this exercise. Every baby has a favourite toy. I had a teddy, am I’m sure your baby must have it too. Preferred toys are like their best friends.
Make Hilarious Noises From Your Mouth
You will observe his babbling changing into structures of language. The noise you will be making will make him smile for seeing something unique. Baby’s brain at an early age is like clay where you would like you can mould it. So, you can sing some hymns, holy songs or poems. I’m sure the habit of picking quickly will be developed.
Peekaboo
Peekaboo was my favourite when I was a child. I think this is something thrilling and exciting too. Hide anywhere you want, let him find you. Peekaboo impels babies senses like strengthening visual tracking, encourages social development.
Hide Your Face and Then Show Them With a Jerk
One thing that I remember doing it with the kids I play is covering my eyes and letting them to see me through it. Hiding with a cloth and then with a jerk showing up. These are one of the best-laughing exercises they love.
Make His Body to Move (Dance Moves or Massaging)
Babies are lightly to have fun but when they want it’s hard to refuse them. Same as making them learn some dance steps or massaging. They love the process that will end in making them either smiling or laughing.
I think they like learning more dance moves!
Help your baby master new skills
Skills are never new to someone unless they are repetitively.
Whatever you will be teaching your kids repeat the functions until it becomes a habit. Habit for long enhance the skills for a longer period.
New skills come from experiencing the old skills.
Whatever you are teaching your kid you should keep a manual to it. In how many days he’s learning or how he’s been adapting to the exposure of training or how he has been reacting to it.
Boost in Him the Trained Memory
Memory is associated with our brain which is a neuroscience process. If we train a memory because there’s nothing like a good memory. So, if you train the child to have a trained memory this will succour him to learn new skills easily. Mostly it involves the daily habits the child does like playing, bathing, crawling, your child knows the colour of your scarf or your shoes.
Improve Nourishment
An exceptional case for the newborn babies but after 4 to 6-month baby is ready to have a portion of solid, nourishing food. Most people chose to make them eat sugary food which results in cravings for sugar when they get a teenager. It does not matter in making the child-eating sugary or unsavoury food as long as you make them eat wholesome food.
Books for life
At an early age make reading a book their habit. Start with paper cutouts with words as in vocabulary. Children’s books with illustrations keenly develop the habit of reading and reading will develop a habit of sustaining skills.
Engaging in Something New
As long as you are bringing something new every day it’s establishing an encounter with new skills. Like you never taught him about removing his pamper and going to the washroom. They are little and it’s also fine if they shit in the bumper but you must master the skills by focusing on the adequate.
Let It Be Explored
When we emphasized on our kids to decide on your own bases, and make them learn to say no and yes when we will tell them. But this practice thus brings some consequences like the lack of the ability to grow and have the strength to make their own decisions in life. So, let them seek what they want and explore what they desire to have.
Bring the Best in Him
What you want to make your child in the future, if I say you can make him whatever you want. Most people say doctors or engineers or also a caretaker, someone who cares for animals or nature. All the things you want him to be, you have to bring in his childhood. Let him play with those, let him see you doing with the things you want him to play.
Empower Them
Empowering someone could be the greatest present, you could give to someone. Strengthening the weakness for improving the depths in the best job in the world.
Have you empowered someone you learning the skill or have you even empowered your child for being so good to you? No, we haven’t. So start doing it.
Appreciate them for even little things and eventually, you are making them a good person. Paying attention to them is a conscious way of empowering them to conquer the world.
Use some empowering words to bring courage in them:
Even if your child is an infant, no worries use the positive words so the vibrations sent to him by you would be optimistic. Kids are good at imitators, whatever you will shift they will adopt.
- You have brilliantly done this
- I’m so proud of you
- Wow! This not unexpected
- You are my blessing and the greatest gift
- I love you from the soul
- You are so beautiful
- Tell me I’m listening to you
- Did you have something to eat today
- Your smile brightens ups my day
- It is okay
- Are you hungry, I’m there to feed you
- Did you sleep well
- I love being around you
- You are mattered
- Thank you for being there
Allow your baby to be sad or mad
I think it is okay to feel sad as long as you are feeling something. Being sad or mad is just the thoughts entering into our mind and produce some behaviours like these: happy, sad, stress, despondent or dejected.
Just like others, babies also go with some emotions roller coaster-like excitement, happiness, sadness or mad. Expressions conveyed by the baby would be in the pattern of some like crying, smiling, happy or making sounds.
According to some research, this has been found that babies do express their emotions like adults. Although the expression maybe won’t be observable, but yes they do feel.
Along with rendering expression, depression can be the cause of your baby’s sadness. Babies who formed a depression in infant hood are more likely to suffer mental health issues. Undoubtedly this is something to worry about.
Pediatric Depression
To deal with depression, you need to know the root causes of it. What pediatric depression is? How it is caused and how we can prevent this from coming to your babies.
However, research shows that nearly 1 percent of babies fit the criteria for extreme depression, compared to 4 percent of infants, 5 percent of school-aged children, and 11 percent of teenagers.
The central most obvious symptoms are dismal and unresponsive facial expressions, absent body posture, slower physical characteristics, short, trouble in eating and sleeping, and physical aches and hurt.
The matter of depression that causes mental difficulties to emerge from the centre of the brain. The connection between the amygdala and the insula said to be the reason for the disturbance created in the brain.
Now, the best solution is found after the symptoms consulting a pediatrician for some therapies including play therapy, behavioural or psychotherapy.
It is very important to let the brain function daily by working on the structure of the brain. Many pieces of research and theories are being emphasized to focus on improving the situation better. Actively responding to the child in his infant hood making sure to talk to him, respond put an effort to make him talk to you.
Make Your Baby Bath Time a Happy One
Baby bath is a happy time.
The moment I’m sure we all relished.
Also, parents loving giving showers to their infants and the preschooler loves in receiving it.
But a few things will make their bath time a happy one. Babies love enjoying in the water, but it should also be safe and secure for them.
Tips to make an enjoyable bath for your baby:
This is clear that babies love toys. They love expressing their love for toys. Even though you want them to listen to you gift them a toy. Duck’s family for a long period has been serving infants and helping them to have an enjoyable bath.
Do make sure you drop some ducks in the bathtub for them.
There are some products for the baby bath. Mostly they are made for babies because of their safety of eyes and smooth skin. Babies have soft skins and need more extra attention in choosing the right products.
Water temperature
Most people think about the unnecessary temperature but honestly, the temperature might hurt the soft skin of the baby. Also, it depends on the seasons and weather.
Use warm water. It’s not necessary to be hot. It definitely will burn and irritate his skin.
The thermometer can be used in this situation. Your baby’s bath should be 37 degrees C to 38 degrees C, which is around body temperature.
Massage
Massage brings relaxation and reduces the pain from the body. No doubt it expands the muscles. Massage has many advantages for your toddler, including improving weight gain, supporting digestion, improving circulation, and reducing teething pain.
Moisturizing creams help with skin dryness and irritation. Take care of not applying too much of the chemicals of the infant’s skin. You can use moisturizing cream to smoothe the skin.
As being an adult you need your bath accessories, the same way baby needs it too. A proper tub will help you with handling him with no fear use either a tub or a basin. Most people use cloths to apply to the body but I recommend sponge is better for this job. After the bath, the blanket should be clean and the diaper should be neat.
The more the hygienic baby the healthy is he.
Sing songs
Sing songs like a poem or some interesting stories. It will make your time worth for little ones and also a lovely moment between. This will also be the right way making him good in communication and a form of an active person.
Take part with them
Join him in splashing, make bubbles with him, see him smiling and you’ll also love the process. Indulge yourself with him and certainly, you are making a perfect bond between you and your toddler.
Splattering water, the twinkling of an eye and bubbles.
Offer Choices, but Not Too Many
Isn’t there should be a choice for our kids?
But many choices will make them confused.
It’s good to work for the development of your child, looking for growth, making him capable of decision-making, problem-solving.
It is also important for you to show him the guide path and make him learn from the mistakes he has made. But also to make him avoid the mistakes.
Now let us see how we offer choices to our kids. What is our behaviour? And how we expect them to respond.
What choices are? And how do we serve that to our children? Choices are not bad, they build a lot of capacity and capability in you. When a crossroad comes and it’s time to make a decision, this exercise enhances the mental strength of taking decisions which is not a bad thing though.
But the question is offering too many choices is bad? Or offering them too much can lead to bad results.
There might be many reasons for parents to not make a choice for their kids, and let them jump in the pool.
Giving them choice is okay as long as you don’t give them too much of it. As the child goes through the phases from infants to teens and then adult, he seems to give more power to him. More power brings more responsibility and if responsibility is not filled it makes them feel less powerful. Of course, this seems awkward in accepting but that’s how we show them.
Making them work on their self-development has nothing to do with the choices they make.
Most kids behave like bashing the doors or hitting hard on the surface for not listening to them or not giving them this power to say.
It is very important to teach children the other options in life. Somewhat like loving people and expanding kindness. Most of the time if you give people the option to choose between forgiving a person you intentionally hit you.
What do you think? Your child will act to it?
Will he be able to forgive the person who intentionally or unintentionally hit him?
You are not giving other options to him. Blocking the door between two doors (either this or that)
How will they be able to forgive people and love them or will learn kindness or humbleness?
Whatever we become or wherever we go we will all always remain the creed of humanity. These are not the choices we mostly put in front of your children, and because of this, they lack in learning the gift of kindness.
The most relevant example I’ve come across in my life is when I saw a young woman giving the option to his kids for going or not going to school
is that fair? Honestly, we won’t be choosing the right one for going.
Keeping a balance of when to give and when not to give.
Tips to help them making a right decision:
- Let them experience most of the things with your precautions/guidance
- Don’t scold for the mistakes but teach them not to make
- Teach the core depth of most of the things to them
- Books for self-improvement, decision-making, and growth
- Focus on empathic listening—listen to them
- Be an example/role models
- Tell less be more for them
- Let them explore themselves
- Be with them while even solving your some problems at home (let them know what you are doing)
- Let them feel they are an essential part of our life
Happy baby day
Hello everyone, I am the main writer for SIND. I’ve been writing articles for more than 10 years and I like sharing my knowledge. I’m currently writing for many websites and newspaper. Most of our medical sources come from Canada.ca and government research. You can contact me on our forum or by email at: [email protected].