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Playing with Baby from Birth

While baby is less than a month old, she will only be interested in interacting with you for short bursts. She will be looking for you to provide controlled stimulation in a gentle way.

Baby is still getting used to her new world so if you can provide her with a start that is gentle and loving and not full of distractions she will begin to respond to you.

Try not to have a lot of background noise like the TV on when she is very young as she is straining to listen to all the sounds, trying to figure out what noises she needs to know and what noises can be ignored. Her survival instinct is to tune into her mother and by the first week of her being home she will recognise her mother's voice.

In the early days she may want to just listen to you or let you tickle her hands or feet before she indicates she's had enough. She'll say she's had enough by turning away or crying.

She will be interested in your voice so even if you think you can't sing, she'll think you're an opera star when you start to recite “Humpty Dumpty”.

You can start using music to indicate playtime so think about using soft gentle music like the Baby Einstein DVDs as the beautiful music will encourage baby to listen.

Let her feel different textures by bringing interesting toys to her. Play with the toys that you have on her play gym so she can begin to see them move.

Remember to come close to your baby as she can only see up to about 12 inches away. Spend time with baby when her cot mobile is on and sing along to the melody.

While she's in her cot, you can spread a book along its side. The “First Cot Book” by Andy Everitt Stewart is full of black and white images that will be of interest to a new baby. A first cot book like this will stimulate baby's vision.

The more stimulation baby receives in a controlled way, the more her brain begins to make connections and she starts to learn.

To find out more about what to look out for when choosing and buying nursery toys visit our How to Choose and Buy a Baby Toy for Different Ages section and our Brands section.

To find out more about the different types of nursery toy that are available for each age group visit our Types of Nursery Toy section.

To find out more about the different online baby and nursery toy shops and stores visit our Top Sites section.

You can also find out more in our How to Choose and Buy a Baby Toy for Helping to Develop Different Skills section.

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