I dream of sleep — Infant years

Building a strong attachment with your baby helps them learn about relationships and creates a foundation for their growth. Responding to their cues fosters language development and deepens your bond.

The relationship you’re building with your baby helps them learn what to expect from relationships as they grow.
Knowing they can rely on you for their needs helps to free up your baby’s capacity for learning.
Your baby’s social interactions are increasing and you may begin to notice more eye contact, coo-ing in response to your voice, and early babbling when you talk to them.
Teaching your baby to sleep (sleep training or learning) does not have any impact on your attachment relationship.
Serve and return style interactions are about you responding to your baby. When they make a noise, you make one back. This is one of the many ways that attachment is built.

When your baby makes a noise, make one back. When they make a sad face, mak a sad face back at them. This back and forth response supports their language development and your attachment relationship.

The AAP recommends introducing water after 6 months old.
Since the beginning of starting solids is all about exposure, tastes, textures and smells, this is the perfect time to introduce spices. (Stay away from salt spices/powders.)
90% of all food allergies are caused by one of eight foods, including milk, eggs, wheat, soy, tree nuts, peanuts, fish, and shellfish. A child generally has to be exposed to a food more than once before allergic symptoms show.
Gagging and choking are different. Gagging is a reflex that can help your baby learn how to manage and move food around in their mouth. Gagging can happe when drinking from a bottle, the breast, or eating purees/solids.

Try introducing water with a sippy cup or open cup. Don’t give too much to start. Remember that both breast milk and formula contain water.
Experiment with different spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, cumin, turmeric, and rosemary.
Talk with your baby about what they are eating. Tell them what it is, talk about how you made it, what it smells like, or the color. Keep distractions away from your baby during mealtime. That means books, screens, and toys are turned off and/or away. Let your baby explore new foods more than once. Remember that it can take up to 15 exposures for your baby to decide if they like a food.
Always watch your baby during mealtime. Doing this ensures that you’re there to respond to their needs.
Ensure that baby is seated in an upright and comfortable position so they can appropriately chew and swallow.

Early wakeups are common. Any wakeup after 6am is considered normal for babies. The best way to ensure your baby gets enough nighttime sleep is to put them to bed early. The later you put them to bed, the more overtired they get and the harder it becomes to fall asleep and stay asleep.
Your baby may now be able to organize their daytime sleep into 3-4 naps. These naps generally organize themselves around 5 months of age. Expect the morning nap to become consistent first. If a nap is over 45 minutes, it counts as restorative.

Continue to monitor your baby’s tired cues so you don’t miss their natural sleep window. Offer naps every 2-3 hours after waking up.
Practice the same nap routine each time you put your baby down. This signals to them that naptime is coming.
The third nap of the day is the most flexible. Take this nap on the go - in the car, in the stroller, while running errands. This nap simply exists to help your baby make it to bedtime without getting too over-tired.
Put your baby down drowsy but awake, which encourages them to fall asleep on their own.

Nap 1: Around 9am (earlier for babies who wake up before 7am)

Nap 2: Should be around 1pm, but watch your baby and not the clock. Usually happens 2-3 hours after they wakeup from their first nap

Nap 3: Brief, only 16% take it, usually between 3-5pm and disappears by 9 months

In the next few months, your baby will develop a strong understanding of object permanence. This is the idea that objects and people, especially you, continue to exist even though they’re out of sight.
Babbling is when your baby repeats sounds and syllables. This is an important part of language development and typically starts somewhere between 5-7 months.
Parental preference is when your baby suddenly seems to prefer one parent over the other. It can happen out of nowhere and often feels hurtful to the parent being pushed away. This is a normal part of development that will come and go.

Try playing peekaboo with your baby to practice this idea of object permanence. You can also hide a toy under a blanket and then lift the blanket to reveal it. Your baby will continue to understand object permanence by making observations.
When your baby babbles, respond to them. You can even imitate some of the sounds that they make. You might hear sounds like “da-da” but these sounds aren’t attached to meaning yet.
Label things for your baby. If your baby looks at something and babbles, you might say “Yes! That’s the dog. The dog says ‘woof woof.”
Make sure to speak slowly and leave space (pause, wait) for them to respond to you.
Recognize that parental preference is not indicative of the kind of parent that you are. This preference has nothing to do with your attachment relationship. When this happens, stay calm and allow your baby to have these opinions.

Trying a parent-baby class is a great way to stimulate your baby’s senses and meet other parents and babies.
A new parent’s brain is uniquely printed for learning in the first few months. Caregiving leads to actual changes in the brain, referred to as “parenting brain.” The changes are seen in biological mothers, birth fathers, and anyone who intimately cares for the baby.
Around this time, it’s so common to feel feelings of isolation and loneliness. Since we know that there are mental and physical healthy implications that come with these feelings, it’s best to welcome these thoughts and seek the support you need to move through.

Sign up for a class to meet people and engage socially. This is good for you AND your baby. Choose a parent-baby class that does not interrupt your baby’s feeding or sleeping schedule. It’s best to find a class that is within close proximity to your home, so making the trek doesn’t feel too intimidating.
Avoid competitive parenting thoughts or comparing your child to others. Development is a long and winding path and there is plenty of variation, You and your baby continue to learn together and from each other.
Give yourself patience and grace as you continue to adjust to your new identity.