Babies and Stuffed Animals: Developing Social Skills
That cuddly stuffed animal that your baby has developed a fondness for may help boost her emerging social skills.
Does your baby seem to shower affection on a favorite stuffed animal or doll? Or gaze adoringly at the bears on her mobile? At six months, babies can be surprisingly social (stranger anxiety has yet to develop) and delightfully generous with smiles, giggles, shrieks, and squeaks. And toys like these are just right for boosting those emerging social skills. Teddy bears and other friendly faces, for example, provide an always-available audience for her chatter, and at this stage of the game she doesn't mind if they are the silent type. In fact, their silence is helping her learn the back-and-forth, give-and-take of socializing - even if she's doing all the talking and the toys are staying mum. After all, good friends listen!
So if you hear baby cooing to her "buddy" (or to herself in the crib mirror) after a nap, don't interrupt the party - give her a few minutes of talk-time before you pick her up. (The same no-interruption rule goes for when the two of you are chatting. If she's babbling, wait until she takes a break to respond.) And remember that fuzzy friends can make great peekaboo partners (with Mom or Dad manipulating their peeking and booing) - which also demonstrates to a baby the pleasure of taking turns.
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This happened this morning! My alarm went off and as I was walking to the shower I could hear Evan in his room chattering away. I look in his room and he's laying in his crib holding one of his teddy bears up just talking away to it. It was the cutest thing ever. He saw me peeking and gave me the biggest smile (he always gives those in the morning). Warms my heart!
Does your baby seem to shower affection on a favorite stuffed animal or doll? Or gaze adoringly at the bears on her mobile? At six months, babies can be surprisingly social (stranger anxiety has yet to develop) and delightfully generous with smiles, giggles, shrieks, and squeaks. And toys like these are just right for boosting those emerging social skills. Teddy bears and other friendly faces, for example, provide an always-available audience for her chatter, and at this stage of the game she doesn't mind if they are the silent type. In fact, their silence is helping her learn the back-and-forth, give-and-take of socializing - even if she's doing all the talking and the toys are staying mum. After all, good friends listen!
So if you hear baby cooing to her "buddy" (or to herself in the crib mirror) after a nap, don't interrupt the party - give her a few minutes of talk-time before you pick her up. (The same no-interruption rule goes for when the two of you are chatting. If she's babbling, wait until she takes a break to respond.) And remember that fuzzy friends can make great peekaboo partners (with Mom or Dad manipulating their peeking and booing) - which also demonstrates to a baby the pleasure of taking turns.
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This happened this morning! My alarm went off and as I was walking to the shower I could hear Evan in his room chattering away. I look in his room and he's laying in his crib holding one of his teddy bears up just talking away to it. It was the cutest thing ever. He saw me peeking and gave me the biggest smile (he always gives those in the morning). Warms my heart!