The first few months of your baby’s life are fascinating. You will watch them change day by day. We have rounded ten simple infant activities that will help the development of your baby’s motor skills, language skills, and that will strengthen your bond.   

1. Tummy Time

Tummy time ⁽¹⁾ refers to placing the baby on their stomach while they are awake and somebody is watching them.  

Tummy time is important because: 

• It strengthens the baby’s neck, shoulders, and arms, in time allowing the baby to hold their head, sit up, crawl and walk.  

• It improves the baby’s general coordination.  

• It helps prevent flat spots on the back of the baby’s head.  

You can start tummy time almost from birth. At the beginning you can place your baby on your chest. While your baby is on your chest, you can try singing, talking and touching him. As he grows you can place him on the floor. Get down to their level while you sing and talk to him. Place toys in view and encourage your baby to get them.  

Babies benefit from having two or three short (3 to 5 minutes) tummy time session each day. By the age of three months, babies can have 15 to 30 minutes of tummy time each day. 

Many babies hate being on their tummies. If this the case of yours, start by placing them on their tummies for very short periods, and gradually increase the time. And try to make it as fun as possible! 

Remember not do tummy time just after a feed!  

2. Mirror Play

Mirror play helps build self-awareness. Place yourself and your baby in front of the mirror. Pull silly faces, make facial expressions and name them (e.g., “Look, mummy is happy”), point and name body parts (e.g., “Where is your nose?”), and play peekaboo (e.g., “Where is the baby?”).  

3. Peekaboo

Developmental psychologist, Dr Caspar Addyman conducted a study with around 1,500 parents and they found that peekaboo (alongside tickling) is the number one activity that makes babies laugh. Peekaboo is all about human connection. In peekaboo you are having a conversation with your baby. Your baby is learning to have a conversation with you. They are practicing their social skills, and they just love it. They love to have your undivided attention.  

4. Finger Plays

Sing to your baby favourite old time songs such as “Wheels on the Bus”, “Bah, Bah, Blacksheep”, “Patty Cake” or “Where Is Thumbkin”. They all have hand and finger motions that go along with the song. Your baby will start copying those motions as soon as he is able to. Doing so, will help his motor skills, hand eye coordination, and language skills.  

5. Reading

You can start reading to your baby almost from birth. Early reading dictates later vocabulary ^(2). The more words a baby hears, the more words he learns. When you read to your baby, not only they are learning new vocabulary, but you are also strengthening your bond and giving him your undivided attention. Infants like touch and feel books, chunky board books, and vinyl bath books.  

6. Dance and Listen to Lullaby Songs

Research shows that listening to lullabies ⁽³⁾ helps babies to regulate their emotions, create a bedtime routine, and it promotes language development. Listening to lullabies also helps develop a bond between the parent and the baby and it passes on cultural traditions.  

7. Water Fun

Most babies love being in the water. Whether they are having a bath or they are in a pool, use the time to play with water toys. Name body parts, demonstrate pouring, or the concept of ‘dry’ and ‘wet’. Add a mirror, read a bath book, or bring on the bubbles.  

Never ever leave a baby unsupervised in the water. Babies drown very fast in a very small amount of water.  

8. Explore Household Items

Everything is new for a baby, and this is why they love to explore the world. Anything from a muffin tin, a wooden spoon, a plastic cup, a laundry basket, or a piece of coloured paper, may be totally fascinating for them. Name the objects that your baby is playing with.  

Tracking objects: Babies develop the ability to track objects ⁽⁴⁾ between two and six months of age. Their ability to track objects depend on the speed and the size of the object. Babies always prefer to look at human faces than to objects, so the more you and the rest of the family are around your baby, the better!  

9. Baby Massage

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) claims that physical touch is essential for a baby’s emotional and health development. Baby massage ⁽⁵⁾ can reduce babies’ levels of stress hormones, encourage flexibility in their arms and legs, improve their sleep, and increase their body awareness. Massaging your baby after they have their bath, will help you to bond and will leave them feeling relaxed and loved. And if you do it while singing or talking to him, even better! 

How Many Toys Does my Baby Need?  

Not many! Consider that everything is new for a baby, so they will be equally fascinated by a muffin tin or a wooden spoon than by a shiny new toy. Do not feel the pressure to buy expensive new toys, because your baby does not really need them.  

Will Screen Time Help my Baby’s Development? 

Not really. Babies need human contact to thrive. There is no substitute for it. Research shows that neither the TV, an iPad, or an app, substitute human interactions. Human interactions are always better.  

Is it OK for my Baby to Play While the TV Is On? 

Background television ⁽⁶⁾ is not brilliant for children. It is best to avoid ‘technoference’ which is technology getting in the way of human interactions.  

These are some things for infants to do. Do you have others that your baby love? Let us know which ones!  

Love, 

Ana 

Dr Ana Aznar 

References 

⁽¹⁾ Hewitt, L., Kerr, E., Stanley, R. M., & Okely, A. D. (2020). Tummy time and infant health outcomes: a systematic review. Pediatrics, 145(6). https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2019-2168 

⁽²⁾ J., & Braungart-Rieker, J.M. (2005). Effects of shared parent-infant reading on early language acquisition. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 26, 2, 133-148 doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2004.12.003 

⁽³⁾ Sá, E., & Torres, A, (2019). The Effect of Lullabies on the Mother and on Copyright © 2019 Eduardo Sá and Ana Torres. Her Relationship with the Baby: an Exploratory Study. OA J Behavioural Sci Psych2019, 2(1): 180010. 

⁽⁴⁾ Chiang, W. C., & Wynn, K. (2000). Infants’ tracking of objects and collections. Cognition, 77(3), 169-195. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0010-0277(00)00091-3 

⁽⁵⁾ Savage, S. (2005). The benefits of infant massage: a critical review. Community Practitioner, 78(3), 98-102. 

⁽⁶⁾ Nichols, D.L. The context of background TV exposure and children’s executive functioning. Pediatr Res 92, 1168–1174 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41390-021-01916-6 

Lullaby songs are quiet, repetitive, gentle songs sung to put a baby to sleep ⁽¹⁾. Parents have sung to babies in every known historical period and culture. Evidently lullabies work, otherwise parents would have stopped singing centuries ago. Only parenting behaviours that are useful stand the test of time. Otherwise, they simply disappear. 

Scientific research confirms what parents already knew: Lullabies work. Let me tell you why. 

Listening to Lullaby Songs Is Good for Babies

• It helps them regulate their emotions. 
• It creates a nurturing environment and helps develop a bond with their parent. 
• It passes on cultural traditions.
• It helps stimulate language development.
• It helps to create a bedtime routine ⁽²⁾.

Many of the studies examining music and infant sleep are conducted with premature babies in Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU). For example, there was a study ⁽³⁾ that compared three groups of babies: one group listened to Mozart, a second group listened to their mothers singing lullabies, and a third group of babies who did not listen to anything. Researchers found that babies who were sung to by their mothers slept and fed better than babies in the other two groups. Other studies show that when babies listen to lullabies their heart rate slows down and their pupils dilate.

But Why Is It Better for Babies to Listen to a Lullaby Song Than Say… Taylor Swift?

This is the question that researchers are trying to understand. Is there something specific about lullabies songs that babies find especially appealing or does something happen when a parent sings a lullaby to their baby that is special?

It seems that there is something about lullaby songs that babies find soothing. Baby lullaby songs are structurally different to other song categories. They are usually slow, soothing melodies that mimic the feeling or motion of being rocked. Researchers ⁽⁴⁾ did a study examining lullabies in different languages, including Gaelic, Mayan, and Scandinavian. They found that babies calmed down when listening to a lullaby even when they could not understand the language. This suggests that what matters is the melody, rather than the lyrics. 

When parents sing a lullaby song to their babies they do it differently than when they sing other types of songs ⁽⁵⁾. When singing lullabies songs, parents use infant directed speech. This speech is characterized by high pitch, slower tempo, rhythmic patterning, and greater pauses between words. Babies like it when their caregivers use this type of speech. 

Finally, when a parent sings a lullaby to their child a meaningful parent-baby connection is established ⁽⁶⁾. The baby knows that the parent is there and that they are being taken care of. Indeed, research shows that babies prefer face-to-face singing over recorded singing. 

Singing Lullabies Is Also Beneficial for Parents

Singing lullaby songs is not only good for the baby but it seems to have beneficial effects for the parent too. Mothers who sing to their babies regularly have been found to experience less postpartum depression, higher wellbeing, self-esteem, and felt closer to their baby ⁽⁷⁾. It is important to note that we cannot clearly say that singing causes mothers to be happy, but there seems to be a link between mothers and singing and them feeling better. However, it could also be that mothers who feel better are more likely to sing. It seems that singing supports the mental health of new mothers ⁽⁸⁾. Music is not only beneficial for mothers. Studies show that singing is linked with better mental health, wellbeing, and quality of life across different groups of people.

What Are the Most Famous Lullabies in English?

• Row, Row, Row Your Boat
• Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
• Rock-a-Bye Baby
• Hush, Little Baby

Lullabies or White Noise? Which Is Best?

White noise is a type of broadband sound that includes all audible frequencies. Basically, it is a noise that does not have any pattern to it. White noise improves sleep for some babies, although researchers do not yet know exactly why. One theory is that it masks background noise that can disrupt sleep. White noise acts as a constant in the room (babies really like consistency) and it drowns out other noises. 

There is one important thing to consider if you use a white noise machine: its volume. In 2014, the American Academy of Paediatrics (AAP) tested 14 white noise machines designed for babies and found that all of them, when at maximum level, exceeded hospital-recommended noise levels. As a result, the AAP guidelines state that noise machines should at least 200 centimetres away from the baby and the volume should never be set at maximum.

White noise machines have not been around long enough for us to really understand if they may have any negative effect. So far, they seem to be safe. Lullabies and white noise can be complementary to each other. However, unlike singing lullabies, using a white noise machine does not promote a close bond between parent and baby. 

If you are a parent and would like 1-2-1 support to solve any parenting issues you may be going through, get in touch with me. We are here to help you, with no agenda, no jugdgement. With the best experts and science-based information.

Love,

Ana

Dr Ana Aznar

References

⁽¹⁾ Oxford Dictionary

⁽²⁾ Eduardo Sá and Ana Torres. The Effect of Lullabies on the Mother and on Copyright © 2019 Eduardo Sá and Ana Torres. Her Relationship with the Baby: an Exploratory Study. OA J Behavioural Sci Psych2019, 2(1): 180010.

⁽³⁾ Yue W, Han X, Luo J, Zeng Z, Yang M. Effect of music therapy on preterm infants in neonatal intensive care unit: Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. J Adv Nurs. 2021 Feb;77(2):635-652. doi: 10.1111/jan.14630. Epub 2020 Nov 17. PMID: 33200833.

⁽⁴⁾ Hilton CB, Crowley-de Thierry L, Yan R, Martin A, Mehr SA. Children infer the behavioral contexts of unfamiliar foreign songs. J Exp Psychol Gen. 2023 Mar;152(3):839-850. doi: 10.1037/xge0001289. Epub 2022 Oct 10. PMID: 36222671; PMCID: PMC10083193.

⁽⁵⁾ Trainor, L. J. (1996). Infant preferences for infant-directed versus noninfant-directed playsongs and lullabies. Infant Behavior & Development, 19(1), 83–92. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0163-6383(96)90046-6

⁽⁶⁾ Mehr SA & Krasnow MM Parent-o spring conflict and the evolution of infant-directed song. Evol. Hum. Behav. 38, 674–684 (2017).

⁽⁷⁾ Baker F, Mackinlay E. Sing, soothe and sleep: A lullaby education programme for first-time mothers. Br J Music Educ. 2006 Jul;23(2):147–160.

⁽⁸⁾ Fancourt D, Perkins R. Associations between singing to babies and symptoms of postnatal depression, wellbeing, self-esteem and mother-infant bond. Public Health. 2017 Apr;145:149-152. doi: 10.1016/j.puhe.2017.01.016. Epub 2017 Feb 27. PMID: 28359384.