Many parents focus on the physical and cognitive development of their newborns. However, not every parent pays attention to the emotional development of their babies.
Remember, this development is more important than other aspects because it includes your infant’s social skills, behaviour patterns, and much more.
You can help foster your baby’s emotional development by using different techniques to your benefit. If you want to know more about things that can help you with this action, you’re in the right place.
Here is everything you need to know about fostering emotional development in babies.
Key Notes
- Skin contact with your kid can make them feel safer and promote their social development
- Music is one of the top ways to emotional development in babies
- Attunement techniques such as baby talk can help you emotionally bond with your infant
- Mimicking emotions with expressions can allow your baby to recognize different feelings
Things To Expect From Your Baby During Emotional Development
Babies start to exhibit different patterns as they age. Here are some things that make fostering emotional development necessary:
- Infants recognize different expressions from four months onwards
- Separation anxiety is often seen in toddlers of six to seven months
- Your baby will likely laugh by two to four months
Of course, not all babies follow the same pattern. Some may experience delays in emotional development. However, you can use different techniques to promote your kid’s development and make them more receptive to various stimuli.
How To Foster Emotional Development In Babies?
Here are the top things you can do to foster emotional development in babies:
1. Form A Secure Bond
Many parents believe they can form a bond with their baby after birth. However, you can also create a connection while the infant develops in utero. Acts such as singing to the baby can help them recognize the parent’s sound more easily after birth.
Following interactions can help you form a bond with your baby in utero:
- Reading to the fetus
- Talking to your developing baby
- Singing to the child
This technique is mainly suitable for mothers because newborns prefer their mother’s sound over other noises, as per different studies. Forming a connection early will make it easier to stimulate physical and mental development once the child is born.
Skin contact after birth is also helpful for maintaining a secure bond with your kid.
2. Baby Play
The natural way to foster emotional development in babies is baby play. This will also help other types of development, such as physical and cognitive. Your newborn will slowly learn how to express their emotions and communicate different feelings.
You can use baby play to help the toddler express things healthily. For instance, you may show different feelings to the kid by mimicking them or through books. Gazing into each other’s eyes will also help with forming a bond and stimulating a strong connection.
3. Attunement Techniques
Attunement techniques are best for children under the age of three. These strategies involve you being receptive towards your toddler. One of the top games that come under this category is peek-a-boo. The interaction will stimulate the baby to form a connection with you.
You may even talk to the newborn even if the baby does not understand you yet. This is because the action will make the toddler get used to your presence and learn from your expressions slowly. Such techniques are also great stimuli for enhancing early brain development in babies.
4. Use Music
Music is another great way to stimulate emotional development because it makes expression easier. You can use different songs to help your baby learn about different emotions. Jolly songs can be used to transmit happiness.
Combining songs with videos is also helpful for emotional development. Some tunes that parents use for this purpose are:
- Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
- If You’re Happy And You Know It
Pairing these songs with visuals can also help you pique the curiosity of your baby, making the kid more receptive to participation.
5. Vocabulary
Vocabulary can also help you with stimulating emotional development. This is mainly suitable for children of 2.5 years or three years. Learning new words and connecting them with different emotions can help with self-regulation. Start with easy words so that your toddler can understand easily.
You may also promote development by reading books to your infant from an early age. Offering examples by physically demonstrating different emotions and vocabulary will be helpful.
Seeing tutorials about this on YouTube may help you. Remember, this technique will also be helpful even if your toddler exceeds the age of three.
Final Thoughts
These are the top five ways to foster emotional development in babies.
You can play with your infant, talk to them, and use music to stimulate the toddler’s senses and brain development. So form a connection with your baby early for better physical, mental, and cognitive development.
