The thought of traveling with your young child can be very daunting especially if your baby is a newborn. We all have stories to tell of that first ever trip when you bring your baby home from the hospital on that first journey when you’re so terrified with every bump on the road  you encounter and your husband or partner drives so slowly!

Fortunately, the second time is better and so it is with traveling with your baby This video series will give you simple hints and ideas on how to make sure every trip works well.

You may be wondering when is your baby old enough to travel?  This was of major concern to me as my Mum was very ill just after my son was born. He first travelled at age 10 weeks on a 3 hour flight to New Zealand. Most airlines allow travel within 7 days of birth however you may need to get medical clearance. After seven days you should not require medical clearance.

Young babies usually make good travellers if they feel cuddled and secure and are feeding regularly. The movement and activity often helps them sleep, too!  Like many parents, you probably don’t want to go anywhere except home with your new baby as she  needs lots of attention and feeds, so travelling long distances or the thought of  going on holiday can be difficult to get your head around.  And you may be feeling exhausted. But enjoyable travel is possible.

However, you may want to think twice before embarking on any long journeys if your baby has colic, is tongue tied, or you are feeling overwhelmed with being a new parent.  If you feel you don’t yet have a moment to spare between feeding and changing your baby, perhaps wait a few weeks until you are feeling more settled. Of course if it is a family emergency you will need to go and it is a very good idea to check out the procedures required to get an urgent passport for your newborn so in the unlikely event you will require an emergency overseas trip, you will be less anxious by being informed.

Start thinking about check lists too of what you will need for your baby.

How To Prepare For Traveling With Your Baby: http://youtu.be/wtvCQyu58L4

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Hot weather can be dangerous for babies because they are easily affected by the heat. They need to drink regularly, wear light clothing and be kept cool.

Keep your baby cool and protect them from the sun.

Cover your baby’s body, arms and legs with clothing, and make sure you put a sunhat with a wide brim or a long flap at the back to protect their head and neck from the sun.

Babies less than six months old should be kept out of direct sunlight.

Apply sunscreen to babies over 6 months and use a sunshade on your stroller.

• Keep your baby’s bedroom cool during the day by closing blinds or curtains. You can also use a fan to circulate the air in the room making sure the fan doesn’t point towards your baby.
• Keep nightwear and bedclothes to a minimum. If your baby kicks or pushes off the covers during the night, consider putting them in just a nappy with a single layer (0.5 tog*) baby sleeping bag or a well-secured sheet that won’t work loose and cover their face or get entangled during the night.
• A nursery thermometer will help you monitor the temperature of your baby’s room. Your baby will sleep most comfortably when their room is between 16 to 20 C or around 65-68 F.

How To Keep Your Baby Cool In Hot Weather: http://youtu.be/humeo3z_9wk

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When travelling in cars, children and adults need to be using restraints or seat belts that are properly fitted and suited to the age and size of the person.

• Babies under six months need to be seated in a properly fastened and adjusted approved rearward-facing child restraint.
• Children aged between six months and four years are to be seated in a properly fastened and adjusted rearward-facing or forward-facing approved child restraint with an inbuilt harness.
• Children aged four years to under seven years are to be seated in a properly fastened and adjusted forward-facing approved child restraint with an inbuilt harness, or an approved booster seat.
• Children aged between four and seven years are not permitted to sit in the front seat unless all other seating positions are already occupied by children under seven.

Use the back seat for all under-fives if you can.

Never leave your baby or toddler alone in the car

Cars turn into ovens very quickly, even on cool or overcast days. Leaving your child alone in a car is not only extremely dangerous, but also illegal  in Australia. You can be charged and convicted.

How To Keep Children Safe in a Car: http://youtu.be/t_NLvFn_97I

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How To Play With Babies 1 to 2 Years Old: http://youtu.be/3aNy_JA8DmU

Your baby loves experimenting by throwing, dropping or shaking toys against a surface. Crashing two objects together reinforces the concept of cause and effect: If your baby hits them hard, they make a loud noise; if he hits them lightly, a soft noise.

Fill a bottom kitchen drawer with toys and household objects  such as pots and wooden spoons that your baby can safely beat and batter.

Your baby will repeatedly drop things from his high chair-  a spoon,  bottle, or  sippy cup — and squeal with delight when you fetch the objects…again and again.

This exasperating game  helps reinforce the concepts of object permanence and cause and effect — when your baby sends his sippy cup to the floor, it doesn’t disappear but bounces and rolls across the kitchen floor. It also teaches him about gravity — what goes up must come down — and he realizes that he can make an impact and get your attention.

Make sure you have unbreakable items handy.

Bath time is perfect for filling and dumping which enhances hand-eye coordination.

Add toy cups or a plastic  bottle to the tub so your child can fill and pour. Cardboard boxes are another boon — babies can fill and empty them over and over again.
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How To Play With Babies 6 to 12 Months Old: http://youtu.be/hyH_tzprNf8

A ball is one of the best toys for babies because it’s something to see, touch, and interact with, and it always give the element  of surprise because it never does the same thing twice. Rolling and, later, throwing and catching a ball help develop hand-eye coordination. Children also enjoy the give-and-take of playing ball with others. Start by rolling a soft chime ball on the floor to your baby. He’ll soon learn to send it back in your direction.

Nesting blocks and cups and stacking toys keep little hands busy. They help babies to develop hand-eye co-ordination and how things fit on top of each other.

They also help babies fine-tune their grasping and releasing finger skills.

Playing peekaboo — hiding your face behind your hands and peeking out at baby — is an exciting game.

By the time your child is 4 months old, he can begin to understand the notion of object permanence — that you or an object still exist when out of sight. Playing peekaboo helps reinforce this concept as well as build his memory skills. You can try all kinds of variations – they all work!
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How To Play With Babies 3 to 6 Months Old: http://youtu.be/dxBHKh9pkEo

By now your baby loves their mobile over their cot and associates familiar sounds with it. Activity gyms and interactive play mats trigger the same excitement.

Like rattles, activity gyms  and play mats help babies explore their environment through their sense of sound, touch, sight, and taste. Their motor skills also get a tune-up when they kick at, bat, reach, and grab for toys. When you put your baby down on his tummy, you’ll also give him the opportunity to develop his upper-body and neck strength, a prerequisite for rolling, crawling and other physical achievements.

In the early weeks your baby  will start his  mat-time fun on his  back, gazing up at the hanging  toys.  If your baby doesn’t like being put on his stomach initially for tummy time distract him with the gym’s lights, music, and crinkle toys until he gets used to it,  If you have an i-Mat you will quickly see him respond to the animal sounds as you point the voice pen at the mat.

At first, your baby might just make general movements toward objects. Eventually, he’ll be able to reach out to touch the animal on the mat or try and bring objects forward if you’re using an activity gym.
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How Newborn Babies Learn From a Rattle: http://youtu.be/mxQHkyOzro4

The classic first toy a baby receives, a rattle gets your baby’s attention when shaken.

Your baby can see a rattle’s bright colors, feel its smooth or knobbly texture, hear its clinking sound, and mouth it. A rattle also teaches about cause and effect – if your baby shakes it, the toy makes a sound — giving him the thrill of realizing he can make things happen.

The best rattles allow your baby to connect the sound to sight. Bright colours are best.

Hold the rattle 15 to 30 cm  from your newborn’s face which is  the distance at which he sees best — and slowly move the toy back and forth. This technique helps develop eye coordination. Then shake the toy at various points in your baby’s line of sight so he can track its sound. He’ll also enjoy the novelty of hearing the tinkling from different angles. You can place your baby’s  fingers around a rattle and help him shake it.

But until he’s about 3 months old, he won’t be able to hold it for more than a few seconds. He will grab it with both hands which helps to develop both sides of his brain.

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Playing is fun. We all know this but It’s also the most effective way for children to learn. To grow and develop, children need time and attention from someone who’s happy to play with them. Gradually, they’ll learn to entertain themselves for some of the time.

Playing with your baby may seem like all fun and games — shaking rattles, squeaking plush animals, and watching as he tries his chubby hand at rolling a ball. But make no mistake: playing with toys are  the right tools to help your baby to learn.

“Playtime helps develop a baby’s social, intellectual, language, and problem-solving skills.”

Toys and games aid your child in learning to master motor skills and figuring out how the world works. When he’s stacking toy rings, for instance, your baby is exploring their shape and what happens when they’re thrown. He’s developing hand-eye coordination as well as learning to recognise patterns and colours.

The most important ingredient in play, however, is not a toy, but you. Your baby loves your attention, and playing is how he bonds with you.

How Babies Learn: http://youtu.be/VkTiAjgJQr0
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. Your baby learns where he wants to go and  moves in that direction.

.  He develops hand / eye co-ordination which is vital as he grows for reading, writing and physical activities.

.  He strengthens muscle tone in his arms and hands, legs and feet.

.  His hand grasp is developed which can enhance his language development.

.  He develops visual skills which allows his  eyes to focus on toys near him and in the distance- binocular vision

.  It stimulates his inner ear or vestibular movements which effects his balance.

.  Hundreds of touch and position messages  flow to his brain.

.  Crawling allows the left and right sides of the brain to work together.

.  Communication  between the left and right sides of the brain are strengthened as crawling is a cross-lateral movement, which allows him  to move and think at the same time.

 Crawling also influences an infant’s socio-emotional development.  We have all seen babies intense desire to crawl and emotion at the frustration of not quite being able to do it! This is how positive and negative emotions are learned and then expressed more frequently and intensely as the crawling skill develops.

How Does Crawling Enhance Your Baby’s Development? http://youtu.be/bnNDyFwdxLY

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• Crawling strengthens the trunk, shoulders and hand muscles.
• It is the mechanics of crawling which stimulates different areas of the brain that are important for future learning.
• When an infant crawls, he visually determines where he wants to go and physically moves in that direction. This is the first test of hand/eye coordination the  skill set  used later in life for reading, writing and sports activities.
• The eyes also benefit strongly from crawling as binocular vision is developed during crawling.  This involves training the eyes to look off into the distance and then back at the hands while crawling.
• Crawling is also a cross lateral movement which strengthens both the left and right side of the brain. This allows increased communication between the two sides of the brain enhancing learning and brain co-ordination.

If a child doesn’t crawl properly  or goes straight to coasting and walking they can  sacrifice later mental and physical sharpness –Difficulty in learning to read, doing movements in sport and even social skills can be problems if the child does not master the cross-crawl.

Is Crawling Really That Important For Your Baby: http://youtu.be/LWUPJNVWKlE
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