The First Year- Your Baby's Development

The first year of your baby’s life is an exciting time for him and you. So many changes happen in this first year to take your beautiful newborn to a troublesome tot! Hopefully this simple guide will help with what to expect and when.

At about the age of 2 weeks your newborn will develop facial attention. She will begin to look at your face and focus on you when you are looking at, or talking to her. However it isn’t until around 6 weeks that your baby will begin to recognise your face. It’s also at this stage that your baby may begin to smile at you (watch out for the ‘wind produced pseudo smiles' in the first few weeks!!).

It is between 6 and 8 weeks that you might begin to hear your baby making sounds. Presumably by this stage you’ve heard him cry but these new sounds are different, they are simply to get your attention. At this age games like ‘peek-a-boo’ are perfect for developing this new attention, recognition and little noises!

By 3 months your baby should have reasonable control over her head. She will begin to reach out for toys, hold onto them and follow them with her eyes. Plenty of tummy time is great at this age to strengthen your baby’s back (use a rolled up towel under her chest and don’t forget to give her lots of interesting things to look at and reach for). Don’t be put off if your baby is less than keen on this activity, even a couple of minutes a day can help!! It is also at this stage that your baby will begin to respond to you and engage in conversation, so make sure you leave spaces after you’ve spoken for her valuable input!

When your baby reaches 6 months, congratulations- you’ve made it through those exhausting first few months. Now the real fun can begin. It is at this stage your baby will start rolling, sitting up and even standing whilst you hold his hands. This is a really exciting time as they develop and perfect new skills almost daily! Your baby will also begin to babble, laugh and imitate sounds you make. However amongst all of this fun, it is around 5-6 months that the terrible teething can start. You’ll spot certain tell tale signs such as excess dribbling, red cheeks, nappy rash and most of all fussiness and pain. He’ll probably wake early and need lots of cuddles… but this phase will pass- eventually!

Crawling is usually seen between 7 and 12 months, although this varies hugely from baby to baby. Don’t be concerned if your baby chooses an alternative style, such as only going backwards or bum shuffling or even if they skip crawling all together and go straight onto two legs!! By 9 months they should be able to pull themselves up to standing using you (or the cot bars!) for support. Your baby will also have developed her pincer grip by now, this is when she uses her thumb and fore finger to pick things up (challenge her with raisins- they’re tricky!)

Your baby has reached his first birthday- by now he understands that if an object can’t be seen it still exists and he’ll be making repetitive sounds. Don’t forget to sing and talk to your baby lots- he’ll love your singing even if no one else does!

Kids Recipe of the Week- Fish and Chips

• Cut skinless boneless white fish fillet (one per child) into bite size chunks.
• For the batter sieve flour into a bowl, add a pinch of salt then add cold sparkling water and mix. Add enough water to make the batter thin and runny.
• Heat oil (sunflower or vegetable) in a sauce pan- a couple of inches deep.
• Coat the fish chunks in flour and then the batter and then put them straight into the hot oil. Fry 3 or 4 pieces in one go but don’t overcrowd them or they’ll stick together.
• After a couple of minutes in the oil take the fish pieces out and drain on kitchen paper. Keep going until all the fish pieces are fried.
• For the chips cut new potatoes into quarters and place on a baking tray. Drizzle with olive oil and cook at 180 degrees for 30 minutes (shaking around occasionally during cooking).
• Serve with peas and ketchup for dipping!
• TIP: Test the oil is hot enough by dropping a small amount of batter in. If it fizzes to the surface your oil is hot enough to start cooking the fish.

Baby Recipe of the Week- Little Fish Pie- from 7 months

• Place a skinless boneless fillet of white fish in a frying pan, cover with baby’s usual milk half way up the fillet and poach until flakey. Once finished keep the milk and put it aside.
• Boil potatoes and mash with butter and your baby’s usual milk.
• To make the cheese sauce, melt 50g butter in a sauce pan, and 1 tbsp flour and mix to a paste. Add poaching milk slowly over a medium heat until you get a smooth consistency. Add 50g grated cheddar cheese and stir in well.
• Steam 4-5 broccoli florets, then add these, the fish and the cheese sauce to a food processor and blend to the desired consistency. Mix in the mashed potato and serve.
• TIP: You can easily freeze this for another day. Straight after making it divide the fish pie into individual sized portions for your baby, leave to cool and then place in the freezer. It will keep for up to 6 weeks.