David Lurino

Shortly before my first child was born, the governor of my state -- Zell Miller, now a U.S. Senator -- made a startling announcement: Every baby born in Georgia would receive a free classical music CD at the hospital. This wasn't just some bonus prize for being born; it was a start to making Georgians smarter. "Listening to music at a very early age affects the spatial, temporal reasoning that underlies math and engineering and even chess," the governor's statement said. Wow, I thought, all that from a CD? My soon-to-be Georgia peach would be smarter than her mom and dad combined.

We got our CD, but it turns out that in the world of baby smarts, as in life, there are no quick, easy, free solutions. Governor Miller, who based his initiative on an article in Time magazine, got it a wee bit wrong. In fact, the much-referenced study, which gave rise to the phrase "the Mozart Effect," showed that college-age students who listened to Mozart for 10 minutes did better on a spatial relations test a few minutes later. The Mozart Effect, such as it was, was specific, fleeting, and had nothing whatsoever to do with babies.

Nevertheless, the study managed to make believers of a whole generation of new parents who got sucked into buying all manner of pint-size instruments and musical toys and enrolling their 4-month-olds in music classes. The trend seemed to be a side effect of bad science reporting in the popular press over the last decade or so.

In addition to the myths about the Mozart Effect -- and the ensuing number of musical toys with grand claims about making babies smarter -- there was a lot of ink devoted to the importance of the first three years of life. Parents were sold on the "use it or lose it" theory -- the notion that unless certain areas of the brain (those that would turn Johnny into a brilliant mathematician, for instance) were stimulated in those crucial early months of life, the window of opportunity would snap shut, never to open again. Classical music was considered an important stimulus, so a parent who failed to play hours of the stuff for her infant was clearly irresponsible.

Well, all those parents out there can relax. "There is no scientific research on the effect listening to music has on a baby's intelligence," says Frances Rauscher, PhD, a psychologist with the University of Wisconsin and the lead researcher on the college-student study that launched all the brouhaha. Our Mozart Effect research was blown way out of proportion."

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Tackling Tantrums
If you've pulled out everything in your arsenal to no avail and your little one is still headed into a full-blown tantrum, don't worry. The first thing to remember is to stay calm. "If you get more and more riled up, they'll get more and more riled up," says Douglas.

The best solution for handling a tantrum is to pick your child up and take them out of the situation. "My choice would always be to remove the child from everyone and talk privately about what's happening," says Polland. She suggests taking them some place where you'll know they'll be safe and letting them thrash it out.

For example, you might put them in the car, in their car seat, and shut the door. She suggests telling the child to knock on the window when they're done, while you stand outside unbothered and acting as though you can't hear anything. According to Polland, children know they're more likely to get what they want because you don't want to be embarrassed.

One Christmas when Billingham's son was a toddler, he threw an all-out tantrum at a crowded store. Instead of getting upset, Billingham ignored him. When his son took a break, he began applauding him and told him he needed to kick the left leg harder to keep up with the right. "If you don't get embarrassed by the child's behavior, it loses all of its power," he says. His son ended up giggling, and they left the store.

The experts also caution against using physical punishment as a discipline tool because, says Polland, you're telling your child it's OK to hit. "Are we treating children the way we hope they'll treat us and each other?" she asks. Douglas says that while it's never a great discipline method, when doing it in public, you're just asking for someone to call the police.

David Lurino

AD Kids Information: 25 to 30 months

Now that he has a bigger vocabulary, your toddler will begin to experiment with modulation. He may yell when he means to speak normally, and whisper softly when answering a question, but he'll find the appropriate volume soon enough. He's also starting to get the hang of pronouns, such as I, me, and you. Between ages 2 and 3, his working vocabulary will increase to up to 300 words (though he'll understand up to 900 words). He'll string nouns and verbs together to form complete but simple sentences, such as "I go now." He'll even get the hang of speaking about events that happened in the past, though he may not understand the concept of irregular verb forms and come out with expressions such as "I runned" or "I swimmed." While it may sound funny, it's actually a great thing because it shows that he's picking up the basic rules of grammar -- that you add an "-ed" onto a word if it happened yesterday, for one. Similarly, mice will be "mouses" and so on.
At this age, your child should also start to be able to answer simple questions, such as "who" and "where" questions. If your child echoes your question rather than answering it, this is cause for concern and worth mentioning to your pediatrician.
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The Musical Payoff
None of this, of course, implies that exposing our children to music pays no intellectual dividends. Rauscher and her colleagues have continued their research and found that there is a positive effect on children's spatial-temporal (puzzle-solving) and math skills when those as young as 3-years-old are given formal musical instruction -- when they actively study and play music, not merely listen to it. According to Norman Weinberger, PhD, a professor of neurobiology and behavior at the University of California in Irvine, "Music learning and practice benefit many mental and behavioral processes, including cognitive development, language learning, reading ability, creativity, motor skills, and social adjustment."

But none of these effects have been studied in babies. Piano lessons may make older kids smarter in some ways, but just popping in a CD (be it Raffi or Rachmaninoff) is not going to do much for your infant besides tickle his fancy.

Of course, as every loving parent knows, that is a worthy goal in its own right. "It's such a kick to see Lizzie's eyes light up and to watch her little legs pump up and down every time she hears the first notes of a song she likes," says Detroit mother Kay Blava, about her 6-month-old daughter. "It's so obviously pure pleasure for her."

Even more significant is music that emanates from a parent herself. "Singing to your child is so important," says Sandra E. Trehub, PhD, professor of psychology at the University of Toronto. "In contrast to recordings that sound exactly the same at every hearing, a mother fine-tunes her voice to her baby's needs. When her baby is cheerful, she sings in an upbeat voice. When she is fretful, Mom sings in a soothing manner. Since babies can't really regulate their own moods in the early months of life, a mother's singing plays a vital role here."

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News with David Lurino: Common causes

If you can't hear what a word is supposed to sound like, then you can't make that sound properly. So it's not surprising that hearing loss is one reason for communication trouble. There are two main types of hearing loss:

Conductive loss is the result of any condition that interferes with the transmission of sound through the outer and middle ear — a bacterial infection, a waxy blockage in the ear canal or a damaged eardrum. Usually your family doctor, or an ear, nose and throat specialist, can treat conductive hearing loss problems.

Sensorineural loss occurs when the inner ear or acoustic nerve is damaged. This type of hearing loss can be diagnosed soon after birth, and screening programs are in place in Ontario, New Brunswick, PEI, BC and the Yukon. According to The Hearing Foundation of Canada's website, when babies are diagnosed and treated for hearing loss by six months, their language levels are higher — with no evidence of the developmental delays seen in children diagnosed after six months.

David Lurino
Enjoy the Ride
If there's one universal truth about babies, it's that nothing stays the same for very long. As soon as you get used to your child being able to creep or crawl, she'll be up and running! Relax (as much as possible, anyway), play with your baby, help clear a path for her, and take the time to marvel over her development as she moves forward in her own unique, amazing ways.

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The Birth of Discipline
Setting limits, reinforcing good behavior, and discouraging less-desirable behavior can start when your child is a young baby, according to experts. "There are things that even young babies have to learn not to do, such as pulling your hair," says Judith Myers-Walls, PhD, associate professor of child development and family studies at Purdue University in Lafayette, Indiana.

Because little babies have limited language comprehension, memory, and attention spans, the best strategies to employ early on are more about damage control than about teaching an actual lesson. Distracting (helping him move from a not-so-good activity to something better) and ignoring (just what the name implies) are two very effective strategies. If, for example, your 4-month-old discovers how much fun it is to yank your hair, you might gently remove her hand, give it a kiss, and redirect it toward something fun and appropriate, such as a rattle or other toy.

Of course, you never want to ignore a behavior that's potentially dangerous, but looking the other way when your 7-month-old cheerfully pelts his 59th Cheerio from his high chair is a smart move. It's essential to remember that very young children are utterly guileless; your Cheerio pitcher isn't trying to annoy you. He's learning how to control his hands and beginning to understand the concept of cause and effect. As annoying as this behavior is, it's important not to get upset or overreact.

In fact, a recent study found that 39 percent of parents think that their baby is taunting them when he continually changes channels on the remote. Many parents become frustrated when a child engages in such behaviors, says Nancy Samalin, author of Loving Without Spoiling (McGraw-Hill/Contemporary Books, 2003). Your best bet is to maintain a calm demeanor and carry on with what you were doing.

About Susan Henrichs

Monopoly, checkers, Trivial Pursuit . . . not quite fodder for Baby's mind, right? But experts say there's a world of games and fun activities that you and your baby can do that helps him learn, helps the two of you bond and best of all: lets you have fun together. And you'll likely be surprised how much your baby is capable of doing.



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