How do babies develop? Months Sixteen to Eighteen

At sixteen months babies are usually getting quite active and want to play more interactive games that use their brains, such as pointing at body parts or pictures when asked by their parents to identify a particular thing. They will also be stepping up to more physical challenges, such as opening and closing doors and going up and down the stairs (backwards).

They will probably start to imitate common gesture their parents make - such as putting their finger to their lips and saying, shhhh!

Although they won't be able to follow the plot, toddlers enjoy looking at picture books and being read to, and they like to choose the story book - and they don't get tired of reading the same story over and over again, until it falls out of favour for a different one.

At 17 months most babies talk more clearly and use a handful of words regularly. They might be able to take off their dress or top and they can learn quite easily how to brush their teeth. Babies at this time understand more and they want to try new things, like feeding a doll or kicking a ball forward. They can recognise and sort toys by colour, shape or size. It is a good time to work on manners using words like “please” or “thank you”.

The 18 month old baby is very active. They like to dance to music, push and turn buttons and knobs or climb all over furniture. You may be able to teach your baby how to use a potty, but don't worry if it takes a little longer.
Most babies already have their favourite toys but quite often they also develop some habits which help them to calm and relax, for example sucking their thumb. However, usually all babies outgrow these things so parents shouldn’t worry too much.

Personalised Baby Gifts have a range of products to help with toddlers development, including jigsaw puzzles and plastic cups.

Baby Shower Charades! Free Ideas for Movie, Book & Song Titles

Baby Shower Charades is a great game that you can play at your baby shower to liven things up and have everyone falling over with giggles.

Preparation

Easy! All you need to do is prepare some cards with the names of books, movies and song titles all with the word ‘baby’ somewhere in them written on one side. If you’re super enthusiastic or have a lot of time on your hands, you could also make a CD of the songs to play afterwards (but not before or during or you’ll give the game away!).

Titles with baby names in

·         (You’re) Having my baby

·         Anybody seen my baby

·         Baby  be mine

·         Baby love

·         Baby, I love your way

·         Be my baby

·         Bye bye baby

·         Gone Baby Gone

·         Hit me baby one more time

·         I got you babe

·         Maybe Baby

·         Million Dollar Baby

·         Rosemary’s Baby

·         Santa baby

·         The Babysitter

·         The water babies

·         They Baby-sitter’s Club

·         Three men and a baby

Playing charades

 

On the day, split into two teams (you may need an independent moderator as well, depending on how competitive your lot are. One member of Team A takes a card, reads it and keeps it secret. They then have to try to mime the words to their team, who shout out their guesses. The person miming is not allowed to speak (or make any noise) or mouth anything with their lips. If the team correctly guess the title from the card before the time is up, then they win the point. If they fail to win it, then usually the other team has a few seconds to take a guess. If they get it right, then they get the point instead.

Are you interested in reading more about baby showers? Read the fascinating history of baby showers from ancient times to the modern day.

If you’re having or going to a baby shower, check out our fantastic range of baby gifts – there’s everything from bibs to door plaques to silver and crystal keepsakes.

Personalised Baby Gifts! Making your baby shower perfect.

Tips for taking photos of your newborn

Whether it’s your first child or your fifth, having a new baby is an incredibly special moment in all parents’ lives. You probably want to capture the first moments forever as your new addition slumbers peacefully.

At Personalised Baby Gifts we offer engraved photo frames and embroidered albums to keep all your baby photos safe in.

Here are some tips for taking some great newborn photos.

Try to capture the ‘firsts’

Rather than having lots of pictures of the baby in the same position, it can be very fun and rewarding to capture some of the many firsts that will be going on. Such as baby’s first bath, first weighing, first outfit, first time meeting grandparents, best friend, aunt etc.

You don’t need to go overboard and try to capture every single thing, but by creating a ‘photo documentary’ of this kind, you will have a story to relive over the years.

Experiment with distances and angles

Close-ups work very well with babies – if you have a macro function on your camera, then get up close and use it! But you should experiment from further away, and also try different angles. Down low works well for babies, because it gives the impression of being in their world.

Try black and white

Converting pictures of newborns and babies into black and white makes for a timeless beauty. If you have some photo editing software, you could also experiment with desaturating but not entirely turning to black and white, using a sepia filter or if you’re a little more advanced removing all colour except in a few select places, such as a bow, or in the eyes.

For more ideas and tips for new parents visit our baby gifts store.

Idea for a wonderful unique personalised gift - photo gifts!

Photo gifts are one of my favourite personalised gifts. These days there are variety of options for using personal photographs to make great personal gifts. There are lots of places that will print photo products at relatively inexpensive rates, and if you watch out for special deals on some of the coupon websites, you can get something very reasonable.

Photos in frames

You could simply go for the classic option and buy a pretty frame and fill it with one or more pictures of yourself or the recipient of the gift and other friends and family. Or you could buy a very cheap plain photo frame and decorate it yourself using glass beads, glittery rubber paint, shells and whatever else you can find!

Photo calendar

Photo calendars are a great useful gift that can keep your loved ones smiling all year round. If possible, you can try to match the photos for each month with ones taken at the right time or year, but it doesn’t really matter. You can just put a selection of your favourite photos in, or you can pick a theme, such as a holiday, day trip, pets, or a year in the life of!

Photobooks

Photobooks offer a load of options, from a mini flip book type book all the way to a hard bound glossy printed tome. As with calendars, it can be nice to pick a theme – perhaps you could collect pictures from someone’s life all the way from being a baby and show them developing through their lives up to the present day!

For more great ideas for personalised gifts and to browse our excellent range of everything from balloons to china piggy banks – visit the Personalised Baby Gift shop!

Some tips for new mothers

When a first baby is born a mother is created as well. Before the baby was born she was a woman, but now she is a mother, and always will be - even after the child is grown up and has children of his or her own.

But the first few weeks and months of motherhood can be a stressful and scary time, so here are a few suggestions to help make sure this magical time stays magical!

Take some time to yourself

It's difficult tofind any time for yourself with a demanding baby, but this is really vital for your mental health as well as for the good of the baby. Everybody needs some time to reboot and rejuvinate. Even if it's just a half hour walk at first, or if you can find time to go to a class you enjoy or have a coffee with a friend without the baby, taking some time to yourself will be everyone good.

Don't try to be supermum

Many new mums fall into the trap of feeling they have to be perfect, every second of every day. But this can only lead to stress, anxiety and guilt. You can't get everything right first time, you're learning every day - and you can be sure your baby isn't going to notice, or give two hoots. As long as you're loving it, it's loving you and that's more important than anything else.

Don't worry if you don't feel like a 'natural'

There's a common myth that as soon as the baby pops out, women immediately know exactly what to do in every given situation. This is nonsense. Many new mums don't even bond with their babies at first - sleep seems more appealing! So don't worry if everything seems hard and unnatural at first, and don't panic if you're not clothed in a blanket of adoration at every moment. The bonds take tim eot build - but they will, just be patient.

If you know a new mum who's finding her feet, why not treat her to a unique personalised gift? Personalised Baby Gifts UK has a range of gorgeous gifts for newborns, ranging from practical bibs, clothing and bedding to elegant keepsakes.

How do babies develop? Months Thirteen to Fifteen

As your baby enters his or her second year (how fast has that time flown?!), communication becomes much more prevalent. The child has twelve months of experience under their belt and are beginning to understand the world around them - and have opinions about how it should be...

At thirteen months babies usually walk and stand on their own but it is quite common for some babies to still use furniture or other objects to support themselves. And some children don’t walk until seventeen or eighteen months or even later, so don't panic if yours is more content to stay put!

Hand skills will be improving and most babies are able to grab a block and drop it into a container or grip a spoon. Communication and understanding is developing fast and babies usually use the most common words: “dada” and “mama” or “hello” and “bye”.

At around thirteen to fifteen months babies understand the meaning of “bye – bye” and they wave when somebody is leaving and saying goodbye. Most babies can easily drink from a cup and try to eat by using a spoon and fork. Quite often babies are ready to help to do the cleaning - which they enjoy more than their parents..

Usually fifteen month old babies have their own special favourite things, like a soft toy or favourite blanket. These items are called “transitional items” and they can be a source of comfort, especially when parents are not around.

At this time most babies are quite good at walking or even shaky running, and some babies are even able to walk backwards. It’s good fun to push and pull toys while walking or matching lids and stacking blocks. At fifteen months babies can often recognise themselves in a mirror. Hello me!

Personalised Baby GIfts UK is a great source of ideas for unique gifts to make a baby's room more perfect or to put a smile on a new parent or grandparent's face.

We have all kinds of cute themes, from pirates to zoo animals to timeless classic.

 

Four tips for new fathers

When it comes to new babies - the focus tends to be on the mother, so all those poor proud dads can get overlooked. But in the modern era of equality, fantastic fathers should empbrace parenthood. Here are a few tips for new fathers to share in the joy of having a new child.

Don't be afraid to hold it

Some new fathers are nervous of holding a new baby - it looks so small and fragile, and you might get it wrong. But as long as you are careful, and gently support the head, you'll be fine. Once you have it in your arms you won't want to give it back...

Be patient

Looking after a newborn is a testing time for anyone. Waking up several times a night and constant crying will wear you down, but remember that it's only temporary. Take a few deep breaths, go for a little walk if you can, and remember the little baby is only trying to let you know how it feels.

Support your partner

Of course, this works both ways - but try to imagine what a new mother goes through in the process of having a baby. The physical and emotional strain is extreme, and will take it's toll on even the calmest, strongest of people. So try to offer help and support whenever you can, and a bit of pampering wouldn't go amiss!

Get stuck in!

Don't take a back seat. Pretty much the only thing you can't do is breast feed, so get involved in taking care of your child. Father's that take an active role find it extremely rewarding and build deep and lasting relationships with their children that last a lifetime.

This article was written by Personalised Baby Gifts UK.

You can find a range of personalised gifts at our store, including bibs, china piggy banks and cute clothes.