Mobiles: Moving, musical mobiles help your baby learn to track with his
or her eyes.
Gym: Crib gyms and objects that dangle over your baby and rattle when
he or she bats at them help to develop her hand-eye coordination. Batting
is the necessary preparation for reaching out and holding objects. (For
safety’s sake, the crib gym should not be dangled over the baby once the
child learns to sit up.)
Swing: Putting a baby in a swing allows your infant to watch what is
going on around him or her. Swings are especially helpful for calming
fussy newborns. However, don’t get into the habit of letting your baby
fall asleep in a swing, since the child needs to learn to fall asleep without
this prop.
Infant Seat: This item provides another way you can help your baby to
sit up and take notice of the world. Sometimes toys or books can be hung
from an overhead handle.
Playpen: Start at one month of age with the playpen. A four-week-old
baby can spend some waketime in an infant seat placed inside the playpen
in view of a mobile. Also, allow the child to take a nap in the playpen
once in a while.
Having some of this equipment—whether new, used, or borrowed—is
helpful, but it is certainly not a necessity. In addition to feeding,
changing, and bathing your baby, you might have at least one playtime a
day when the baby has your full attention for fifteen minutes or so. Dad
also needs to spend time each day with the baby in addition to possible
feeding times.
Naptime
Naps are not an option based on your baby’s wants. When naptime
comes, the baby goes down. It is that simple. For optimal development,
infants need daytime rest. In following your feeding, wake, and sleep
routine for your newborn, you should plan that the last 1 to 1½ hours of
your 2½-hour cycle will be for a nap. When moving to a 3-, 3½-, and in
time, a 4-hour routine, your baby’s naps will range anywhere from 1½ to