“Baby Time” is a crucial need for babies

Families enjoy Baby Time at Lake Jackson library 

The Lake Jackson library hosted its weekly Baby Time on Friday, inviting children three years old and younger to enjoy simple songs, stories and rhymes in honor of Dr. Seuss..

As a first-time mother who is also a full-time college student, juggling school life and family life can get tiresome. Since starting to incorporate Baby Time with my 9-month-old daughter into my weekly routine, the balance between raising a family while simultaneously staying on top of my academic studies has been a breeze.

According to children’s librarian Christine Earp, Baby Time suffices a great benefit for babies, as it is a great method for them to build social interactions with other babies, parents get the chance to interact with other parents, and most importantly, it serves as a bonding tool to build parent-child relationships outside of home.

One parent of a three-year-old, Heather Akins, who faithfully attends Baby Time each week, is grateful for the opportunity to expand her daughter’s learning. She said that her involvement has made a positive impact on her daughter’s life.

“I got my daughter involved in Baby Time at 13 months old and she loved it. It was great socialization and it taught her how to sit still and listen to them read for a while.”

Not only is Baby Time a great way to help babies socialize, it teaches them the concept of sharing. Jasmine Strong, who has participated in Baby Time for two years, said that she has noticed a huge difference in her son sharing with other children.

Earp attested to the fact that Baby Time promotes the idea of sharing by relating it to the concept of separation anxiety. She said, “Sometimes, babies get scared that you won’t come back to them when you leave the room, but eventually they realize that you will come back.”

“The same idea applies to the concept of sharing,” Earp added. “When you encourage children to share things such as toys, they will soon realize that eventually, the toy will come back.”

Another benefit of Baby Time is that it encourages parents to teach their children the importance of cleaning behind themselves even outside of home, which reinforces the concept that they should not only clean up at home, but in public as well.

Although raising a child as a college student can be quite a task, opportunities such as Baby Time have made the new experience even more rewarding.