The Most Important Word When It Comes to Caring for Your Baby
Nathan Wallis, neuroscience and parenting educator, shares the most important word you need to know when it comes to caring for your baby
4 min read
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The Most Important Word When It Comes to Caring for Your Baby
So what is the single most important word you need to understand to enhance human development, to get all of your baby’s brain online?
The one word I would choose is responsiveness.
Responsiveness just means that you are responding to your baby. It means that your baby is initiating and you’re responding. So often we as parents want to initiate. Of course initiating contact is better than ignoring the baby! But what I’m saying is that when you let the baby lead and you follow their cue, that does far more to stimulate their brain development than if you simply just give them a cue.
In plain language, that means when I’m holding a baby in my arms and they go “uh uh uh”, and I say “I’m dad dad dad” because I want the baby to say dad – that’s not being responsive. Responsive is where the baby says “uh uh uh” and I say “uh uh uh” back to them. Basically the baby is like “Oh he’s copying me, he’s mimicking me”.
That’s exactly how the baby is going to develop most of their language – by copying you, so if he sees you mimicking him, he starts mimicking earlier and develops language faster.
So the key word is responsiveness. Follow your baby’s cues. They know what’s good for them so respond to their lead. They’re really the geniuses and the expert when it comes to play and human development. They’ve got a built-in program.
If we learn to respond to our baby and listen to our baby, you’ll see what you need to do as a parent because your baby will show you.
The First 1000 Days Really Are So Important - Let Me Help You
Come along to one of my talks to understand the brains a bit better (and pick up some parenting tactics)
Come along to one of my talks and learn how our interactions with our kids play a critical role in defining their future, not just their genes!
I’ll guide you through the stages of brain development that happen across childhood and reveal little tricks to make parenting easier. Don’t worry, I explain the complexities of neuroscience in plain language so you can really understand, using humour because humour makes learning easier!
See below for upcoming dates. or follow me on Facebook to stay informed.
Expert Profile: Nathan Wallis
Educator, Neuroscience Researcher, Dynamic Speaker
Nathan Wallis is a Neuroscience Educator, researcher, child trauma counsellor, parenting expert and prolific speaker. It’s Nathan’s ability to break down the complexities of neuroscience with plain language, humour and actionable tips that sees him sell-out around 200 seminars in New Zealand, Australia and China each year.
He has also developed an app which summarises the mountains of neuroscience discoveries on infant brains into 4-minute video clips. The app also provides practical advice on topics such as teething, sleeps and tantrums – all in Nathan’s signature plain-speaking and enthusiastic style.
Follow Nathan on Facebook , check to see when he is next presenting in your area, or search for his app, ‘Parenting Baby’s Brain’, in your Android or Apple App Store.
