7 Basic Baby's Needs

7 Basic Baby's Needs

• Struggling with a daily grind of changing, feeding and putting your baby to sleep?
• Do you have a seemingly unhappy baby?
• Do you wonder if there is more to raising a happy child?

As a mother of five, and from my years of experience of raising, feeding, changing and cleaning them I have had to overcome the multiple challenges a parent goes through when raising their new-borns.

The necessities every baby needs.

We all know that babies need sleep food and a regular change of diapers. Those are obvious basic needs. When we see that helpless bundle and all the emotions overwhelm us, we simply forget that little human in our hands may one day be a president, or an astronaut, or a scientist, a doctor that will save someone's life. Those types of thoughts are very far from us especially when we see the uncoordinated movements the baby makes with his/her hands, the glazed look of a newborn, and then we hear gurgles and coos instead of words. And if you try and speak to the baby you get even further from the belief that your efforts were well spent. But, my dear, you couldn't be farther from the truth!

That same baby that is unable to tell you what she is feeling, hearing, seeing does have all those senses about her. She is a human being just in a very small form. They should be treated with the full respect you would give someone you honor and revere. She also has needs, they range from the need to go out, to change  of scenery, to hearing new sounds, and most of all she is in dire need of input. That is their inherent virtue; they crave input, and yearn for new, they hunger for your teaching.

Needs new parents often overlook

Routine

Babies love routines. Routines teach them what to expect next. That is how they learn, they need predictability. They want to be able to count on that diaper change, that feeding, that leg exercise. Try to stick to the routine and the baby will learn quickly. Knowing that she can count on those routines will make her feel more relaxed and agreeable.

Exercising

Believe it or not our babies love to exercise, even though they don't know how to. That is why she has you! Simple leg and arm movements daily while changing a diaper is enough to begin with. For more in depth exercises check out my next blog! I've must have gotten the point of this as thanks to these exercises my children had strong enough legs and started walking progressively earlier (first one at 11 months, second 10 months, third baby 9 months, and twins at 8 months old)

A Change of Scenery

You will not believe this, but babies can get bored. One of my twins at three months old would scream on top of his lungs if he was in a same room for an extended periods of time. He liked to be moved around, challenged with new things, shown pictures, told about sounds, all the time. How do you imagine they will learn if they are kept in one place, one room mostly?

Closeness

Babies love when you hold them close. Some will be more clingy while others less in need of cuddles, but they all need to be held close when fed, while being put to sleep and at other times as well. They feel the reassurance of a mother's heart beat (they did listen to it for 9 months) that is a familiar sound to them, reminding them of being safe and tucked away.

Communication

It is important to talk to your baby all the time. When she is being fed, changed, washed. This is the way they learn how communication works. Some research has shown that babies that are talked to more start speaking earlier than the ones that haven't been. It does take an effort especially if you feel that there is no feedback. But trust me, that is the best way for them to learn, don't withhold it from them. They are super eager to learn, teach them so you can get a feedback few months down the line. HELPFUL TIP: speak to them as you would want them to speak back to you, no baby language, no lisping, speak clearly in full words and sentences.

Fresh Air

Yes, babies also like fresh air. You might have concerns about it being cold outside, or too hot, wet, whatever. If you bundle them up (yes, bundle them as they are not moving around like you are while walking) or put them in a sling so they can have a benefit of your body heat as well and take that walk, even a couple of times a day. Fresh air is something that they can't get too much of. If on the other hand, it is too cold, break it up into a couple of short walks, in any way make sure they get at the very least one hour of fresh air a day. As they are growing up, that one hour can easily be extended to at least two to three hours a day. Rubber boots (when they start walking), one piece, rain and wind resistant suit and let them experience the world around them in their innocent wonder.

Input

Now, the best I've left for the last! Input IS a basic baby's need and mostly overlooked! (for different types of input, the schedule, and activities please check out my up and coming course "Activities for Babies 0-12 Months" and future blogs) It should be given at the very start, consistently and according to the baby's development schedule (although it is never to late to start). Many researches have proven that input given to babies consistently and early on has helped them develop into inquisitive youngsters and very intelligent people, while allowing their brain to develop better. Here are some excerpts from the latest research done:

Much more than the basic necessities

Babies are born with just about all the neurons they'll ever have -- about 100 billion of them. Though only one quarter the size, a baby's brain looks exactly like ours.
Over the next three years, that brain triples in size, establishing more than 1,000 trillion intricate and complicated connections between neurons. Anyone who has cared for a child has witnessed this explosive growth, from that ungainly infant to a running, shouting toddler with a sense of self and opinions to share.
This magical and sometimes stressful window of rapid growth, when the brain's malleability is at its peak, can set the stage for future learning and healthy development throughout life, according to neuroscientists and child development experts.
It's a time when a lot can go right or wrong for a child, says Charles Nelson, a professor of pediatrics at Boston Children's Hospital and a steering committee member of Harvard's Center on the Developing Child.
Experpts from Cleveland.com

The key to a happier baby isn’t just about providing them with sleep, food and a regular change of diapers. My real life experience has shown that it is much more than that, including how your baby interprets their overall surroundings and how you, their mother and father, interact with them in their formative years.

Have you found your own ways of making your baby happy? Let us know in the comments section below. If you enjoyed this post, I’d be very grateful if you’d help it spread by emailing it to a friend, or sharing it on Twitter or Facebook. Thank you!