Playing With Your Baby

By three months, your baby's coordination is starting to develop. His sense of sight and touch will start to work together as hand-eye coordination grows. At around three months your baby may "discover" his hands. Many babies love playing with their hands at this age and will enjoy games like 'pat-a-cake' and hand clapping.

From around three months, many babies will also try to grasp things they can see. Playing with your baby will help develop better hand-eye coordination. Try holding a rattle about 25 cm away from your little one and moving it slowly so that he can follow it with his eyes. Soon your baby will reach out to grab it!

Visual Development

Your baby's vision will develop gradually as he grows. A newborn baby can focus on just 25 cm away - just the right distance to be able to see your face. Newborn baby girls respond strongly to visual stimulation, however baby boys may need much more visual stimulation up to the age of seven months, as they will lose interest in designs more quickly.

By two to three months your baby's eyes are working in unison and able to follow moving objects. By three months, your baby can follow an object from one side of his body to the other.

Your baby's eye muscles have now developed so that he can see small objects as well as larger ones. Also by about three months, most babies have developed colour vision.

Mental Development

It's very exciting to see your baby's mental development. Development of the whole body is dependant on how mature the brain is and whether or not brain, nerve and muscle connections have grown. Your baby can learn something new, such as recognizing his name, once the right connections are in place

Talking To Your Baby

By six weeks, your baby will be turning towards you to watch your face when you speak and smile. Your little one is already developing communication skills that will eventually lead to speech and you can help. Talk to your baby, describing everyday things you do like 'let's go upstairs now', 'here's your rattle'. Or share a simple storybook, ideally with big black and white or very bright pictures. And always talk to your baby as if he understands you – because very soon, he will.

Feeding

As a parent you want the best for your baby, and this includes the important area of feeding. Up until around six months, all your baby needs is your breast milk, on demand throughout the day and night. If this isn't possible, or if you choose not to breastfeed, choose an iron fortified infant formula that is suitable from birth. Some moms find that a combination of the two is what works best for them.

Sleeping

Sleeping is very important for your baby, and your newborn may spend as much as 16 hours a day sleeping. As your baby grows and becomes more interested in his surroundings his periods of wakefulness will increase.