Building Your Baby’s Self-Respect
Your child may still be your “baby”, but they are getting bigger and more capable every day. Encourage independence – give them little jobs to build confidence and self-respect.
When trying new skills, children learn through trial and error!
- Allow your child to try new finger foods with – different textures, shapes, and sizes. As their fine motor skills develop, your children will feel great pride when they can pick up the slippery piece of kiwi or honeycomb shaped cereal bites!
- Sometimes children are just as surprised as you are when they are able to do certain things!
Here are some ways you can do this…
- Let your child experiment with pulling up onto the couch or climbing over a mountain of pillows. Provide some “spotting” to ensure that they don’t fall or get hurt, but give them a little space to flex those muscles!
- When you get your child dressed – ask them to help. At this age, they will begin to push their arms through the arm holes, and lift a leg (while supported) to put their feet into pants.
- Give your child a children’s toothbrush and let them chew on it to “brush” their teeth.