Baby Steps: How to Easily Survive the Most Difficult Part of Baby Development

For children to be successful in life, they need a firm foundation of basic skills. Lack of these skills could result in serious learning problems in the future.

Parents are consumed with having children develop ahead of schedule. They buy numerous gadgets and subject their younglings to exponentially more difficult tasks to try and create super babies. The one thing parents lose sight of, is the fact, that babies have a "normal" development cycle. By pushing these children ahead of schedule, they could do more harm than good. These children lack the necessary foundations skills, even though they may have learned more advanced skills through rote memorization.

It is imperative that babies master the basics, or so called "baby steps." Many parents neglect this task and their children pay the price. For children to be successful in life, they need a firm foundation of basic skills. Lack of these skills could result in serious learning problems in the future.

But, how does a parent know what their baby should know or be able to do at a specific age? The best place to start is with the child's pediatrician. Parents should keep in mind the following:

1) Learn the proper development milestones in two week increments for babies under 6 months old.

2) Learn the monthly milestones for children ages 6 -24 months old.

3) Be sure the child MASTERS each milestone at the appropriate age level.

Child development specialists agree there is an ideal time for infants, babies and children to learn basic skills. A child will learn these skills faster at the appropriate time. A parent could spend hours trying to teach a child to read, but if the child is not ready to read the effort will be for naught. When the child is ready to read, and the child has the foundation skills necessary including a good spoken vocabulary, letter recognition and phonemic awareness.

Another misnomer is that children need gadgets to develop properly. Parents put their babies in walkers for hours to encourage them to walk sooner. They buy computers for their babies to stare at or mini-musical instruments for them to practice on. Does this really help their children get ahead? Many experts in child development say "No." In fact, most believe that children develop best on their own. These gadgets may appear to help, but in the long run most of these super-babies are not farther ahead then their "normal" peers.

Consequently, it is important for babies to take baby steps . These steps not only represent one small step for baby, but one giant step for their future. So, don't worry about all the new trend, fancy gadgets or gimmicks. Stick to be basics, build a strong foundation and your baby will have a bright future...one baby step at a time.

Sources:

*Department Of Helath and Human Services, "Child Development", cdc.gov

*Department Of Helath and Human Services, "Developmental Milestones", cdc.gov

*Cynthia Dedrick Ph.D., "Traditional List of Developmental Milestones", dbpeds.org