Parenting is one of the most challenging tasks ever. But to make it less challenging, we have to teach our babies some good habits and manners as early as possible.
Today, I’m just sharing 4 things I teach my 1 year-old baby.
My baby Mikayla just turned 1-year-old last month and there are a lot of things she discovered by herself within her 1st year. Last week, I shared some of her amazing discoveries before she even turned 1-year-old. Even though our babies learn on their own, as a parent, we still have to do our very best to teach our babies some new things. Things that would benefit them in the future.
As early as 1 year old, we should be teaching them some good habits and manners. It’s better to practice them early. So here are a few things we’ve been teaching our baby girl recently.
Mikayla Athena’s First Year of an Amazing Journey
Brushing teeth
I honestly, don’t know which year or stage of babyhood should we teach our babies to brush on their own. However, I wanted to start my little one to get used to brushing. First I do the brushing for her. Then I give the toothbrush to her so she could play with it and pretend that she was brushing.
We use a tooth gel that she can swallow and a toothbrush with a stopper to avoid her from choking. She’s enjoying it because it has a flavor.
Update on her brushing 101 hehehe…
Mano(Filipino Term) or Bless / Respect gesture to elders
This is an honorific gesture to show respect to elders. As far as I know, this is just being practiced in the Philippines. This sign of respect is fading as time goes by. For my kids, it should never be gone. Nowadays, it’s very common for younger people to do cheek to cheek or beso-beso. But I guess this is just for friends or fellow at your same age.
Anyway, I find it so cute when babies who haven’t even started talking yet but are able to show this honorific gesture. As a Filipino, we should always teach our babies or children how to show respect to elders.
Understand the word NO
Teaching your baby to understand the word NO and not to use the word NO is very difficult. If a baby’s parent keeps on stopping their babies by saying no repeatedly, tendencies are the baby would learn how to say no and become stubborn.
I didn’t have any stubborn kid so far, but my sister does. What I notice from her is she keeps on saying no to her kids and they grow up being used to it.
Her 3-year-old baby is so unstoppable. Instead of listening to her, my nephew is the one yelling no to her.
What I noticed between my style and hers is that I don’t keep myself talking about the same thing. I am not a perfect mom, but I noticed with my eldest son that some of my ways kinda work.
Instead of saying NO to your baby from time to time or until they stop, what I do is like this:
- Warn them to stop by saying NO.
- I try to ask my baby to come over to me.
- If still not stopping, I get her away from whatever she’s trying to do and tell her (as if she could understand everything), “I said no because……”. I try to explain why she’s being stopped from doing what she was doing.
So far, my baby is quite easy to stop unlike others because she already understand that even she keeps on going, she’ll then be took away later.
Hugs and Kisses
Sometimes we have to teach our babies how to hug and kiss to make us happy. It’s so adorable to raise a sweet loving child. It’s easy to teach them how to do that because their so loving in nature. But for babies you have to demo how to kiss with sounds. That is so fun, right? Then whenever you get home someone is so eager to get out of her playpen to hug and kiss you.
Those were just a few things I want my 1-year-old baby to learn and practice as she grows. There are a lot more to teach them especially when they started talking already.
Have you been teaching your baby some of the habits and manners that they are supposed to learn at their age? If yes, share your thoughts and other ways in teaching your baby.
Parenting is ongoing progress which keeps on adjusting depending on our children’s need, so it’s better to try things and identify what will work for you and your kids.
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