What is this?
Babies experience time a bit differently to adults. If they have a need, or something to “say”, it feels really urgent to them! Waiting can feel like ages. On the other hand, if they are trying to respond to us, that can take a while to get together. Think up to 10 seconds to answer if we chat with them.
Being available means allowing them time to respond to us. And it means being as quick as we can to respond to them.
Why does it matter?
We don’t have to be on 999 alert all the time! But if most of the time we respond to babies as soon as we can, then it helps them feel secure. Which means they have lots more attention for playing and developing.
If we don’t give babies a “pause and wait” to get their responses to us organised, then we might miss an interaction! We might think the baby isn’t interested, when all they need is a bit more time.
What does it look like?
- Responding to baby’s needs as soon as we can
- Giving them space as well to explore and try things out
- When chatting and playing, pausing and waiting to give them time to respond
Show me some examples!
video
video
bumps to bairns 