How your baby’s growing
At this age, babies tend to gravitate toward stuffed animals, big and small. One might even become your baby’s favourite security object. If so, it’ll soon be accompanying you everywhere. Don’t worry: a “transitional object” like this can be a sign of emerging independence as your little one learns to separate herself from you and depend on herself – slowly but surely.
When adding new members to your soft-toy family, look for soft, well-stitched toys. And if something looks like it’s becoming a favourite, it might be worth buying a spare. You’ll be able to have one for her to cuddle while the other one is in the wash. It also means you have a back up should the beloved toy ever be lost!
Your life: handling grandparents with grace
New grandparents mean well. They really do. They just tend to mean well a little too much sometimes. Try not to react too defensively or judgmentally if your parents or in-laws criticise your parenting style, dispense unwanted advice or otherwise try to influence your choices for raising your baby. Being confident about your own parenting skills will make these unsolicited opinions easier to handle. They may have more years of parenting experience than you, but you and only you are the mother of this particular child, a fact you can (and may need to) gently remind them of.
Parent tip: nappy changing tip
“I always make sure I have a small toy by the changing mat that I can hand to Ethan when changing his nappy. This seems to keep his mind off trying to wriggle away!” — Rupal

Author and photo www.babycenter.com