- Original Poster
- #1
Research out this week suggests that putting your baby in a buggy that faces away from you could be harmful to their communication skills.
Actually, this is something weve been talking about at Talking Tots for quite some time now. In the early days, your baby can spend several hours each day in a buggy, while you do the shopping, walk to the park, visit friends and family.
During those hours youll be doing lots of communicating. Even if its just adjusting your expressions as you look at things, or exchanging a few words with shop keepers or other mums at the bus stop. By letting your baby see you, youre helping them to understand how this communication stuff works. And it stands to reason that face-to-face contact means you can communicate with your baby more easily, too.
Here are some tips on how you and your baby can make the most of buggy time:
Actually, this is something weve been talking about at Talking Tots for quite some time now. In the early days, your baby can spend several hours each day in a buggy, while you do the shopping, walk to the park, visit friends and family.
During those hours youll be doing lots of communicating. Even if its just adjusting your expressions as you look at things, or exchanging a few words with shop keepers or other mums at the bus stop. By letting your baby see you, youre helping them to understand how this communication stuff works. And it stands to reason that face-to-face contact means you can communicate with your baby more easily, too.
Here are some tips on how you and your baby can make the most of buggy time:
- Point out and name everyday objects as you go past. Describe them if you can: Oh, look, theres the green tree.
- Encourage your baby to listen to sounds. Can they hear the birds? Did they hear that noisy car?
- Always respond to your child when they say something even if its a gurgle. Reward your babys attempts to communicate and theyll be more likely to try again!
- Make sure you leave time for your baby to respond, even if theyre too young to speak back in words. Those little gurgles, giggles and noises are all early attempts to communicate.
