Playing is learning

By Dr. Ted Jablonski, family physician

Is your hungry baby eating enough? Here are some hunger and fullness cues to watch out for during your toddler's development.

By now your little one is likely to have started to get the hang of crawling, and is probably well on their way to cruising. It’s amazing to think they’ve come so far so quickly and figured out how to get from the floor to standing, and maybe even to walking. Here’s what you’ve got to look forward to.

Teething begins at different times for different babies, although most have already started by six months of age. The first tooth usually appears in the middle of the lower jaw, known as the bottom front teeth. 

By Dr. Ted Jablonski, family physician

You may have noticed your baby is moving more and more every day—it may sometimes feel like he’s in constant motion! That’s great, as all this activity is helping to make his muscles strong for crawling and learning to walk.

You’re half-awake at 4 am with a wide-awake baby in your arms and wondering if you’ll ever get a full night’s sleep again. Don’t worry, you will. Your baby will eventually learn to sleep through the night. You know this because  you eventually learned to sleep through the night when you were a baby. The tips below will help you and your baby adjust, as will what the Canadian Paediatric Society says about newborn sleep development any time of day ¾ or night!

Your baby is growing fast! The first year, a baby multiplies his weight by 3 and his length increases by 50%! Follow month-by-month.

Now that your baby is eight to 10 months old, has enjoyed their first tastes, and is becoming more experienced at eating, it’s time to move on to lumpy foods and helping them learn to feed themself.

Your baby is now used to eating solids and may be grabbing at the spoon or picking up food by herself. This means she is ready for more self-feeding, a whole new messy adventure! Continue to offer new foods and textures, especially a wide variety of iron-rich foods, and fruits and vegetables and remember to be patient; you may need to offer foods as many as 10 times before she accepts them.

The time you spend playing with your baby is precious, and enjoying games together is fun for both of you. But playtime is much more than just special moments spent together. It also gives you an opportunity to help your baby develop their motor, creative, and problem-solving skills.

By Dr. Dina Kulik, pediatrician

The food you give your kids will help them grow in so many ways beyond the physical. It will expose them to new smells and textures. It will introduce them to exciting new flavours they’ve never had before. It will help them understand what they like and don’t like. And it will lay the groundwork for a healthy relationship with food. A healthy variety of snack ideas for kids that achieve all four is a good idea.

Starting your little one on solid foods is quite a milestone!

By Dr. Jeff Habert, family physician

Starting solid foods is a new and exciting step in your baby’s eating development, but it often comes with many questions.

How will you feed your newborn?

During babies’ first year of life their nutritional needs are higher than those of adults

Now that your 10-12-month-old is really getting the hang of feeding themself, keep offering them a wide variety of foods and textures to establish good, healthy eating habits.