We all know how it can be sometimes very frustrating trying to communicate with our baby or toddler. Perhaps one of the newest trends in parenting is baby sign language.  People in the deaf community have known for years that babies could communicate through sign long before their vocal cords allow them to speak, but the trend didn’t really catch on because of the false assumption that signing led to later verbal language development. We now know that not only does signing not keep a baby from talking; it actually helps them to start talking sooner and have better language skills.  

By using sign, children learn how to express themselves with words, and some will even start to put words together in sentences before they turn one.  Sign is also great for relieving some of the frustration you and your child face because they can tell you exactly what they want.  This is especially helpful if your child is ill.  Imagine a child under a year being able to tell you not only that they’re in pain, but where it hurts.

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by Patricia Hughes

One piece of baby gear that all new parents will need is a car seat. You will be asked if you have a seat at the hospital and a nurse may check before you are discharged from the hospital. A car seat will protect your baby in the event of an accident and in most places, using a car seat is the law. You have two basic choices in seats for your new baby, an infant only seat or a convertible car seat. There are pros and cons to each type of seat.

Infant Seats are made to fit rear facing and are used for young babies. The seat part can be removed from the base and carried by the handle. This feature can be useful for moving a sleeping baby into the house. Some are made as part of a travel system and can fit inside the stroller. The biggest benefit of these seats is that newborn babies just fit in them better. Newborns, especially smaller babies, flop around in many convertible seats and just don’t fit well.

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Tummy time is a relatively new concept. In past generations, babies were put to sleep on their tummies. This changed with the Back to Sleep Campaign from the American Academy of Pediatrics in the early 1990s. Since then, parents have been told to put babies on their backs to go to sleep. Research shows this is the safest way to sleep to reduce the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).

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What is RSV? RSV or respiratory syncytial virus causes respiratory infections among infants and small children. Is your newborn at risk for RSV?

Most likely to occur during the winter months, RSV is characterized by cough and cold like symptoms. However, an infant who is exposed to anyone who has a cold can develop a severe infection in their lower respiratory tract. Because newborns are susceptible in the first few weeks of their being born, developing RSV can result in their having to be hospitalized.

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Watching your baby grow is one of the most amazing and exciting experiences of parenthood. Each infant is individual and will learn and grow at their own pace. With this in mind, there are some milestones to watch for through baby's first year. The milestones are a general guideline and aren't going to be exact for all children. Below is baby's first year broken down by month.

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