What is the best way to stimulate your baby’s brain?

According to Harvard research, the “serve and return” model of interaction is the best way to stimulate your baby’s brain.

The Center for the Developing Child at Harvard University suggests the “Serve and Return” method, where – just like in a game of tennis – the baby will serve up a stimulus (a look or a sound) and you will return with a responding look or sound. This back-and-forth communication will not only stimulate your baby’s brain, but also helps the brain wire successfully for human interaction.

Your baby will use facial expressions and cries from day one. She will use a different cry to express hunger, tiredness, or boredom. Try to learn your baby’s “language.” She will indicate boredom by looking away, arching her back, frowning, or (of course) crying. Just be ready when your baby “serves” you with any kind of communication, to “return” the attempt and stimulate your baby’s brain with a loving response. With practice you will learn her language before she learns yours. Attentive parents are not parents who teach their infants, but parents who learn from them what they need.

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