Personally, beyond providing the basics like food to eat, shelter, clean clothes, and being emotionally responsive, I think the best think you can do with little kids is read to them. And you can read them literally anything.
When my first baby was little and I was doing my first degree, sometimes I didn’t have the energy to read children’s books on top of my study stuff, so sometimes I read my baby textbooks and journal articles so I could kill two birds with one stone (bedtime stories & study). With the first son, I did this from about 8month - 3 years, and second son just joined in on that action at birth until about 1year. When the older one started wanting actual children’s stories, I had to buy some children’s books. We went mostly for Dr Seuss, partly they were also the cheapest books I could get.
Ultimately, I don’t think it matters what I read a child that small, I think it was the act of reading with them, and them hearing the language as well.
People always used to comment that both my children had amazing vocabularies for their ages when they were little. I like to think it’s because they got stories like “Human anatomy and Physiology” “Human development through the lifespan” and journal articles, and other really dry, but informative texts.
From first day of first year, until today: spend time and talk with him, explain what's going on, chat about the day, the weather, the toys, the house, ... anything. And listen to what he has to say.
Benefit: his speech is "at normal levels for a boy his age" according to school principal. Only two children in his 20-child classroom are at that level.
By a wide margin: diapers. Little cloths for wiping up spit and drool a close second, though if you use cloth diapers they can catch the mess at both ends.
Car seat required, I always got the higher-end models with the best safety ratings. A good stroller as well, preferably the kind that work with the car seat.
Children mainly need your time, attention, and lots of patience. They generally don't need a lot of things until they get older, at which point they will tell you what they want.
Authority: I raised three children who started out as babies and toddlers and all lived to adulthood.
We purchased an Inglesina hook-on chair cover which was great as it allowed the little ones to sit at the table with us, instead of feeling separate with some of the bigger high chairs. It was a pain to clean, so we also got a Wunderland cover for it. We used this from around 6mo to about 3.5y for my older, and 6mo to 2.5y for my younger one.
Magna-tiles have been a big hit for both from about 2yo and on. Lots of knockoffs on Amazon, but we haven't had any issues with the 2 sets we purchased.
For books I really connected with "Hunt Gather Parent".
Aside from that, I'd say top thing is patience and sometimes just being quiet and not interfering when they're playing.
Quinzel ·26 days ago
When my first baby was little and I was doing my first degree, sometimes I didn’t have the energy to read children’s books on top of my study stuff, so sometimes I read my baby textbooks and journal articles so I could kill two birds with one stone (bedtime stories & study). With the first son, I did this from about 8month - 3 years, and second son just joined in on that action at birth until about 1year. When the older one started wanting actual children’s stories, I had to buy some children’s books. We went mostly for Dr Seuss, partly they were also the cheapest books I could get.
Ultimately, I don’t think it matters what I read a child that small, I think it was the act of reading with them, and them hearing the language as well. People always used to comment that both my children had amazing vocabularies for their ages when they were little. I like to think it’s because they got stories like “Human anatomy and Physiology” “Human development through the lifespan” and journal articles, and other really dry, but informative texts.
Rygian ·26 days ago
Benefit: his speech is "at normal levels for a boy his age" according to school principal. Only two children in his 20-child classroom are at that level.
And he's bilingual.
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gregjor ·26 days ago
Car seat required, I always got the higher-end models with the best safety ratings. A good stroller as well, preferably the kind that work with the car seat.
Children mainly need your time, attention, and lots of patience. They generally don't need a lot of things until they get older, at which point they will tell you what they want.
Authority: I raised three children who started out as babies and toddlers and all lived to adulthood.
Desafinado ·26 days ago
Read books about parenting, paid attention, did required medical tests and advocated with healthcare.
Purchases? Healthy food, mostly.
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mike1o1 ·26 days ago
Magna-tiles have been a big hit for both from about 2yo and on. Lots of knockoffs on Amazon, but we haven't had any issues with the 2 sets we purchased.
For books I really connected with "Hunt Gather Parent".
Aside from that, I'd say top thing is patience and sometimes just being quiet and not interfering when they're playing.