Patience is a hard baby lesson

Patience is not something most folks are born with. You need to help your baby to develop this skill, but you also have to time it right. Babies might seem frustrated early on (if you count crying) but crying over a dirty diaper or being ready to eat is not the most frustrated your baby will ever be. By about 10 months of age some major frustrations set in.

• Your little one can sort of stand but sometimes will fall or you'll swoop her up for a diaper change when she wants to stand while holding onto the table. She can't say "Just five more minutes" so she may get frustrated.
• She wants to grab stuff she shouldn't have (like a shiny penny) and won't yet understand why you take it from her - to keep her safe. All she knows is that she wants that penny.
• Plus she may be trying to vocalize more but not always so successfully. Your baby may use the same word or sound for everything - i.e. she may say baba or good but that to her may mean her book, her doll, a coup of juice and more. If you don't know what she wants and she doesn't have the words to ask, it can frustrate her.

How to help teach patience and ease frustrations: When your baby is about a year old you should be available but don't crowd your baby. Frustration is hard on both of you but without it your baby cannot learn patience or how to handle harder situations. For a baby frustrated with not being able to speak clearly, teaching her to point is useful. My son was a late talker and the pointing tip helped about 75% of the time. Teaching your baby sign language can also help. Create moments that require patience. For example, tell your little one that lunch will be ready in five minutes. Offer her suggestions that can ease her frustrations over waiting, like a book or toy that she can play with on her own. You don't need to cater to your baby's every whim when she's a year, having to wait once in a while will make her frustrated, but will also help her learn the positive side of this lesson which is patience.