Does your baby notice when you wave across the room at them? No? Well, the thing is, they probably can’t see you!
Babies are very short-sighted at first and can’t focus on anything much further away than they can reach. So it’s good to stay close when you’re playing and talking with them. They’ll soon start making eye contact. And after about three months, they’ll begin to look wherever you’re looking too. They’ll find it easier if you make it super obvious.
Using computers to track where babies are looking, scientists found that young babies will look where you’re looking, if you actually turn your head to look at it. It’s an amazing skill. You see, by looking where you’re looking, your little one is actually learning about language!
Here’s why. People tend to talk about what they’re looking at. So, if you look at a toy and say 'wow, look at that rattle' and baby looks too, you’re helping your baby connect the word ‘rattle’ with the actual toy! So, to help your baby, make eye contact with them (nice and close, remember) and help them to look where you’re looking!
Look at different objects and talk about them using simple, sing-song sentences. Don’t forget to make it really obvious what you’re looking at. All this means they’ll start to link the word you’re using with the thing you’re looking at. You see, babies are clever little detectives ,using everything they can to learn!