A Glimpse of Me

When I gave birth to my first child, I didn’t know anything about RBW. No one ever talked to me about it until he was 6 weeks old. My friend gave me a clown and a small ball (RBW) to hang to his mobile toy. I didn’t know the concept. So I just let it hang there. Then when he was two months old, I saw RBW flash cards while we were malling at Subang Parage. I quickly bought it. And it gave instructions on how to use it. The contrasting color should be able to catch baby’s attention. I posted them on a wall next to my baby’s cot and true enough, my boy kept staring at the cards.

What is RBW? RBW stands for the colors red, black and white. When the baby is born, the only colors she could see are those contrasting ones, the black against white. Then later, as she grows, add in red. But all these colors combined, it gives a special contrast. And when used for baby’s stimulation, can actually lengthen the baby’s attention span and enhance the baby’s brain development.

Piaget said that babies are born with a blank state. It’s the environment and experiences that mold a baby. I beg to disagree. I’m a great believer of the Bible and I believe when it said, before we were formed in our mother’s womb, God knew us already and that He has plans and purposes why we exist! That means, before we even came to life, we already had personalities, gifts and talents to make up to that purposes. That is an amazing thing.

However, we can enhance those talents and gifts God has given to us. And we can start at whatever age. Even before we are born, we can already do the stimulation by mothers talking, reading and singing to an unborn child.

And so one of the ways to enhance our development is to use RBW. There are so many stimulation available outhere but I’m a solid fan of RBW. There are RBW toys and designs that are available in the market nowadays but if we’re tight financially, we can do our own. Here are a few designs we can make.

For a newborn to three week old baby:

1. Draw a black dot (4 inches in diameter) at the center of white cardboard.
2. Draw a checkered design using black and white – 4 inches by 4 inches in each square.
3. Draw vertical lines using black and white – 4 inches in width per line.

For a 3- week to 2 month old baby:

1. You may decrease all the sizes by one inch. So for number one above, instead of drawing 4-inch dot, draw a 3- inch dot. Same goes with the 2 cards.

For 2 to 6- month old baby:

1. You can start adding in red color and decrease the sizes of the geometrical designs to one inch. And you can do more designs. Any geometrical designs will do.

How to do it?

Hold the first card 12 inches away from the baby’s eyesight for 1-2 minutes. Do the same for the other two cards. The baby can either be in a sitting position, with proper support or can be lying down. Whichever is more comfortable for her. When the baby reaches two months old, hold the card or any RBW objects 18 – 20 inches away from the baby’s eye sight.

When to use it?

When the baby is not hungry, sleepy or uncomfortable. You can do this 3 times a day for 15 minutes each time. But… please follow your baby’s lead. Once she starts looking away, put it on hold, let her rest and do it again later. Please do not over-stimulate her. You would know she’s over-stimulated when she cries.

Having said all these, bear in mind that there’s no stimulation as better as a parent’s love, care and attention (LCA). It is by our own parents’ (or primary caregiver’s) love, care and attention that we are nurtured. So don’t forget to give lots of cuddles, sing, talk and read to your baby, at whatever age.

Also, you might be interested in these articles:

When Do We Start Potty Training

On Disciplining a Child

Benefits of a Playgroup

by: janet