Host: It's important to have a lot of stimulation of the child than everybody around, what are some of the tips you could give to increase that thing called stimulation.
Steven P. Shelov: Stimulation, when it comes to fostering development of babies, can be over done and certainly under done. This is become a sort of sense of if you don't really stimulate your baby then the baby won't develop, that's not true; babies have developed perfectly fine when they are not overly stimulated. But appropriate interaction between mother and baby or father and baby recognizing the cues of engagement to that baby are providing the kinds of other tools whether it would be toys or rattles or things that are developmentally appropriate, are all part of the baby learning about the environment. But the most important stimulation is you, the mother, or the parent, it's the face, it's the smile, it's the language, it's the soothing tone, it's all of that connection is the most important stimulation that can be done with a new born baby.
As a new born baby gradually grows and becomes more receptive to more other things that might go on, there is other opportunities whether it's colors, or shapes, or sounds, or reading all of that is sort of lead by the baby but needs to be responded too by the mother or the caregiver. And then as the baby's developmental stages go into the second and third month, as they start to be able to lift their head up and their smile is now truly interactive, then lots of other thing can be done in a crib or in a play area that can allow a child to simply begin to recognize what is out there in the world. These stages of development and of incredibly sort of finding those things that the baby will respond to are very important to growth and development of the baby but don't over do it. We don't need flash cards in four months of age.
There is a tendency that parents get sort of so over involved that they think that if there is something not going all the time then there is going to be a lack. That's not the case. Remember, the most important stimulation of that baby is you, your words, your looks, your feel, your touch, your interaction and engagement throughout. That's the most important stimulus.
Host: A lot of it, I would feel, is also in your hands. You should be very gentle, or you should be soothing, that's something you forget about.
Steven P. Shelov: No question. There is lots of research to show the importance of infant touch on stimulation, on receptivity, on growth of brain and development of a sense of attachment. We sometimes forget that that the touch and the feel of the skin is a two-way street; you get something from it and the baby gets something from it. Tiffany Field at a Nova University in Florida has done extensive research on touch and infant message but it doesn't have of to be a formal massage; just pressing, holding, touching, all of that skin-to-skin stuff really is important to the baby developing a sense of security.
What's amazing is those first videos of babies as they are crawling up to mother's belly in a very first minutes of life, it's the skin-to-skin connection that stimulates hormonal response in the mother. All the hormonal responses that are necessary to shrink the uterus and to begin to have milk flow that starts, a lot of that is stimulate by skin-to-skin. So, if extend that into the early weeks and months of the baby's life, the skin-to-skin touch is tremendously important stimulus for the baby and the mother and the father to sort of connect and it's enjoyable for both.
Host: People read books, they think their kid has to do something exactly by the fourth month or by the sixth month. The babies don't always grow evenly, is it true?
Steven P. Shelov: Absolutely. The key to development is that there is continuity that it's moving forward, it's progress. When we first designed and created the child care book at the Academy of Pediatrics, we were worried about having the sort of developmental milestones that parents will regard as must happen by such and such of time. So we built in, there is a range. The key is, has there been progress, has there been moving and if it didn't happen in seven months and it happens at eight months, it's okay and not to get so sort of frenetic or crazy about if it doesn't hit a certain immediate time.
They are meant to be ranges of normal and keep that in mind; if a baby pose to stand at eleven months and some others don't do it till thirteen months, that's okay. As long as there has been a gradual growth and development of that skill, so that walking and moving around on their feet becomes the next step of development. Sometimes parents have come to me and said, "My baby is not walking by one." The important question is, well, what is your baby doing? Well actually, she she going over, she is pulling stand, occasionally she let go. I said that's the first step, I promise you she, your baby will walk and therefore, it's important to reinforce the fact that there are no absolute guidelines in which it is not happening in a certain point then you must start to worry.
Now, that's not to say that sometimes babies fall outside the range and the developmental progress is slow or is not happening appropriately. So, at some point, there can be recognition that okay, it's not going in the right direction. But that's a small number of babies, the vast majority are within a range of normal and not to get worried if doesn't sort of hit a specific month or day.
Host: Perhaps you've probably discussed amongst yourself.
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