6 Cara Mudah Simulasi Bayi

[Dari: www.majalahpama.com.my]

Bayi yang masih kecil belajar mengenai pergerakan, komunikasi, sosial dan persekitarannya dengan cara bermain. Untuk dua tiga bulan pertama kehidupannya, bayi anda akan belajar dengan anda. 

Perkara pertama bayi anda akan belajar ialah sentuhan, bunyi suara dan mimik muka yang anda lakukan kepadanya. Malah anda juga boleh menggalakkan stimulasi dengan senyuman, bunyi yang lembut dan sentuhan. Stimulasi ini merupakan ‘senaman’ kesihatan buat bayi anda yang masih kecil.

Aktiviti menukar pakaian
Sewaktu menukar pakaian atau lampin dan waktu dimandikan, anda boleh berbual mesra dengannya. Sambil menyalin pakaian gunakan perkataan indah untuk merangsang minda bayi seperti “ cantiknya anak mama” dan “wanginya anak mama”. Sambil itu bermainlah dengan jarinya. Jarinya boleh dicium dan kedua tangannya ditepuk supaya mindanya terangsang serta berasa gembira.

 

Mainan ringkas
Dalam beberapa minggu bayi anda boleh diperkenalkan kepada beberapa barang permainan yang ringkas yang mempunyai bunyi dan boleh di sentuh. Permainan itu seperti rattles, permainan lembut dan anak patung yang mempunyai melodi yang lembut.

Berbual mesra
Cakap dengan bayi anda. Bahasa digunakan ibu bapa setiap hari dapat membentuk minda bayi membentuk bahasanya. Ibu bapa perlulah faham mereka seharusnya memberikan perhatian terhadap perkembangan bahasa bayi dan membantunya dengan berbual mesra.

Sentuhan kasih sayang
Apabila bayi asyik memerhatikan wajah ibunya, lakukan sesuatu untuk menarik minatnya. Cuba menyanyi, menunjukkan senyuman gembira atau mencium tubuh bayinya itu. Senyuman dan suara anda ketika bercakap dengannya akan membuatkan dia merasa selesa dan selamat. Ini kerana suara dan sentuhan anda dia sudah biasa didengari akan membuatkan dia berasa selamat dan selesa.

Ketika menyusukan bayi, ibu jangan hanya memandang wajah bayi. Sebaliknya ungkapkan kata-kata manis untuk merangsang bayi. Perkataan seperti “anak mama comel’ dan “anak mama sayang” boleh digunakan bagi tujuan itu. 

Waktu tidur
Apabila bayi menangis atau menguap, ini memberi tanda waktu untuk tidur sudah tiba.  Bayi yang berusia lebih kurang 3 bulan memerlukan waktu tidur hampir lebih kurang 20 jam sehari. Jangan abaikan waktu tidurnya ini. Jadikan ia waktu yang berkualiti. Wujudkan persekitaran bilik yang nyaman untuk bayi tidur dengan selesa. 

Untuk lebih artikel mengenai keibubapaan, bayi dan kanak-kanak, sila lawati www.majalahpama.com.my.

Weaning & Nutritions

[From: www.babyambrosia.com]

Weaning to Solids

The benefits of breast-feeding for both you and your baby are not only to nurture the mother-child relationship. It helps build immunity and can help in cutting down the risk of developing breast cancer. Breast feeding (up to the age of 6 months) may also delay the development of allergic disease in high-risk infants (those with a family history of allergies). The ideal is to breast-feed (or bottle-feed) your baby up to the age of 6 months, and then introduce solid foods gradually as a supplement to their milk until the age of 1 year. However some babies are extra hungry! If this is the case for your child, weaning can begin from 4 months.

[picture from www.babyambrosia.com]

How To Wean?

Breast milk is the ideal food for infants up to the age of 4 to 6 months. Formula milk is the best substitute for breast milk. A baby should never be given cow’s milk as a substitute of either of these as it does not contain the balance of vital minerals and vitamins needed in those first months. From 4 to 6 months it becomes important to start introducing ‘solid’ foods. As your baby grows, she requires more iron and other nutrients than breast milk alone can provide. However, weaning off breast milk can be a challenging task!

Weaning has to be a gradual process of introducing different flavours and textures to allow your baby time to adapt and accept solids as he/she learns to chew and swallow. Introducing a variety of individual flavours and textures (such as apples, pumpkins, carrots) gives your child the opportunity to differentiate between tastes and subsequently helps in recognizing each flavour. It also allows you to identify any foods that your child may potentially have an allergic reaction to.

For stage by stage weaning guide, please visit www.babyambrosia.com.

Do's and don'ts when decorating the nursery

[From www.parenthots.com.my]

We have been brainwashed to think that baby girls must be surrounded with light pink and baby boys are normally in light blue. Often, if we're not sure yet whether it's a boy or a girl, then we go with yellow when painting the walls of the nursery.

Forget everything you've been brainwashed into believing.

According to celebrity designer and TV host Eric Leong, newborns, whether they are boys or girls, should be in a light pink room.

“From newborn to three years old, light pink will help them develop their brain. The light pink will help their brain to develop, they will be very active and and it will make them happy, too. Blue and yellow are not as effective. In colour therapy it represents unconditional love. So, babies when they look at this colour will feel happy and loved.

“However, after they reach three years of age, the advice is to paint the walls according to the child's gender. So, if you have a boy, then you paint the walls in baby blue. If it's a girl, you can maintain the walls in that baby pink or you can use lilac. Why after three years? This is because studies have found that after three is when the children develop their own character. So, if you maintain the baby pink, then the girl will become very girly and the boy will be a bit effeminate, too,” says Leong.

However, for soft furnishings like the curtains, comforter and bedsheet, strong colours can be used as long as it's not too much.

Leong explains that the soft pastel colours on the walls will help baby to relax while the strong colours will get their attention and help them develop their brain.

He warns against using too many strong primary colours in the nursery or children's room.

“For kids' rooms we don't use too many strong primary colours because if you have a hyperactive child and you have lots of primary colours in the room, the child will be more active.

“We also don't use white for the nursery or children's room because it's too pale and not fun. Usually we don't use white, black or grey. One of the big mistakes parents make is using dark blue for the baby boy's room. For boys aged three and above it should be baby blue or sky blue not dark blue. Sky blue also happens to be the colour of the year for 2010.

“Painting little pictures on the wall is fine but it takes up a lot of time and it's okay provided the parent is an artist or they can draw very well.

“Otherwise, just get wallpaper. But don't put it over the four walls, just one wall which is the feature wall. So you have the play area near the feature wall and can play with your child there.”

Three zones

Leong advises dividing up the space in the nursery or children's room into three areas, for sleep, play and study.

The sleeping zone is where the colour scheme needs to be very soft. The play zone is supposed to be very fun so you can have wallpaper on the wall or use strong colours or even have cartoon characters on the wall.

The play zone needs to be an empty space with no furniture where you can put toys for the baby or toddler to play with.

“The study area is very important because from young you can train them to read books. The study area is usually near the window so that you get the daylight coming in. You can make the study area near the window and put a small table there.”

Leong says by having different zones in the room, the children will learn to differentiate the sleep and study areas from the play area.

For storage in the nursery or child's room, Leong says it doesn't need a separate area and can be integrated into the play or study areas.

Open shelving

For toys and books, he recommends open shelving instead of closed cupboards, wardrobes or drawers. This way the child can see his toys or books and easily reach for them. Don't forget to make the open shelving unit a short one though for easy access.

This way the child learns to be more independent instead of constantly asking an adult to get a toy or book for him. Also, for children it is often a case of out of sight, out of mind. So, if they see their toys and books, they will play with them or read them. If you have these locked up in a closed cupboard, they won't remember they have those books or toys and won't use them.

Leong recommends open shelves rather than boxes because he says often with big boxes, the toys at the bottom of the box are forgotten and not played with.

“Besides having a good environment with different areas in the children's room, we must also train them to tidy up. So, after they've played, get them to put the toys and books back on the shelves. So, from young they are trained to clean up after themselves.”

Floor and lights

As for the flooring in the nursery or children's room Leong says laminated floorboards are a good choice.

“They are easy to install, not so expensive and easy to maintain. Even if the children use crayons to draw on the floor, you can clean it easily. Because it is laminated, the surface is easy to clean. And laminated floors feel warm too compared to tiles, marble or granite.

“Carpets are a no-no for the baby's room or children's room because of the dust.”

How about the lighting?

Leong says parents should get a few night lights for the nursery because babies don't like total darkness.

“Even if you don't want to have a night light, you can have one little table light in a corner of the room so they will see some reflection on the wall. Then the entire room will have very soft lighting.

“For the ceiling light, I would say get warm lighting for them to relax. In the day time you can open the windows and pull back the curtains to get the daylight in.

“For the study area in the children's room, you need daylight such as fluorescent lighting in case they want to study at night. So you need two types of lights for the children's room – one is warm for atmosphere and for them to relax and the other is daylight for them to study or read.

“Studies show that if you expose yourself under daylight or fluorescent lighting one or two hours before you sleep, chances are high that you will have trouble falling asleep. Warm light, on the other hand, prepares you for sleep.”

Conclusion

With those tips, you're all prepared to paint and decorate your baby's room and you won't have to repaint it or redo it until they turn three years old.

After three, Leong advises parents to involve the children in the small decisions in designing their room.

“By making small decisions, they will feel a sense of belonging to their room. Involve them in the simple decisions such as what cartoon characters to have on their wall; not the major decisions because at that age they are still too small to decide. Always remind them that this is their decision so they will feel confident.”

For more parenting articles, please visit www.parenthots.com.my.