5 Things you probably didn’t know about babies

Being a parent to a new baby is definitely a challenge–one that I believe most parents would say is well worth the effort, but a challenge nonetheless. I have to say, though, there are a lot of things I've discovered to be a lot easier than I thought before my son was born. Sometimes as parents-to-be we let tales from other moms and stuff we read on Internet message boards or in books psych us out. I really can't even tell you how many times I fell victim to this only to realize that most of the time, those scary stories are the exception rather than the rule. Here are four things you probably didn't know about babies, and why parenting them may be easier than you thought:

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1. Babies learn all on their own. Sure, you have to present them with opportunities for learning, but for the most part they figure things out without much prompting. So there's no need to stress about what you think you should be doing to "teach" your baby. I remember asking our pediatrician at my son's four-month well visit if there was anything I needed to do to help him learn how to sit up unassisted. The doctor shook his head and without hesitation said, "No, he'll figure it out." A few weeks later I sat him in position, let him go and he stayed up. And every time I sat him down after that he was able to hold on for longer and longer stretches of time. There was almost no effort involved on my part.

2. Babies are easily distracted. Okay, this may be frustrating when you're nursing and your little one won't stay latched on because he wants to know what's going on all around him, but it's awesome when he bumps his head with a toy and all you have to do is redirect his attention to get him to calm down or prevent him from crying at all. Seriously, if my kid gets upset about something, all I have to do is pick him up and walk him into another room where there are new things to see, and he mellows right out. Tantrums can be easily averted in young babies once you master the art of distraction.

2. Babies like to eat what mom likes to eat. A few years ago–long before I became pregnant–I watched a National Geographic documentary from which I learned that fetuses can actually taste some of what their moms are eating in the amniotic fluid and will develop a preference for those familiar flavors. I was so fascinated by this, and even more so when I later learned that the same goes for breast milk. And you know what, my son has been eating solid foods for three months and has yet to protest a food. I feed him things that my husband and I like and eat regularly–avocado, sweet potatoes, peas, green beans, winter squash, apples, yogurt, whole grains–and he devours every bit and often cries for more. I can only credit this to the fact that he's familiar with the flavors of these wholesome foods. 

3. Babies adapt. This may be one of those tidbits of knowledge that keeps you sane. It's very easy for me to find things to obsess over and worry about. Is the house too noisy? Will my child freak out if I leave him with a babysitter? What if he misses a nap or stays up too late? But in the end, there's actually very little to worry about. Babies have an uncanny ability to adapt to almost any situation and this ability seems only to improve as they get older and become more familiar with the world. One day last week, I realized that I always get paranoid when an ambulance goes by or a plane flies overhead or a car alarm goes off during my son's naps, but that he almost never wakes up. Of course he doesn't! It's all he knows. These have always been his surroundings and he inately knows how to survive in them. All your child needs is lots of love and the knowledge that mom or dad or both would never abandon him in order to feel secure and confident in any situation.

4. Babies like schedules. Schedules provide babies and toddlers with consistency–they know what to expect and when to expect it, and they like it. Even if you start out by simply implementing a loose routine, I guarantee that after a short while your baby will take to it, and before you know it you'll be wondering why you didn't get on a schedule sooner. And from first-hand experience I can say that having a daily schedule has actually made my child more flexible. We can go on a daytrip and miss a nap or two and that night he'll sleep fine and be right back to his normal routine the next day. He has no problems eating while we're out as long as he eats on time, and he can even take naps away from home. He knows our daily rhythms better than I do and our lives are a lot easier because of it.

5. Babies like to exercise. With Mom or Dad that is. Around the three-month mark babies begin to understand how objects and movements flow and start to take joy in such activities as sliding and spinning and "flying." This is a great time to start incorporating your baby into an exercise routine, making it something you can do while your baby is awake rather than trying to squeeze it in during those precious nap hours (or minutes). Lay your baby on the floor in front of you while you do push ups, hold them on your shins while you do reverse crunches, lift them in the air and back down to tone your arms–they'll think it's all a game and you'll be getting fit in the process.

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