Montessori at 4 months

Observations at 4 Months Old

July 4, 2019 by jayabalar Leave a Comment

Anika turned 5 months on Tuesday and I love to do these observation post just to record the memories because time seems to be passing so fast! Hey 5 months already??

“I observe little children; I sensed their needs; I tried to fulfill them; they call that the Montessori method.”- Dr. Montessori

I will be honest, 4th month has been challenging for me in many ways. Little miss went through her 19th week growth spurt + sleep regression + object permanence at the same time. I have spoken in details about the 19th week growth spurt and 4th month sleep regression on Instagram. I will talk about object permanence here….its when babies are still learning that objects can exist even when they can’t see them. It meant a lot of screaming for every minute, I moved away from her eyesight. So we have been baby wearing a LOT and my back is a bit stuffed…But challenges are a part of life just like the good times and each day, I am immensely grateful for my daughter. So I am not complaining but sharing cause I want to be honest in my journey as a mum…. I should record observations every week cause I dont seem to remember much but here are a few things I remember….

Obsession with hands and feet has been intense this whole month.
Loves grabbing her left toes and taking both her socks out. Right toe seems a bit more challenging to grasp. It’s amazing to see minor muscular differences in both sides of the body from such a young age.
From week 18 onward, she was constantly ‘arching her back’ while feeding, playing etc. Well its a preparation for rolling! I supported her upper back while carrying her so she was safe.
Towards the end of 4th month she started rolling from her tummy to her back. It was done obsessively like 30 times a day at least. It was almost like she could not help but had to roll over 5 times before her body stopped arching back and she could sleep.
Rolling on her right is much easier than her left.
She hardly misses grasping anything now. Her grasp has come a longgg way this month.
She has always been a very alert baby but this month her personality has shown even more. She is super happy, giggly, chatty and also very strong willed 🙂
She now responds to her name.
She watches my every move and wants to imitate me all the time. I have been eating on the floor so she could see how I eat. This resulted in some serious tantrums if I didn’t give her something to eat, so yes at 4 months she started chomping on solids like a pro. More on this later…
We have some new sounds this month, my favorite is when she says ‘ayeee’.
She seems to be imitating me every minute. Every evening, we dance and this is her (and my) most favorite part of the day! I dance and sing songs and she vigorously moves her hands and legs with big smile trying to match my moves 😀
She “demands” lullaby before each nap time. I have been singing her Annie’s song (John Denver), You are my sunshine, Top of the world, I just called to say I love you (Stevie Wonder) from when she was in my tummy and its fascinating to see how much she loves listening to me sing these tunes(probably the only one who does ;-)). She kicks her legs hard attempting to dance, while I sing.
She can sit unaided and arches forward for about 10-15 seconds.
She absolutely loves watching trees and feeling all the world around her. I take her around the house and let her feel whatever she looks at. Some favorites are door knobs and taps.
Turns out she is a tummy sleeper! We still co-sleep at night and use carrier during day naps.
Our routine at the start of 4th month, looked like this. Towards the end of 4th month, her awake time increased to 2-2.5 hours and our routines have completely changed. I will post our new routine soon.
We loved doing heaps of work/ play together. Check out 20 Montessori inspired activities she loved at 4 months old.
This month, she seemed increasingly restless and demanding of my attention, which in turn decreased her ‘work’ and time for ‘concentration’. Although I know this is a developmental thing and I am doing all in my will to make her feel secure, I wonder if there is something else I could do…..
She can pick up toys from her side.
Teething continues and tends to get more intense at night time.
Oh wait, did I mention she loves water? Apart from splashing in bath tub every night we do a small water play in our bathroom sink after breakfast.

All in all she grew up heaps this month, physically (check out those thighs :-)) and with her skills. I love my life as mumma to this precious ray of sunshine.

Settling a newborn- the Montessori way (Montessori Voices magazine version)

July 1, 2019 by jayabalar Leave a Comment

I love writing for Montessori Voices (NZ Montessori magazine). I am grateful to have met Cathy, the lovely editor and executive direction of MANZ, NZ at our AMI 0-3 certificate training last year. My first article was released at the start of this year on “Preparing a Montessori Newborn Space” and I choose to write the second article on ‘Settling a Newborn-the Montessori way” because I found the birth month really hard and was immensely grateful to have read about the Montessori way and the crucial importance of those first few weeks of life. I hope you find this article useful and please do share with any new mum you know…

Symbiotic Period is the first 6-8 weeks in a newborns life that have a significant impact on their overall development depending on the level of care provided by the mother/primary caregiver. The mother-child relationship is established through the following three forms of contact:

Holding- The body language from the primary caregiver as she holds it provides the newborn information about their caregiver’s attitude and feelings towards the baby. When a newborn is held with loving kindness it provides them a reassurance that they are accepted and loved.

Much research has shown that the extent and quality of care the mother provides the child are strongly conditioned by the amount of time they spent together during the first days after birth.- Dr. Montanaro.

Handling- A caregiver’s positive involvement while changing, dressing and bathing the newborn becomes another vital tool for the baby’s smooth transition into their new environment. By involving a newborn in his/her care routine by slowing down and letting them know what is going to happen to them next helps the baby feel secure and respected.

Feeding- Breast milk is recommended as the most optimum food for an infant. Apart from it being the most appropriate biological food, it also gives the infant and mother a sense of unity which helps in building secure attachment. If, you need to bottle fed, it is recommended that the primary caregiver feeds the infant during this period.

If all these experiences have been positive during the Symbiotic Period then the necessary integration between the child’s mind and body has happened and this becomes the moment of their psychological birth. The profound meaning of what happens in this period will have an effect throughout life.

Here are some Montessori guidelines that ease the transition during the Symbiotic Period:

Observing, Responding and Following the child– It is important to pay attention and be intuitive about our babies. A fantastic aid in the beginning few weeks while we got to know and understand each other was the Dunston baby language. All babies have a similar voice/ cry for the same reason. Once we understood the reason for the crying, we responded immediately.

“This basic trust produces optimistic individuals who will perceive the world as a beautiful place and who believe, no matter how difficult circumstances become, that external help can be found.”- Dr. Montanaro.

Freedom of movement is crucial from birth. So minimal or if possible don’t use of mittens, pacifier, swaddle, containers (swings, bouncers). Instead baby uses the floor bed and movement mat on the floor to have a complete view of their environment and freedom to move their body. It is also crucial that their “points of reference”, which is their memory during their time in the womb, are always available for a smooth transition during this period. These are mother’s voice, her heartbeat and freedom to touch their own body.

Importance of concentration– A newborn has an immense capacity to concentrate for long periods of time and Montessori mobiles are a great aid to concentration. The role of an adult is to not disturb the baby once they start concentrating. The scientific sequence to Montessori mobiles is developmentally appropriate to a child’s growing visual sense. Here is the sequence we followed:

Birth to 3 weeks- the child absorbs the environment, while placed on a movement mat.

4^th week- introduced Munari mobile (black and white)

6^th week- introduced mobile (introduction to primary colours)

8^th week- introduced Rainbow mobile (introduction to secondary colours)

9^th week- introduced Gobbi mobile (introduction to gradation of colours from darkest to lightest)

11^th week- introduced dancer’s mobile (realistic shapes and represents movement, flexibility, bodily expression and potency).

This is followed by batting and grasping mobiles.

It is our capacity to become altered by sustained attention to our surroundings that is the most spiritual quality of human beings.- Montessori from the Start

Respect the child- Respectis a crucial part of the Montessori philosophy. Some ways to respect a newborn are:

– Follow the child: It is developmentally not possible to spoil a baby! So when a baby wants to cluster feed or be held for long periods, follow the child because that’s what they need to feel secure in this new world.

– Communicate and involve them during personal cares: Letting them know what is about to happen to them before actually doing it lets them know what to expect and lays the foundation for their self-esteem and respect in relationships.

– Respect their need for personal space: It is recommended to keep visitors at a minimum in these first few weeks. Bonding as a family and keeping this personal space is crucial and eases their transition in the new environment. Close family and friends use a topponcino (security pillow) to carry the newborn so the child is handled securely.

Adjust the environment- Adjusting the home environment to bea little warmer, lights little dimmer and less noise will provide the child a smooth transition from their life in the womb.

The family is certainly a prime determinant for the positive development of the child. The parents should therefore understand that they hold the key to the development of a happy, integrated, strong human being.
Dr. Montanaro

The first few weeks are crucial and challenging period not just for the baby but also for the new mother/primary caregiver, who has a great responsibility of settling the baby while still recovering from birth. This article is only a guideline because every child and family works differently and have diverse circumstances. Along with a primary caregiver’s intuition and Montessori principles of following the child, respecting the child, observing and responding appropriately and freedom of movement a newborn settles in their new environment with ease.

20 Montessori Inspired Activities at 4 Months old

June 26, 2019 by jayabalar 2 Comments

At 4 months old, babies have discovered their hands and feet, they are refining their grasp and are very aware/fascinated with the outside world. Since Anika’s awake time has increased to 2 hours, we can do lots more than feed, change, concentrate on Montessori mobiles and tummy time 🙂

At 4 months old, Anika is obsessed with hands and feet. Here she is catching her toes and watching how mine move..

I recently posted several activities we love doing at 4 months old on Instagram. I am thrilled with all the feedback. Anika will be 5 months on this weekend, so I thought I should share all the various activities we have enjoyed doing this past month. To reiterate from my last post, these are all extra’s, the most important thing a baby needs is you (primary caregiver) and your loving attention.

Let’s start with the activity that got over 30 K views and 750 likes on Instagram :-O

Balloons loosely tied to the wrist- Between 3 and 6 months, the robotic arm and leg movements begin to disappear and this is replaced by more conscious and graceful movements. One of our favorite ‘rainy day’ activity for concentration + movement refinement is exploring loosely tied helium balloons on wrist. If you watch the video, you will see how much babies enjoy balloons. Any play with balloons should always be supervised.

Dance with bell socks- Here is a proof that babies learn through imitation. That’s why its always important for me to reflect on all I do and say. Dancing together with bells is a great way for us to connect and for Anika to practice rhythmic movement. She had been gifted these rattle socks and I made mine from inserting 2 loose bells in a pipe cleaner and tying it around my ankle.

Wooden figure mobile– Mobiles are a wonderful aid to concentration in the first few months of life. We have loved the Montessori mobile sequence during the first 3 months. At 3.5 months, we changed to this whales mobile, which helped in visual development through realistic shape and movement. At 3.5 months Anika started ‘grasping’ the whales instead of watching and batting them, so we changed to the ring/ bell chimes mobile.

Whales mobile provides a great stimulation for ‘grasping’ and
when they do, its time for bell chimes mobile

Bell chimes mobile– This is a fun and exciting extension to the Montessori ‘ring on ribbon’ mobile. I did a DIY ‘elastic on ring’ mobile, but Anika didn’t enjoy it nearly as much as she loved clashing the bells (cause and effect) on her bell chimes mobile.

Bell chimes mobile has been great for grasping with
a very pleasant soothing effect of the chimes

Still a great challenge to grasp during tummy time but its work in progress…

Anika enjoying a simple DIY Montessori elastic on ring mobile

Provide grasping opportunities on back and tummy– At 4 months, it’s all about ‘grasping’. Apart from trying to grasp everyone’s nose, lips and hair :-D, Anika has loved working with a variety of grasping toys.

Anika loves grasping her Hevea star ball which can be easily attached to any playgym

Tie double knot to silk scarf and hang it on your playgym. They are great for grasping and mouthing 🙂

Water play in the sink- One is never too young for water play! Most babies love playing with water. At 4 months old, babies can’t sit independently but they are developing stronger spine muscles to hold the supported sitting position for few minutes. We do a short water play in the sink every afternoon before getting changed and recently its become the highlight of the day for Anika. She splashes with her hands and feet and loves feeling her hands under running water. She is incredibly fascinated with the tap as well and is trying to figure it out.

Never too young for water play 😉 Sink works well at this age.

Go Outside- We go outside everyday (unless windy) and Anika kicks with excitement as soon as I bring her warm clothes out. She cooes and chats with the trees and loves each minute outdoors. I have spoken more about exactly why and how we do it in ‘Forest school for babies’.

Play with various textured balls- Balls are such a wonderful open-ended and sensorial toy. At 4 months old, we are using them to refine our grasp, feel different textures, taste them 😉 and encourage movement.

Grasping the crochet ball during tummy time

Since babies love bringing their hands together at 4 months. Holding various textured balls with both hands strengthens their hand muscles.

Science for babies- We have not introduced any bath toys yet. Anika is too busy cooing with me, splashing or chewing on her face cloth during bath time. So this set up with stones sinking at the bottom and duck floating was really fascinating for a little 4 month old.

First experience of sink and float for babies

Let them feel– the world and people around. Babies love feeling people’s faces, hair, clothes etc with their hands. They also love feeling everything in the environment, from a metal tap, wooden door to sand. Since their hand to mouth reflex is still not super quick, this is a wonderful age to let them feel their world.

Let them feel various textures in nature.

Read with them- We have tried to instill a love for books from birth. I have earlier blogged about our ‘Top 10 Montessori approved baby books”.

This book is our current favorite with lots of different textures to feel

Introduce the home environment- In the first 6 months, babies make a mental picture of the home environment so they are ready to go, once they start crawling 🙂 Anika absolutely loves it when I take her around the house and show her how the washing machine works or how to rotate the door knob. These are their “first practical life” lessons. We aid this by baby wearing and doing tummy time in various nooks and corners of home.

Anika gets to touch and feel all things around home and food is her favorite 🙂

Tummy time at random places around the house keeps her entertained without toys+ encourages new discoveries. Here she discovered, her hands slide under the mat and disappear!

Give them real-life things to explore-More than any toy, Anika loves to observe us do “real-life” things, like eat and brush. What intrigues babies the most at this stage is how our hands and feet move while doing those things. With the recent introduction to solids, she is figuring out how to hold a spoon and loves exploring this. She also loves playing with random things like my wooden bangle, house keys, remote control for heat pump etc. Please note, we only started giving her these ‘real objects’ towards the end of 4th month, once she had mastered the hand control enough to not hurt her face/ eyes.

Exploring a spoon and working out ‘the hold’

Let them watch the world- At 4 months old, babies are now more comfortable with the world around them. Every little thing amazes them, so we try to give Anika as many real-lie experiences as possible. She loves watching rain fall, watching cars drive past, people walking by….

Watching the rain fall is a wonderful sensorial experience for babies

At 4 months, babies can perceive the world of smooth transitions and love watching cars and people pass by..

Yoga with mum- For the past 3-4 months, I have found it impossible to take out time for self-care (yoga for me). Until recently, I figured yoga with Anika on the same mat would be kind of fun + my bit of ‘role modelling’. Yoga has had an immense impact on my life and as Anika is busy absorbing everything I do, I hope this becomes an integral part of her life too. Anika is obsessed with hands and feet and seeing my body move in different ways and from a different angle inspires her to move and ‘experiment’ more with her body too. Sometimes we do it for 2 minutes and sometimes 10 minutes, but something is better than nothing. For Anika, she is fascinated and trying to move too!

Watching mama’s hands and feet do funny things!

Never too young for yoga! Role modelling encourages her to move too.

Give them pictures to look at- We have loved these black and white cards from etsy in the first 4 months. Since she now moves 180 degrees and sometimes even moves 360 degrees during tummy time, I set up various cards/ pictures to encourage movement.

Looking at our favorite black and white images, which is a great tummy time incentive to move

Give them space and time to work on themselves- As a rule of thumb, Anika does tummy time (since day 4) as soon as she wakes up from a nap. We dont disturb her concentration, unless she calls us. This time/ space is essential for babies to work on their skills. We let her do this wherever we are and always respond to her needs but if she chooses to just work by herself, we respect that too. If you do use swings, bouncers or walkers, ensure that baby has ‘floor time’ as it is crucial for their growth and development.

All of this month has been about doing the ‘flying’ move during tummy time to build core strength for rolling + crawling

Practical life for babies- is watching adults do chores. In a Montessori classroom, adults do “presentations” to demonstrate the work. In home environment a baby is constantly watching the adult and absorbing “how things are done”. We like to include Anika in our daily life by getting her on our eye level while one of us do the chores and let her see us. This absolutely fascinates her! Concentration while absorbing chores is 100%.

Practical life for babies= watch us do chores

Sing and play instruments- We can’t play any musical instrument but randomly strum this ukelele (last Christmas present for hubby) and sing songs and dance every night. Hallelujah to screen free house! And I promise, babies think music is music even if you don’t know what cord you are playing 🙂

Trying to strum the ukelele like mama and daddy

Play dates- While babies love looking at other babies pictures in the books, what they love even more is seeing them in real-life. At 4 months old, babies are increasingly aware and bonding with other babies is a wonderful opportunity for them. During Anika’s first play date, she and her little buddy looked at each other and both simultaneously squealed in excitement and disbelief!

Hope this post gave you some ideas on fun ways to explore the world while aiding your babies development. Even though, I have tagged this as ‘4 month old’ activities, these will be enjoyed on repeat for us till at least she is 6 months old. Any more to add?

Montessori inspired routine at 4 months old

June 18, 2019 by jayabalar 1 Comment

I recently did a story on Instagram with pictures on how our routine looks like at 4 months old. I received heaps of messages from mum’s, who enjoyed this little insight to our daily rhythm very much, so I thought I should share it on my blog too! Here are the main highlights …Before we start, 2 things:

Anika has recently started on solids. More on that in the next post 🙂
This is not the “ideal/ recommended” 4 month old routine nor have I set it. After we got the day/night circadian rhythm going, I gave Anika the choice to lead her own routine by following her cues. Every baby is different and has different needs for rest and activity time, here is what works out for mine 🙂

“A child should be permitted to go to sleep when he is tired, to wake up when he is rested, and to rise when he wishes.”- Maria Montessori.

This is how most of our weekdays currently look like…

6 am: we cosleep. She wakes 2-3 times at night, feeds and sleeps right away. Then wakes at 6 am and wants to be held for her last nap. I listen to my audiobook.

8.15 am- 9 am: She wakes up at 8.15 am and while I shower, eat breakfast, make the bed, put washing on etc, my husband changes her and puts her on tummy time before he leaves for work.

9 am to 10 am – we leave for our local reserve on most days. We stop heaps on the way and enjoy all the beautiful trees and flowers. Once in the reserve, we find a tree, do tummy time, back time, feel the grass/bark while laying on my legs, feed and start walking back home. The days when it rains, we go to the end of our street in my carrier and with an umbrella.

9 am routine is walking to our nearby reserve.

Back time, feed and we start walking back home at 9.45 am

10 am- 11 am: Anika usually falls asleep in the stroller (recent development yeye) few minutes before we reach home. She stays asleep for an hour, while I get our meals + chores done.

We enjoy baby-led weaning for her brunch as it helps develop her chewing reflex and she enjoys it too 🙂

11 am-11.30 am: is brunch time for Anika.

11.30 am -12.30 pm: is tummy time + work time in her Montessori room. That particular day she worked with her whales mobile and skwish toy.

Skwish toy is a popular grasping + teething Montessori toy

12.30 pm- 3.30 pm: she naps in my carrier, while I catch up on my emails, blogs, reading etc.

Anika loves her long afternoon nap in my carrier

3.30 pm- 4 pm: is our reading + cuddles time 🙂

Learning to hold books during reading time

Tummy time while chatting and watching me fold laundry

4 pm- 4.30 pm: We chat and I fold laundry + eat afternoon tea while Anika is watching me on her tummy.

4.30 pm- 5 .45 pm: Anika usually plays with her mobile but on this particular day she wanted more cuddles. So she saw me cook till 5 pm, feed and slept in my carrier till 5.45 while I finished cooking dinner.

15 minute short tummy time while gnawing on a cold wet cloth to ease teething pain

5.45 pm -6 pm: Short tummy time.

Loved her boiled mashed vegetables + mango dinner

6 pm- 6.30 pm: Dinner time. We do a variety of boiled mashed vegetables each night.

6.30 pm- 6.45 pm: Anika plays while I eat dinner.

Daily full body oil massage aids sleep + myelination

6.45 pm- 7.30 pm– Anika enjoys a full-body massage followed by a warm bath. She loves splashing in her bath 😉

7.30 pm- 8 pm: Is the last nap while Dad comes back home eats dinner.

8 pm- 10 pm: We enjoy time dancing + reading + singing on ukelele as a family of 3. Bedtime is 10 pm 🙂

Last 2 hours we spend time bonding as a family

The most important Montessori material

June 14, 2019 by jayabalar 1 Comment

I have been sharing activities that a 4 month old baby can do daily for the past week on Instagram. I will summarize it this week on the blog. Amongst all the ‘activities’, ‘materials’ and ‘things’ I think the most important reminder for me is to do the “best version of me”. Anika seems increasingly aware, responsive and OBSERVANT every single day. Her most interesting activity has been to watch me (and dad). She sees my expressions, how I eat, how I move, my lips when I talk, my hands when I sing,,

I was watering plants and she was watching me with greatest concentration….

I was eating and her eyes didn’t move for few minutes just watching how I hold the spoon and bring it to my mouth…

Every day, every minute I see her looking at me (and hubby) absorbing EVERYTHING! So here is a reflection and some reminders for me….

Stop and talk. Chores can wait.
Water the plants with both your hands, like you would expect her to do.
Walk around the house with more grace. Do not stomp and run.
Sit and eat. Do not stand and eat.
Put your chair in (every time!).
SLOWDOWN.

I am sure I do many more things in home life, which are not very Montessori of me. But since this very alert little human has her eyes on me all day long, here is a reminder for me to be my most gracious self.

3 Most Loved Montessori materials in the first 3 months

June 12, 2019 by jayabalar Leave a Comment

I have written a detailed post about ‘Preparing a Montessori Newborn Space‘ earlier. Here is a quick guide to Montessori playroom furniture and three materials we have loved in the first three months.

A Montessori playroom for babies has 2 main pieces of furniture, which are used daily for many years:

Horizontal mirror– Easily our most loved and used piece of furniture. Anika has loved looking in this safe acrylic mirror since the first few days after birth. Some uses of the mirror for a baby are: it helps the child to have an extended view of their environment, Anika enjoys the mirror image of the mobiles, she watches her face and tries out facial expressions, she watches her hands and feet move, she enjoys interacting with others through the mirror, she prefers to be held (by a new person) while looking in the mirror so she knows whats happening with her body. Basically I cant recommend it enough 🙂 I love this particular mirror because we can easily move it, does not damage the walls and it can be reconfigured vertically when she starts walking.
An infant shelf- Babies are sensitive to order. So having this piece of furniture to store their play materials neatly in trays adheres to this sense of order and they learn from start and things belong to and have to be put back in their place. We got a wooden infant shelf from a local woodsman in Auckland , which will be used for years to come. But a shelf from Ikea or Kmart works well too.

As far as Montessori materials go, here are top 3 that we have used heaps and absolutely loved….

Montessori mobiles have been the most loved in these first 3 months

Montessori mobiles– We have had so much fun with these! They have been marvelous to develop Anika’s concentration. This being our main ‘toy’ for the first 3 months (and even now!) these mobiles have been totally worth its use.

Baby books and these black and white flash cards have been loved!

Baby books– Reading books has been a great way to bond and also form concrete routines for us. Anika loves these books and they are Montessori (real-life images) approved. We also love using these books and the black and white flashcards as our tummy time incentive.

Lovevery Play gym-this Montessori inspired playgym has been a big hit for us. Anika loved the black and white images, mirror, mobiles…I love that the little guide book that comes with it and tells you how to change the material every few months according to their development stage. It can be used right till she is a toddler.

Montessori at 4 months

Settling a newborn- the Montessori way (Montessori Voices magazine version)

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