A babies’ first birthday is highly anticipated and celebrated time in most families as it denotes a full year since the birth of the baby. This year included many changes and milestones as well as lots of hugs, smiles, boo boos and tears. There may not be another birthday for a while that is surrounded in as much excitement as the first birthday, so having a big bash for baby is not only fun but a great excuse for a party.

Party Time
What time is the best time to invite everyone over for your baby’s party? You want to make sure your baby is not going to be cranky, so you should pick a time when your baby will be well rested and not hungry. If your baby is on a schedule and you know when he should be napping, try to schedule the party between naps. Don’t make the party last too long. Your baby has a short attention span and after too much festivity is likely to begin getting fussy.

Invitation List
Invitation lists vary from house to house. If your main focus is your baby’s birthday don’t invite over so many people that he gets easily overwhelmed. Just a couple of family members would be enough to celebrate the big day. If you want to use your baby’s birthday as a time to have a family get together try having an outdoor barbeque so that your baby doesn’t feel closed in, or inviting a few family members early to celebrate the birthday and have the rest come at the end of the party.

Decorations
Everybody loves balloons, especially babies! There is nothing silly about decorating for your baby’s first birthday party, but remember if you make it too “busy” your maybe may get stressed or overwhelmed by it and not be able to relax and enjoy his day. Try keeping the decorations low key, and in bright colors that will catch your baby’s eye. Stick to one theme and have fun with it!

Cakes
Yes, we said “cakes”. The best part of a first birthday is watching your baby put cake all over his face. No one really wants to eat a cake though that has been in a baby’s face! Many stores will make mini cakes, just for your baby, or you can make a little cake to decorate just for your baby’s birthday. This way your baby has his own cake that he can pose with for pictures and enjoy making a mess out of, while you and your family have a cake you can enjoy eating.

Pictures
Be sure to take lots of pictures and video. This occasion commences the end of your baby’s first year of life and will only happen once. You will definitely want pictures of every moment to look back on and to share with friends and family members that were not able to make it.

Presents
Don’t feel pressured to open all your baby’s presents while the guests are at your house. Most people will understand if you choose to wait till it is quieter and less active in the house to have your baby sit down and try his hand at unwrapping packages. It might be that your baby needs a nap before he is able to tackle the task of tearing off wrapping paper. Be sure to keep a list of what everyone gives your baby though for your thank you notes.

Thank You Notes
It is always good manners to send thank you notes out for the gifts your baby receives from his birthday parties. Use the list you made as your baby opened his presents to write the thank you cards. You can even enclose a picture of your baby with that gift, or another pictures from your baby’s first birthday party. This is a good way to send out baby’s one year pictures to family members, without having to use an extra stamp.

Not only can it be difficult to get your baby on a night time sleep schedule, but many people worry about the daytime sleep schedule as well. Some babies love to nap and go down easily without many problems for mom and dad. Other babies and toddlers fight naptime making it a very stressful and difficult time for their parents.

Napping a Newborn
When your baby is first born, getting him to take “naps” will seem like a piece of cake. Your baby will mostly sleep anyway, so getting him to rest shouldn’t be a battle. Most babies will fall asleep during feedings wake just in time for the next feeding and a diaper change. This is the time of your baby’s life that you will think your baby is “so easy” and perfect. As they get older naptime might become a little more difficult.

Napping a Three Month Old
By the time your baby’s three month birthday has come around, he will be awake more and possibly trying to put himself on a schedule. During this time you may find naptime becoming increasingly more frustrating as your baby is napping at different times of the day and for different durations. One day you may get a four hour nap out of him which starts at 9am, and the next day he may only doze a few times for 10 minutes at a time until three in the afternoon when he naps for three hours. This flexible nap schedule your baby could be on can get frustrating for you and can make it hard to get things done during the day.

Napping a Six Month Old
By the halfway point of your baby’s life, not only has he hit a ton of milestones, but he is probably on a regular nap schedule throughout the day. Most babies will be waking up and going to bed at night about the same time, and taking a couple of naps a day for a couple of hours each. These will normally be in the morning and afternoon. At this point it becomes much easier for mom and dad to plan outings as well as meals in the house, because they know when their baby will be awake, and when he will be asleep.

Napping a One Year Old
Most one year olds are still taking a couple of naps a day at this point; however the naps may not be lasting as long. Your baby is probably up walking, running, and very interested in the world around him. It may be hard to get your baby to actually settle down and take a nap, when there is so much else that they would love to do. Enjoy the down time you do have however, because it may not last much longer.

Napping an 18 Month Old
By the time your baby is 18 months old he probably would have cut out one of his naps. Instead of a mid-morning and mid-afternoon nap, he will probably just be taking his afternoon nap, although it may have moved closer to noon or right after lunch. It also may have gotten longer. Where your baby may have only been sleeping an hour to an hour and a half in the afternoon, he could possibly be sleeping 3 hours now. Make the most of this time during your day and get stuff done.

Napping a Two to Three Year Old
Sometime during your baby’s second and third birthday it is highly likely that he will no longer be taking naps. There is entirely too much going on in his world and too much to see and do. You will put him in his crib or toddler bed and he may sit and play for the two hours he is there instead of napping. Your peace and quiet may be coming to an end. The good news is that since your child still needs at least 12 hours of sleep a day, it might be possible to put him to bed early, around six in the evening and have him sleep all night. This will give you that free time in the evenings to get done things that you were not able to get done during the day.

Babies do not pop out knowing how to talk. Language like every other part of your baby’s life is a learned process that develops overtime. For some children it develops more quickly than it does for other children and there is no set time or definite age that your baby will say his first word, or be able to hold a conversation with you.

Before entering into a discussion about milestones of speech development, it is important to remember the following:

• Children generally understand much more than they will be able to express
• Girls often develop language skills at an earlier age than boys

  Speech skills may not come quickly and easily

• Just like other milestones, you can not compare your child’s speech development to that of other children
• If you suspect a problem, ask your child’s pediatrician at his next well-check.

Speech Development Milestones
It is important to remember that these things ages are averages and that some babies will reach them earlier or later than others. If your baby does not reach one of these speech milestones at the specified time it does not necessarily mean that there is something wrong with your baby’s development. If you are concerned then ask your pediatrician.

One week – An infant can distinguish her mother’s voice from another woman’s voice.

Two weeks – An infant can distinguish her father’s voice from another man’s voice.

Three months – An infant can make vowel sounds.

Seven months – An infant may say “dada” or “mama,” but does not necessarily connect them to mom and dad.

One year – A baby will be able to connect “mama” or “dada” with his parents. He may be able to respond to one-step commands (”Come here.”)

15 months – A baby continues to learn a mixture of new words and new gibberish, may be able to speak a handful of words.

18 months – A toddler can say nouns (ball, bottle, and food), names, and a few action words/phrases. He may add gesture to his words, and may be able to follow a two-step command (”Go to your room and bring me a book.”)

Two years – A toddler can make simple sentences like “Hungry mama”.

Two and a half years – A child can make longer sentences, follow simple instructions, and often repeat words he/she overhears in conversations.

Three years – A child can understand most of what you tell him, and can possibly hold a conversation with you, understand direction, can say his/her name, age, and sex, and uses pronouns. Strangers will be able to understand your child.

Four years – A child will be able to understand and respond to almost everyone and everything around him whether it is you, the TV, a pet or a stranger.

How You Can Help Your Child
There are many things that parents can do to help their child develop his language skills. They are very simple things and can go a long way in being able to understand your child at a faster pace.

• Read and sing to your child beginning in pregnancy and on a daily basis after birth
• Introduce new words frequently
• Speak directly to your child giving him a chance to converse with you
• Let your child finish his thoughts and sentences before you jump into assist him.

Remember, these are just estimations of your baby’s speech development and not a calendar to go by. If you feel that your baby is behind or is not meeting developmental milestones on time be sure to ask his pediatrician at your next visit.