Is Your Baby Bored?

Just because babies can’t talk, doesn't mean they can’t communicate. 

There are so many different ways that pre-verbal children can tell us how they’re feeling, whether they like or dislike something, and what they want to do.

They communicate through:

• Facial expressions
• Crying
• Cooing
• Babbling
• Laughter
• Body movement
• Eye contact
• Gestures, like reaching
• Imitation
• Joint attention - when they coordinate attention between you and an object through eye contact, pointing, or following a gaze

While we can never know with 100% certainty how an infant is feeling, as the primary caregiver, we quickly learn what our children's different cries, noises, and gestures mean.

"Is My Baby Bored?"

So many new parents come into the shop, concerned that their newborns or infants are bored.

While we never know for sure, we start by asking these questions:

1. What are you observing that makes you think they’re bored?
2. Are they crying or showing any signs of discomfort?
3. Are there objects or toys close by that they can look at or engage with?

We're trying to figure out if the parent is projecting boredom onto the child.

As an adult, it's so easy to think that because we would feel bored in a certain situation... our child does too.

I know I'm guilty of this.

There's been many times that I've accidentally disrupted a child’s play with my own ideas, only to realize after the fact that I didn’t need to do that and the child was perfectly fine without my intervening. 

Follow The Child

Observe them, they’ll let you know when they’re unhappy or they need something. 

There is so much brain development happening in infancy. Over 1 million new synapses are forming every second in the first few years of life.

EVERYTHING is brand new to them and their brains are like sponges, taking it all in. 

Infants don’t need to be engaged with something or someone all of the time - they need time to observe, be still, discover and grow.

There could be times when your baby is bored. However, if they are seemingly content and calm, then they’re probably okay and don’t need you to interfere or worry. 

Giving infants and children of all ages time to be still helps them to develop concentration, focus and independence. 

It also gives you time to sit back and observe them. 

It’s truly fascinating to observe children as they grow and discover the world around them, so remember to give yourself opportunities to do that.