O's Shortcuts to Simplify Your Life

Win Over a Baby

"Don't look at the child's face," says T. Berry Brazelton, MD, author of Touchpoints: Birth to Three and clinical professor emeritus of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. Babies are hypersensitive communicators, he says: At three days old, infants recognize their mother's voice, and at two weeks, they prefer their father's face to other men's.

Everyone else has their work cut out for them. "Look to the child's side or over his shoulder," says Brazelton. "This way he won't feel overwhelmed." Allow the child to set the pace. He'll signal when he's ready to make friends by trying to get your attention—an infant will attempt to match your gaze, a slightly older baby will coo, a toddler will reach out for you or make funny faces.