Rhyme Time

While it is a good time to start reading to your baby during this period, your baby will respond very favorably to rhymes as well. This can be nursery rhymes or just rhyming words and sounds.

You should initially have a repetoire of nursery rhymes you can chant or sing for various times of the day. This could be during diaper changings, while you are preparing baby food, during walks, "cooldown" time after a play session, or just one-on-one before bedtime. You can turn many daily standard activities into Rhyme Time. Babies tend to love the rhythmic tone and matching sounds.

As your baby starts babbling vowels, you can rhyme back similar sounds for her. For example, many babies start with "da da" (not referring to daddy, but easy to pronounce) - you can respond with "pa pa" or "ma ma". Variations to sounds will get your baby thinking. Be creative!

Learning and Development Skills:

• Language Development and Vocabulary
• Social and Emotional