Babies are ready and wired to connect with their mums much sooner than most parents realise. Even before there is any baby talk, at around 16 weeks, a baby is watching mum's lips and connecting the formations to her sounds. It has been shown that 16-week-old babies can recognize that a vowel sound is wrong if the lip-synch is not correct! Talking, playing and communicating with your baby are exciting opportunities that can encourage better childhood development. Most parenting literature describes games as tools to make children smarter and improve a range of skills, from emotional intelligence to hand-eye coordination. This book is different. The Baby Code focuses on playing without an educational goal in mind, showing you how to apply a playful approach to life with your baby in a way that will foster your child's development in all areas. Unlike educational play, playing like a baby is about creating a special time where actions are not necessarily purposeful, useful or goal-oriented; where the pace is slow and attention is paid to the small and ordinary. We play during our daily working lives much more than we would comfortably admit to our employers. We play when, during a meeting, we wander off, daydream, exchange glances with a colleague or tell a joke to break the ice. We play when we dress up for dinner to impress our guests or when we look for the funny side of things to console ourselves. We play when we flirt with someone or when we pretend to be interested in a serious conversation that we do not care about. But we play like a baby when we are enthralled by a novel, explore a new idea, listen to a piece of music or get lost in a painting. In fact, whenever we are able to contemplate something beautiful, new or interesting, we get closer to the world of babies. As a parent or caregiver, this gateway to the infant world offers a unique opportunity to retrieve some of your lost instincts, intuition, creativity and youth. You may become better at managing emotions, being creative, using feelings as a guide, taking risks, or adapting to limited resources or tricky situations. So babies are ready to connect and if mums are not they both miss out. Mums can learn how to develop and trust their intuition to understand what their baby is experiencing and communicating. Learn what your baby is trying to tell you and how to respond in a way your baby understands.