After two months, baby will not sleep so much and will be more active with hands, arms, legs.
He should have a pen or yard, raised six inches above the floor; or a board may be made to fit over mattress of crib. Pen or board should have woolen blanket and quilted pad over it; let baby kick and roll freely. The floor is bad because of drafts and dust. A large dry-goods box, raised, is better than the floor.
Do not prop a baby up in a sitting position until he is strong enough to hold himself up five minutes without support; then allow sitting position for only ten minutes at a time, not on the table or bed with the feet extended in front, but in a carriage or chair, legs bent at knee.
After two months place objects for him to grasp toward, upward, and forward.
As soon as the baby learns to smile, this becomes a little game. At six or eight months, he begins to play with vocal sounds, at peek-a-boo and pat-a-cake. Boisterous play, tossing, tumbling, tickling, are too severe for the delicate nerves; his laughing at this is a symptom rather of nervousness than of joy. The baby is not a plaything for his elders. The hour before bedtime is a good time for quiet mothering.
Motor development during the first year normally approximates the following plan.
Eyes begin to focus at about six weeks; coördination not well developed until three months or later; real tears, from the lachrymal glands, begin at about three months; knows mother or nurse by sight at about three months. Voluntary smiling begins at about five weeks, laughing at five or six months. Ability to sit alone develops at from six to eight months, to stand alone at twelve to fourteen, and to walk alone at fourteen to eighteen months.
Exercises. Special exercise may begin at three or four weeks of age. Begin with one exercise, and three-minute periods. Each fortnight time may be increased two minutes up to twenty-minute limit. Add new exercises gradually, at two-week intervals.
All exercises should be given slowly, rhythmically, two hours after a feeding, when baby is in happy mood; before bathing in mid-morning, or in mid-afternoon, is a good time. Do not permit fatigue or test endurance.
Always do the exercises in the same order, thus cultivating motor memory.