CARING FOR BABIES

[bright music] - Hi, everybody.

My name is Maria.

- And I'm Mia.

- And this is our sweet puppy Hopper.

And if you notice, we have some special guests with us today.

So, we want to talk to you about babies and what babies can do and what babies cannot do.

So, we've decided to call them Mary and- - Elizabeth.

- Okay?

So, we'll be talking about Mary and Elizabeth all through our time together today.

Okay, so babies.

You know, Mia, when I was thinking about babies, I looked in our photo album and I found all these pictures of you, so I'm going to be showing you pictures of Mia as a baby.

So, Mia, what was going on here?

- [Mia] I don't even know.

[Maria laughs] - This was when she was born.

And what is the expression on your face?

- Crying.

- She's crying.

Now, why do you think she's crying?

- I don't know.

- Well, you were crying because you were inside a warm place in my stomach, and then you came out, and it was bright, and it was cold, and you just cried a big cry, and that's how babies communicate.

When babies feel uncomfortable, when they're hungry.

Why else might a baby cry?

- They have a dirty diaper.

- Yes, their diaper is dirty.

If they're bored, they'll want a little... - They're tired.

- They're tired.

So, this is how babies communicate.

They communicate by crying because they don't know how to speak or use any words, okay?

So, we have to pay special attention to babies, because if they're crying, it's usually for a reason, and so the adult has to really look at the baby to figure out why they may be crying.

Okay?

Okay, so I have another picture.

Now, this is a picture of you laying on your stomach doing, do you know what this is?

- [Mia] I'm playing.

- You're playing, but you're doing tummy time.

So, babies when they're born and as they get a little older, their backs and their necks are not very strong yet and they can't sit up, okay?

So, we have to help babies strengthen that part of their bodies, so I used to put you on a little mat on the floor and you see, there's a little toy hanging.

And I would put you on your stomach, and you would try to lift your head up, and you would try to lift your head up.

And as you got older, you would try to grab the toys from above you.

So, that is a fun way in which the babies play.

They develop muscles in their back and their neck and it's called tummy time, okay?

And once a baby is able to do that, they're then able to sit up, okay?

Now, Mia, I want to ask you, after a baby is able to sit up, what kinds of things can a baby do once they're able to sit up?

- They can maybe start crawling or soon walking.

- Yeah, so once they're able to set up, it's what happens before they can start crawling or walking.

Now, once a baby is able to sit up, you can even put them in a highchair.

Now, Mia, I want to talk to you about how babies start crawling.

What do you think a baby needs when they start crawling?

- Well, like a soft place to crawl on.

- Why?

- So they don't hurt themselves.

- Right, and what do you need to be careful of?

The area around you?

- Sharp objects or corners.

- Yeah, so when babies start crawling, oh my goodness, you have to be so careful about what's on the floor.

Like Mia, I am looking at the floor right now and I see things that a baby could grab, put in their mouth.

So, when you have a baby that's starting to crawl around, what do you need to do?

- You need to make sure it's a clear, safe environment.

- Yeah, what about Miller's Legos?

- No, no Legos for the baby.

- Well, 'cause what happens if we leave his little Legos on the floor?

- He could bite them and try to eat them?

- Yes, they could put it in their mouth.

So, when you have a baby that's starting to crawl around on the floor, you have to make sure the whole area is clean.

Now, Mia, when you were crawling, you used to crawl everywhere, and we had to be so careful because sometimes, you'd hit your head and you get these little knots on your head.

Now, do you remember when Miller was crawling?

- [Mia] Yeah, I remember.

- [Maria] What did he do that was silly when he crawled?

- He would crawl backwards a lot of the time.

- Yes.

Miller.

You know, a baby crawls like this underneath, and instead of going forward, Miller used to crawl backwards, and his little feet would just get stuck under the couch, and we'd have to pull him out, because his feet would get stuck because he used to crawl backwards.

But then eventually, he learned to crawl moving forward.

Now, once a baby, Mia, is able to crawl, before they can walk, what do you think they need to be able to do?

- Well, they need to be able to support themselves with their hands.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

- So, once a baby is really comfortable crawling, what you might see them doing is pulling themselves up to stand up.

So, what they do, 'cause they're very smart, is that they will pull themselves up to stand up, and they might do it on a chair, you know, not on the chair, but they'll put their hands on the chair, anything they can do so that they can pull themselves up and stand up.

And they feel so proud because they're able to stand, okay?

So, once a baby is able to do that, and that's usually about 10 months, it's different for all babies, nine to 10 months, what comes next?

- Walking.

- Walking.

Now, I remember when Mia started walking, okay?

She was holding on to things, 'cause first babies hold onto things, but then she let it go.

And then what happened?

- I started walking and balancing.

- She took a step.

She took a step and she started laughing, and we all clapped for her.

And then when we clapped for her, what did you do?

You fell.

- Yeah.

[Maria laughs] - Because we all clapped for her and we were so excited, and then she fell, but she was okay.

So, that's what babies do a lot of.

They start walking around and they love it, and then you have to be careful because then they fall, [laughs] and then eventually they get faster and faster and faster till they can... - They can walk normally.

- Walk normally, and then they can do really cool things in the house and in the playground.

You know, once you were one and you were able to walk around, I took you to the playground, and then you were able to meet other little kids your age, and you guys would run around the playground together, and I had to follow you around everywhere, because babies need our attention.

They need adult attention to keep them safe.

- Yep.

- So, thank you for listening to us and hearing about how babies grow and move.

Thank you to our special guests Mary and... - Elizabeth.

- I'm so glad they were able to join us today.

And I hope you have a wonderful day.

And if you have a baby in your house or a baby in your family, think about the things you told us, and you may want to ask some questions.

Or if there's a grownup in your house that can talk to you about when you were a baby, what kinds of questions might you ask?

- You can ask like, "When did I take my first steps?

What was my favorite food when I was a baby?"

- What was your first... - Word?

- Word, your first word.

Okay?

So, ask those questions because you might find out some really interesting things about yourself.

And I hope you have a wonderful day.