Baby - Play and development
Play by Age, Birth to 12 Months (and How an Older Sibling Can Join)
Play ideas month by month, and how older siblings can join in.
Ask Cradle about thisTLDRThe short version, if you only have a minute
- Early weeks: faces, talking, singing and short tummy time. 3-6 months: reaching, rattles, peekaboo and board books.
- 6-12 months: sitting, crawling, stacking and rolling a ball, on a baby-proofed floor.
- Older siblings can join with peekaboo, faces and songs. No screens under 18 months-2 years other than video chat.
Weeks 0-2
- Skin to skin, talking, singing and reading aloud; newborns see best about 8-12 inches away, so hold them close to study faces.
- Older sibling: stroke the baby's feet, sing, or "read" to the baby.
Weeks 2-6
- Short tummy time sessions, back-on-the-mat floor time, high-contrast cards, daily walks in the shade, and bath time once the cord is off.
- Older sibling: lie face to face during tummy time, shake a rattle softly on one side then the other, help push the stroller with an adult.
6 weeks to 3 months
- Smiles, tracking, head lifting. A play gym, a baby-safe mirror, gentle massage, and back-and-forth "talking": when the baby coos, pause and answer.
- Older sibling: choose which toy hangs down, make faces in the mirror, copy the baby's coos.
3 to 6 months
- Reaching, grabbing, laughing, rolling. Toys just out of reach, rattles and teethers (nothing small enough to fit through a toilet-paper tube), peekaboo, supported sitting around 4-6 months, and board books.
- Older sibling: peekaboo often gets the biggest laughs; offer toys from the baby's basket only.
6 to 12 months
- Sitting, crawling, pulling up. Cushion tunnels, stacking and banging cups and pots, rolling a ball, songs with actions. Keep the floor baby-proofed.
- Older sibling: build towers for the baby to knock down, roll a ball back and forth.
Screens
The WHO advises no screen time under age 2; the AAP advises none under 18 months other than video chatting.
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Grounded in: AAP HealthyChildren, CDC developmental milestones and the WHO 2019 guidelines for under-5s, with Magda Gerber's simple-objects approach. General ideas; every baby moves at their own pace.
General information, not medical advice. If something feels wrong, trust that and call your pediatrician or provider. See Sources.
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