10mos Baby

Jayden turned 10mos yesterday!

Here's some relevant findings:

He's not naughty - he's a baby

As your baby starts asserting himself, you may be surprised by some of his behaviour. He may know what "no" means yet still do something forbidden over and over again, all the time looking over his shoulder to see how you'll react. Punishments and anger do little good at this age, although distracting him often works. He can't yet 'behave' as he's too busy experimenting. Try suggesting something he can do, like "give me that, please" or offering a favourite toy. Praising things your baby does that you do like makes it more likely he will do them again. Saving the "no" for genuinely dangerous activities gives it more power - he will know you mean it!

Blooming personality aka Showing his true colours now!
Your baby's personality is probably really emerging now. He may be very social, granting broad smiles to everyone he meets, or a little more reticent, shyly hiding his face when well-meaning strangers try to engage him. He'll repeat sounds, gesture for your attention and may even wave goodbye when he sees you head for the door. He's also developing a mind of his own, which you've probably already noticed when he protests being put in his car seat or pushchair.

Handling your baby's fears
There will be times when your child is scared of things he can't understand or of things that didn't formerly bother him, such as a ringing doorbell or the telephone. When this happens, the most important thing you can do as a parent is comfort and reassure him; tell him that you're there and he's fine.

Talking to your chatterbox
Your baby is just beginning to understand many simple words and phrases, so it's more important than ever to keep talking to him. Give your chatterbox a head start on good speech patterns by repeating his words back to him using adult language. If he asks for a "baubau," for example, gently reinforce the correct pronunciation by asking, "Do you want a drink?" At this stage of the game it's best to try to avoid the tendency to use baby talk -- it's fun, but hearing the right words is better for your baby's development. Though it may sometimes feel silly, having conversations with your baby is a great way to encourage his language skills. When he rattles off a sentence of gibberish, respond with "Oh, really? How interesting." He'll probably smile and keep chattering away. Soon you may notice some words or gestures you actually understand, as well as other forms of communication, such as pointing and grunting. Giving your baby a blow-by-blow description of what you're doing is also a great idea, whether you're dicing onions for dinner or folding the laundry. As you put him in his pushchair, say, "There you go, into your blue pushchair. Now let's buckle you in and get you comfortable. Okay, we're off to the park." You can also sing him nursery rhymes, demonstrate actions that go with words (saying "bye-bye" and waving for instance), and play games such as 'patta-cake patta-cake' or 'this little piggy', so he learns to identify key words and phrases. He'll soon start to make the connections. Before long, he'll be clapping his hands together when you do and may begin to say Mama when he's looking at Mum and Dada when Dad comes into the room (though at this point he's still more likely to use the two names indiscriminately).

Link on discipline of baby:
http://www.babycentre.co.uk/toddler/penelopeleach/disciplinecooperation/