Stubborn Baby

Back off a little and watch her "play" at her own pace. All that you have said sounds normal to me, for her age.

She doesn't want to learn shapes Mom...she wants to bang them/taste them/throw them/and touch all of them!

You will have LOTS of time for "teaching" her, I promise! @the 2 year mark, she will be all over all that stuff!

let her do her own thing , she's only 10 months old.
It's better if you leave her alone. She will learn to play by herself that's a skill she'll NEED to have.
Learning shapes is really beyond her development ability. Wait till she's 18 months to 2 yrs.
Most babies aren't even walking by 10 months. Let her do her thing.

She's still a baby. L., babies play independently. Very seldom do they interact while playing. They might have a very short attention span to do this, but overall, they like to explore for themselves. Don't worry, she will learn so much just by exploring her world and her toys on her own. Before you know it, she'll be having long chats with you about whatever is going on in her world. Let her be a baby for now. :)

You may well be expecting your daughter to do things that are still beyond her developmental abilities. She won't learn how to divide fractions until an extensive list of other skills are learned first, and she won't get a single one until she's ready.

My husband just had a discouraging time trying to teach 3rd-5th graders a Sunday school lesson that was simply too abstract for them. (I warned him!) The kids went bananas, wrestling under the tables, doodling on the whiteboard, throwing things and poking each other. These are normally cooperative, polite kids. He didn't realize why they were so off-task until he talked to a couple of the other parents afterward. They said, "You were expecting my kid to learn WHAT?" He won't make that mistake again. (Well, actually he will – he just showed me version B of the same abstract ideas for next Sunday. Sigh.)

A gentle suggestion – once we start labeling kids (stubborn, disrespectful, bad-tempered, etc.), they start living down to the ways we identify them. When we treat every day as a new opportunity to learn our child's needs and capabilities, and work from there, everybody has a better time.

Your daughter is only 10 months all. She is exploring her environment.
She tastes, she grasps, she looks at items, she listens and reacts to sounds..
She IS learning. She is a sponge absorbing things at all times. Even during a diaper change when you are speaking with her she is learning to stay still or looking around that area.

Her attention span is in the seconds. The best time to read to her is if she takes a bottle read to her. If she breast feeds you can read, but she may not be interested in the pictures. She loves hearing your voice, when though she may not be sure what you are saying. If she likes to chew on everything, give her a fabric book..She probably will not turn the pages or even really look at it as much as study the texture and taste..

Be careful saying she "is stubborn" you could project that onto her behavior when actually she is just wanting to explore in her own way. This is a natural and normal behavior for a child this age. There is no right way to play with anything at this age.
Exploration is what you want her to be doing.

You may want to purchase a book on the development of children. It will explain exactly what your child is doing at each developmental stage.

Your baby is very young. She is way to young to start learning shapes. She is completely normal. She is working on learning what things do, she wants to see what happens when things are lnocked together, what things taste like, what they feel like etc. Also her attention span at this age is very short. Just provide her with age appropriate toys and let her do her thing.

Lisa

Of course she wants to chew on books and bang blocks together, she's 10 months old. When she's 2 she'll be all about learning shapes, building towers and reading books. Right now she just wants to do her baby thing. Let her.

What should you do? Ummm...let her be a normal 10 mo old baby, that's what.

You are expecting her to act like a 2 or 3 year old - at this age babies will play with toys or books in whatever way they see fit and cannot be expected to play with them the "right" way. She doesn't need to learn shapes, how to read, etc. right now. She needs the freedom to explore her environment and experiment within reason. Studies show that babies and toddlers learn best when they don't have restrictions put on them as to "how" they are "supposed" to play. Everything else will happen in due time. Try to lighten up and enjoy the way she is now.

Just let her go. My son, was so similar to her. I stopped trying to force, because I figured it's a very good thing, he can learn independently. He is 18 months and we can now sit and read a book, and he will watch me do things and mimic me. She is very young and the world, is so big and interesting. Right now, playing unstructured, is the way she will learn the most. Kids learn more through play, until ages 3-4, anyway. She is fine! She WILL want to sit and learn things from you, when she is a little older!

She's not being stubborn, she's frustrated. You're expecting a 10 month old to act like a 2 year old. Get the book "what to expect the first year" from the library. The book will help you understand what are the the milestones and what you can expect development wise. You'll feel a lot better.

Let her be! He is 10 months old and exploring the world around her. This is how she explores. What I used to like doing was reading a book NEXT to my daughter. I have read the Harry Potter series through with both of my children (still have 2 books left with my daughter). I lay next to them and read while they play, or while my husband interacts with them.

Children learn through play how to do things with toys. What she is doing is completely age appropriate. She will let you know when she wants you to read a book and play with her. Right now, let her try it on her own. Someday you will be proud of her ability to spend some time playing by herself!

Let her play HER way!!! She is learning all the time.

I agree with the previous posts. She's doing what babies do. You see all the pictures of mommies sitting with babies quiet in their laps - reading together. Well, yeah that baby sat still long enough for them to snap a picture.

Language and literacy development starts with words - talk to your baby, provide board books, and age appropriate toys. Singing, music, are good for literacy development too.

Dont worry about her learning at this age. She is actually learning by just playing with her books and blocks. Believe me, soon enough she will be expected to learn a lot. Let her be a baby and explore in her own way. She is too young to have any kind of structured learning the way you want. Let her do it, she is learning all the time.

You have a future musician on your hands! Not to worry, she is learning in her own way. We get frustrated because the baby books lay out how it's supposed to work, what they are supposed to do and then they surprise us! She is ten months old with a whole lifetime ahead of her.Enjoy, enjoy...

I recommend reading Building Healthy Minds by Dr. Stanley Greenspan. Greenspan is a big proponent of "floor time" - playing with your child on the floor and following her lead. A great book overall.

It sounds like you have a healthy, happy little girl. Enjoy every minute. :)

she is not stubborn, she is independent! This is a GREAT SKILL and one that will serve her well... and I'm saying that because it is exactly how my now 11 yr old has always been.

Your daughter is being completely age appropriate, and that she doesn't want you to play with her is a great thing - do not see this as a negative. She is young, if she was a year older and acting like you say, then I might be worried, but she is doing EXACTLY what a 10 mos old is supposed to do!

Give her the tools to explore, the new experiences, but let HER do the learning.

And my "stubborn" one is very independent and a great student in 6th grade, she is friendly, outgoing, and cuddly with us. And I am the envy of all my sisters cause she will play for hours on her own with her own imagination.

Maybe she would also enjoy a musical drum or other musical instrument since she enjoys banging things together. I would stick to the board books. My son enjoyed the Sandra Boynton books series at around that age. I used to read the Seuss books but I think the kids may have been a little older. Independence is not a bad thing. She will learn at her own pace. I think in a couple of months, she will start to learn from you.

My daughter is 9 months so I know where you're coming from. I was reading that babies learn "more" when their parents allow them to take the lead in play. So if she wants to bang the blocks, then follow her lead. You should bang blocks too. You can do your own thing with the blocks too. Maybe she'll watch you and mimic, maybe she won't. I would just allow her to go at her own pace.

Your daughter likes her independence, and that's OK. A 10 month old doesn't know much about patience anyways. I don't think you need to worry. Just by playing in her own way and exploring new things she is learning. Give it your best shot but don't stress. Play is supposed to be FUN so no pressure.

I think your expectations are too high for a 10 month old. My son is 15 months and is only now able to sit still for a couple of minutes to read a book. He gets distracted very easily. Your daughter's behavior with books now is just her way of learning about them for now. Continue trying to read to her, but if reading time doesn't last more than 30 seconds I think that's ok :). It will get better, and rather have her enjoy 30 seconds and develop a love for books, then make it stressful.
With the shapes, she's also learning. She's learning that when you bring things together they bang and make noise! It's all seems quite age appropriate.
You can show her things, but follow her lead - there's no need to push developmental milestones - that might just be more stressful than it's worth.

Try to see it as a good thing - at that age my son wanted to be entertained constantly, and it was so exhausting for us! If she can learn to play by herself for short periods of time it will be a lot easier on you as she gets older.

My son was also very destructive with books at that age, there is a great line of fabric books with fun things to touch on each page, Squishy Turtle, Fluffy Chick, and so on, you can find them online or at most toy stores. Much tougher than board books!

I was a professionally nanny for twenty years and worked with many babies. Every baby is different and yet the same. Why not try learning her way. There is nothing wrong with joining your baby in play, but to tell her she is playing the wrong way is. For babies her age her play is appropriate. Why not pick up the blocks and bang with her?, say wow, this makes a loud noise, I am going to try to tap them together and make a quiet noise, don't worry if she does it with you or not, it is the words and actions she will remember. When she bangs two blocks together why not say I see you picked the red square and purple circle. Build a tower and count and then let her knock them down. That is how babies learn. You talk, they listen and remember and will pull the information when they reach the stage when they are ready to use it. Love the idea of reading next to your baby, even read some out loud. I use to read the wall street journal to several of my charges when they were very young. It's the positive talking and smiles that will help.

Good luck!