How To Have a Brilliant Baby (2-3 months old)

by Dr. Leo L. Leonidas of brilliantbaby.com

At about 2 months old your baby will look at her hand for a sustained period of time. Some experts call this “hand regard.” Make a mitten with black and white checker design and put it on. She will stare at the mitten longer.

Show a red apple on your right hand from about 10 inches of her face. Say “apple, apple, apple” for about 30 seconds. Then have her touch the apple with her left hand and place it near her nose to smell. Do this four times a day for three days. On the fourth day, show her an orange. Say the word “orange, orange, orange” several times for about a minute. Do it four times a day for three days. On the seventh day, show both the orange and the apple from about 10 inches from her face. You say the word apple or orange and observe if she will consistently look at the apple if you say “apple.” Don’t be disappointed if your baby can’t identify one of them. It might take several weeks or months for some babies to know the apple from orange. Always smile, clap your hand, and hug your baby after each apple and orange exercises.

I have a four month old patient who was able to consistently look at either the apple or the orange after two weeks of the apple and orange exercise.

Cut a white cardboard about 8 by 12 inches. Get a one inch wide black felt marker. Draw 3 vertical lines w/ the same height. Cut another cardboard same size as above and draw 4 vertical lines about ¾ wide. And in another white cardboard draw 5 vertical lines about ½ wide.

While lying on her back, show the cardboard with 3 vertical lines for about 10 seconds. Do this four times a day for 2 days. Then show the cardboard with 4 vertical lines also for 10 seconds four times a day for 2 days. Do similar maneuver with the 5 vertical ½ inch wide line.

Cut several white card board about 10 by 10 inches. With a black one inch wide felt tip marker, write the letter C. At the back of this card write at the upper right hand corner write a small letter “C”. Make other letter. Show the C when your baby is lying on her back. It should last for only 10 seconds, then show other letters. Everyday show her five new Letters. Come back to the previously shown letters after a week and mix it up the new letters.

In addition to letters, make a 10 by 10 white cardboard cards with different shapes, e.g. rectangle, triangle, circle, polygon. Show these “shape” cards the same way you did with the alphabets.

In the same manner make nine cards with Zero to Nine numerals. Show the numerals after the “shape” cards. Then come back to it with after a few days rest. When showing these cards place it first in the midline about 10 to 12 inches from your baby’s nose. Then move it slowly about 8 inches from sided to side, then about four inches up and down the midline.

Hearing

At about 2 months old, babies can distinguish different voices, qualities, and tone. Try varying your voice from high pitched to low, fast speech to slow, and other vocal sound you can produce. You can also crumple or tear a paper, knock on door or floor, turn on the faucet, turn on the washing machine, let the dog bark, clear your throat, etc.

Language

Some babies between 4 to 8 weeks old can make sounds like open vowel sounds (“ah”, “oh”) or coo or babble. They are more likely to make sounds if mother or caretaker is speaking to them. If baby is vocalizing, you should keep quite and pause, just look and listen to baby, then smile and clap your hands and hug her after the baby’s cooing. Repeat also baby’s cooing, but take turn. Let baby finish the cooing then take your turn. This vocal (cooing) interaction will encourage your baby to interact more with you. It will give her a sense of having an impact on events.

Muscle and Eye Coordination

While lying on her back, put a “Sesame Street Gym Activity Center.” Place it in such a way that she will be successful in swiping or reaching for Big Bird. At first get her right arm and with your help, let her touch or reach for Big Bird. She will show delight doing this. Then let her try this reaching maneuver by herself. Smile, be happy, and kiss her with each successful “swiping” or “reaching” for Big Bird.

Babies as young as eight weeks old, who were given the opportunity to influence her environment, by head turns that electronically controlled mobiles over their cribs, displayed more visual attention, smiled and vocalized more compared to babies who just watched the overhead mobile.

Click here to read more:
Newborn
4-6 Months Old