Aren't newborns amazing!  so much more capable than we give them credit for.  2 feet is a huge area to cover

Have you seen breastfeeding crawl video?  http://breastcrawl.org

amazing no help necessary - just patience

Oh don't watch if your offended by seeing natural nutrition 

Congratulations Kimba.  Beautiful name.

Hi,

I just wanted to reply because we've recently started early potty training at 11 months and I can see some similarities between that and early learning in general.

For us it is about exposure and allowing our baby to have the opportunity to play with these elements of daily life until he is able to work with them properly.  There is no pressure and no expectations at such an early age so every little sign of progress is a delight and receives lots of encouragement (genuine "emotional" positive encouragement from us not just empty praise). 

I think I would feel some pressure to get our baby toilet trained quickly if I had started later and I certainly have seen this same pressure and expectation on children when learning to read at age 5, 6, or 7. 

I would love our little one to be able to read and toilet trained early however I am realistic and know that if it happens at the "expected" age he will be well prepared. By then it will have been part of everyday life for him for a long time so there hopefully will be some good habits taught if nothing else.

I would investigate Montessori if you are more interested in non-screen education.  Very suitable for early years - practical life skills and sensory development.

Hi everyone,

I'm after some advise from the more technical minded of you - I have no idea what to do.

Windows changed drive to a dynamic drive and partitions were deleted.  Not exactly sure what this means except the baby video and photos are gone - and they were not all backed up.

Can the data be recovered? easily? or do we need to take it to data recovery company.

I would really appreciate any suggestions

Congratulations leylap,

I would recommend starting with sensory "lessons" helping baby adjust to the feel of their body with the new limitations of gravity etc.  This could be gentle rocking side to side and forward backward.  Baby massage will be useful, breastfeeding if you can will help visual and touch and more importantly bonding - although bottle feeding can be done in a nursing way too.

I wouldn't worry about starting anything formal or planned until several months time.  Give you and your baby time to get to know each other and enjoy the wonders of seeing it all anew. All we did initially was read books to baby and sing lullabies - oh and rocked and swayed

checked out the vestibular system - something that i wish i'd known about prebirth

best of luck for the big event

Congratulations - he's adorable, and so alert!

[For us Dr Sears, Pinky McKay and Elizabeth Pantley's books are favourites - realistic and gentle and they know what they're talking about - all big researchers into child development.]

Arvi could it be his teeth? moving or coming through.

The fact that he is waking crying could be pain - its more noticeable at night (for babies that's true too). And he could be breastfeeding more to sooth his gums. Try some pain relief and see if it stops then you know. Or he's calling out to you - separation anxiety may also have started for him. We've seen both and if its not teething pain then baby pain relievers wont stop the crying so then you can try strategies for the anxiety.

Our little boy has never been a wonderful sleeper - have read so many sleep books and tried so many things and we seem to take two steps forward and one back. 

For us Dr Sears, Pinky McKay and Elizabeth Pantley's books are favourites - realistic and gentle and they know what they're talking about - all big researchers into child development.

Be warned of sleep trainers and leaving baby to cry alone (or protest until they become distressed) - let them grizzle a bit and protest sure but if they are getting upset then step in quickly - if its separation anxiety leaving him wont help.

We recently tried to help our baby boy learn to "self settle" in his cot alone (he has turned one so we thought time to try again) and after three days of this he now screams if he's taken near his cot or we turn on the mobile.   So for us its back to bouncing him to sleep on the exercise ball with lots of cuddles to heal from the trauma  one day he'll get it.

Let us know what works

nhockaday I'm curious as to why you wouldn't use it again.

I used it and think I probably would use it again but still keeping on alert for any news

I'd say keep looking as it is a very interesting area and you’d probably really enjoy it.  There’s so much we don't know yet about development during pregnancy.  I looked into this at the time and the foetus’s reactions to stimulus is an area that may soon be used to test prenatally for problems as its is non intrusive. I agree some of the things available are questionable but my own experience was a positive one. 

I used Babyplus during pregnancy plus music and reading etc. For me it was the foundation of pattern differentiation that made sense.  My son exercised a great deal during the time listening to the beats and his reactions clearly changed over the days of listening.  He would initially move a lot and by the third or fourth day of hearing the same beat he barely moved as if he was bored – it was pretty funny.  He was born very strong – enduring a long labour without a problem and contractions actually started after all the lessons had been completed! So there were a few things which made me wonder and there still are now. As for its safety I figured being an American product and no sign of them being sued yet it must be safe. Sad logic to use I know.

What I loved most about it though was the time for connection it created.  It became a time out where I was totally focussed on his movements and sending positive thoughts and belly rubs to my baby.  For that reason alone I’d used it again.

In an ideal world I definitely think planning and "education" (communication) can start from before conception even.  I think next time around I would do even more but I think knowing more now it would be done more naturally and less forced.

Thanks for that KL.

Hi Mixoo, Congratulations on your pregnancy.

I had a midwife recommend milo for its iron. 

Hi, I'm just after some more details on the Little Reader basic and Deluxe kits.  I'm currently using the trial version.

I am wanting to know about the UK English option - does this change the accent/ pronunciation as well as spelling differences? and how about the phonics sections - are they altered?

and with the deluxe kit do the story books change their spelling to suit UK English also?

Cheers
Tilly
 

Thanks guys for the welcome.

I'm in Melbourne

Hi Everyone,

What a fantastic community - I wish I'd stumbled upon you earlier.  My name is Tilly and I'm a first time mum to Arthur who is 10 months old now.  I come from an early childhood education background so I've been very interested in early education and prenatal ed.  We've used a few things already and read up on a lot during the pregnancy.  We're very interested in early learning but are trying to approach any teaching in a very casual way. I'm a SAHM and will be for a little while yet so want to make the most of this time.

Our boy is a very sparky, cheeky little thing who still doesn't sleep through the night and was a great communicator to begin with (he cried a lot and very loudly) so certain things we've tried haven't really lived up to their promises but we love to give them a go - just with a pinch of salt and no expectations.  We found YBCR at 5 months and have been using that half heartedly so I can have breakfast in peace. He still loves the DVDs and smiles and laughs when its turned on, sits focused and involved and will crawl off when its finished which always amazes me.  Other than that we are playing (banging on the) piano with him, and the usual nursery rhymes, songs and picture books.

I've had a bit of a look around and the program looks great and very adaptable as the child grows.  I can see so many possible uses for it later on. I had one question about the weekly lesson planner - is it available to print off and have as a hard copy record?

Looking forward to learning more about this exciting area from everyone in the forum too.  Its really helpful to hear what other programs and things are out there. My quick flick through introduced me to so much already.

Cheers
Tilly