How your baby’s bath time can actually help in her development?

Knowledge Partner:  

Tiny gestures have a huge impact on your baby’s growth. As soon as a baby is born, s/he uses their sense of sight, smell, touch and sound to learn about their environment. The way you nurture and nourish your baby has an everlasting effect. Most parents don’t realize how important bath time is! It is fun for both you and your baby but did you know that it enriches not just your baby’s health but also multisensory experiences are critical to helping shape your baby’s growing brain. It gives your child an opportunity to touch, see, smell and sound, bath time is an excellent time for you to nurture your baby’s development.

Here are a few ways that bath time actually helps your baby’s development!

Building and strengthening your baby’s Language and Thinking Skills

You can connect and engage with your child in various ways, for example when they indicate you to read to them, start by praising and then doing what she requests of you. This teaches her the skill of communication and reinforces that sounds and actions are a good way to show what you are thinking or feeling. While bathing your little one talk to them about what you’re doing and don’t be shy, be as animated as you can be. Exclaim, “Look, now it’s your feet’s turn” when washing their feet, this helps them learn words and body parts as well. You can also use bath time to teach them new skills like how to make a big splash and finding her belly under the bubbles. By imitating your actions they understand the cause and effect of such actions all the while bonding with you. Lastly, sing to your baby or even better, sing along with them. It has been established that listening to music stimulates the parts of your baby’s brain responsible for memory.

Helping them understand Physical  Development

Bath time can be fun as well as quite educational. Offer your child a variety of toys that appeal to different senses. Engage them in different activities like transferring objects from one hand to another and using their hands to make objects work, such as trying to get the bath stickers to stick to the tub, teaches your baby confidence etc. Seeing your child conquer these little tasks instills an incomparable sense of accomplishment in them and pride in you. Don’t forget to praise your baby and talk about their body parts as they are being used. For example when they pop a bubble with their finger, exclaim, ”Look at what your fingers can do!”  This will help them recognize their parts and its various functions.

Did you also know?

Familiar and pleasant scents can make your baby happy. Various studies have shown that babies who were bathed with a fragranced bath product showed 30% more engagement cues with their parent after their bath and spent almost 25% less time crying before sleeping.

Safety Tips

Remember, safety comes first always. You must never leave your baby alone in the bath not even for a moment. Gather all the things you will need beforehand and let your phone ring but don’t leave them alone. Another very important aspect is to make sure the temperature of the heater is below 48 degrees Celsius to help prevent the possibility of scalding.

It is essential that you make full use of this precious time with your little one, you may not realize it but the impact can be powerful. It helps form an eternal bond between you and helps nurture their growth.

Also read a Mom Star’s suggestions on making bath time a learning time. 

Read More On Baby