Baby Communication Awareness Week Day 2
14 – 20th June 2021
‘So what about now at the start of your newborn’s life? Figuring out how she shows you what she needs, and how you can respond effectively, is the first job, and it happens without the support of language. It’s a physical thing: you will be watching her expressions, her movements, listening to the kinds of sounds she makes to show she is hungry, hates her wet nappy, or indeed hates it more when you lay her down to change it….As you work these things out you will also be helping your baby pace her level of excitement…much of your time will be spent searching for the soothing strategies that meet her needs and your capacity to provide them..’ From Anna Witkowska’s’ Understanding Babies’ (Pinter&Martin, London 2021)
Emma, one of our experienced Baby Yoga, Baby Massage and Toddler Yoga tutors shared some quotes for todays Baby Communication Awareness Week theme. She added, “I think taking the time to really listen, to pause and to observe is so important in our interactions with others. Even more vital right now as we live in a time where much of our communication is taking place through technology”.
“The more silent we become, the more we hear” (Ram Dass)
And so this is also true of our interactions with babies. Babies have much to teach us about being present and enjoying the simplest of exchanges – a smile, a touch, a gesture – and we must tune into this and allow ourselves to learn from this very effective form of communication. We must let our babies know that we are listening to them and that we are willing to learn from them by quietly observing them and responding appropriately.
” Each little human organism is born a vibrating, pulsating symphony of different body rhythms and functions, which coordinate themselves through chemical and electrical messages…in the early months of life, the organism is establishing what the normal range of arousal is…this is a social process. A baby doesn’t do this by himself but coordinates his systems with those of the people around him.’
From Sue Gerhardt, Why Love Matters (Routledge, London 2004)
Emma Philip
Birthlight Tutor
Emma has practised yoga since 2006 and is a Birthlight Tutor for the Baby Nurture, Baby Yoga and Toddler Yoga training courses.