Welcome to The Milestone

Baby loungers are changing. With updated safety standards and evolving parent needs, modern loungers are being thoughtfully redesigned. Here’s what parents should look for — and how pediatric therapist-designed features can support comfort, development, and peace of mind.

For the purpose of this blog entry allow me to address a few of the reasons why working at Boston Children’s Hospital has had a continuing and profound impact on who I am, and the creation of Rahoo Baby. When assessing my career so far, I often look back and think about the following three things:

Hello again! This is part IV of our Helping Hands series focusing on hand use from 9-12 months old. In this blog, Matt, Co-founder of Rahoo Baby and pediatric OT discusses how we as caregivers can help little ones start using their hands age appropriately as they approach their first birthday!

Hello again! This is part III of our Helping Hands series focusing on 6 - 9 months old. In this blog, Matt, Co-founder of Rahoo Baby and pediatric OT, discusses how we as caregivers can help little ones start using their hands age appropriately from 6-9 months old.

So what’s the first thing you notice when you look at a baby? When you’re assessing infant development, there’s just so much going on. As therapists, it helps to approach a developmental assessment with a framework that covers all the major areas.

Birth to 3 months old

A nursing Pillow (but not for the reason you may be thinking of)

a u-shaped nursing pillow is an excellent pillow to have because of how versatile it is. Yes, it can be used for comfortable nursing as well as for tummy-time, but the reason we love this pillow as therapists is because of how it can be used to teach a baby how to bring their feet to their hands. By putting your baby on the ground, and sliding this pillow under their bum, it brings their feet up higher than their waste which allows the baby to see their feet and even makes is easier to reach for them. This product is a classic and for good reason!

3 to 6 months old

The O-ball

There’s certainly no shortage of rattles and grasping toys available for babies. Many can create wonderful opportunities for play and interaction.

One reason therapists often enjoy toys like the O-ball is because the open design naturally encourages babies to explore grasping, holding, transferring, and interacting with objects in different ways as their coordination develops over time.

At younger ages, babies may simply enjoy visually exploring or loosely grasping the toy. As they grow, they often begin experimenting with more controlled reaching, grasping, transferring, and shaking movements during play.

Simple toys that encourage interaction and exploration can often go a long way.

6-9 months old

Wooden blocks

Simple toys like wooden blocks can create a surprisingly wide variety of play opportunities during infancy and early toddlerhood.

For younger babies, blocks may simply become opportunities to practice holding objects in both hands, transferring toys from one hand to another, reaching across the body, banging objects together, or exploring textures and sounds during supervised play.

As babies continue growing and developing new movement and coordination skills, those same blocks can later support stacking, sorting, pretend play, and more complex interaction.

One of the best things about simple toys is that they often grow with your child over time.

9-12 months old

Container play

Container play is one of the simplest — and often most engaging — activities for babies during the later part of the first year.

All you really need is a few blocks or toys and a bowl, basket, or container.

Babies often love practicing dropping objects into containers, taking them back out, repeating the process, and observing the sounds and reactions that occur along the way. Repetition and consistency can help babies become more familiar with new play experiences over time.

As always, the interaction between parent and baby is often the most meaningful part. Demonstrating, encouraging, smiling, talking, and playing together can help create positive opportunities for engagement and exploration throughout everyday routines.

Simple play really can go a long way.

And remember — no toy replaces interaction, connection, and engaged play with caregivers. Often, the most valuable developmental experiences come from simple everyday moments shared together during supervised play and interaction.

What Is Pediatric Occupational Therapy?

In simple terms, pediatric occupational therapy focuses on helping children participate more comfortably and confidently in everyday activities through movement, play, interaction, and skill development.

Occupational therapists work with children and families across many stages of development, supporting areas such as movement, sensory processing, feeding, play, coordination, self-care skills, and interaction with the environment around them.

The Scientific Foundation

Pediatric occupational therapists study early childhood development, movement, sensory processing, anatomy, behavior, and the many systems that contribute to how children interact with the world around them.

Understanding developmental progression helps therapists recognize how children may respond differently to movement, play, positioning, sensory input, and everyday routines at different ages and stages.

This background helps therapists create individualized, developmentally appropriate strategies and activities designed to support engagement, participation, and exploration in ways that feel manageable and motivating for each child.

Why Play Matters

One of the most important parts of pediatric occupational therapy is that children learn best through interaction and play.

Movement, positioning, exploration, sensory experiences, and everyday routines can all become opportunities for children to practice new skills and engage with their environment in meaningful ways.

For infants especially, early experiences often center around simple things like:

Tummy-time and supervised floor play

Reaching and grasping

Movement exploration

Visual engagement

Interaction with caregivers

Position changes during awake time

Sensory-rich play experiences

These everyday moments can help create opportunities for learning, interaction, and engagement throughout infancy and early childhood.

Supporting Families Across Everyday Environments

Occupational therapists often work with families to help support participation across everyday environments — including the home, school, community, and play settings.

Just as importantly, therapists often help parents better understand how everyday routines and interactions can become opportunities for connection, engagement, and developmental exploration.

Why We Started Rahoo Baby

As pediatric occupational therapists, we spent years working directly with children and families and saw firsthand how meaningful thoughtful positioning, movement opportunities, and interaction can be during early childhood.

That experience helped shape the philosophy behind Rahoo Baby.

At Rahoo, we believe insights from pediatric therapy can help inspire more thoughtful product design and more intentional everyday experiences for families.

When designing products, we think carefully about factors such as:

Comfort during supervised awake time

Positioning and support

Movement opportunities

Sensory interaction

Parent-child engagement

Ease of use for families

Our goal is not to replace therapy or provide medical treatment, but rather to create products and educational resources that thoughtfully support supervised awake-time interaction, comfort, and developmental exploration during early childhood.

And while products can certainly play a role, some of the most meaningful developmental experiences still come from simple everyday moments — holding your baby, talking together, floor play, movement, exploration, and connection.

Parents today are more engaged and informed than ever before, and many are actively looking for ways to better understand and support their child’s development through everyday routines and interaction.

We believe that’s a positive.

Our passion for developing the next generation of thoughtfully designed baby products — the “why” behind what we’ve set out to accomplish at Rahoo Baby.

We started the Rahoo Baby journey in 2018.

Since then, we’ve spent countless hours not only developing products, but also developing the values and philosophy behind our brand. Over time, one thing became increasingly clear to us: understanding what we stand for matters just as much as understanding what we create.

For us, that starts with a simple belief:

Parents deserve access to thoughtful, trustworthy resources and products that help support meaningful interaction, engagement, and development during early childhood.

As pediatric occupational therapists, we spent years working directly with children and families across a wide range of developmental experiences and environments. During that time, we saw firsthand how important positioning, movement, interaction, play, and environment can be during the earliest years of life.

We also saw how overwhelming early parenthood can feel — especially when parents are trying to navigate feeding, movement milestones, play, sleep routines, sensory preferences, and everyday development all at once.

That experience helped shape the mission behind Rahoo Baby.

At Rahoo, we believe insights from pediatric therapy can help inspire more intentional product design and more thoughtful everyday experiences for families.

Our products are designed with careful consideration around factors such as:

Comfort during supervised awake time

Positioning and support

Movement opportunities

Sensory engagement

Ease of use for parents and caregivers

Parent-child interaction

Our goal is not to replace therapy or provide medical treatment, but rather to create products and educational resources that thoughtfully support supervised awake-time interaction, comfort, and developmental exploration during infancy and early childhood.

Just as importantly, we believe parents benefit from having access to approachable, easy-to-understand educational content that helps them feel more confident navigating early parenthood.

At the end of the day, our “why” is simple:

We believe the earliest years matter deeply, and that thoughtful products, meaningful interaction, and informed parenting can all play an important role in helping families feel supported during that journey.

Part of parenting is learning on the job. Here are five common questions many parents find themselves asking during the newborn stage.

1.) After my baby is born, is there anything I should focus on right away to support early development?

One of the most important things you can do early on is simply be present, engaged, and responsive with your baby.

The newborn stage can feel exciting, overwhelming, emotional, and exhausting — often all at once. No class, book, or article can fully prepare parents for what those first few weeks actually feel like.

And that’s okay.

During this stage, simple everyday interactions can become meaningful opportunities for bonding and connection. Some examples include:

Holding your baby close

Talking or singing in a calm, soothing voice

Making eye contact during awake moments

Offering skin-to-skin contact during supervised awake time

Being mindful of environmental stimulation like bright lights or loud noise

These early interactions help babies gradually become familiar with voices, touch, movement, and connection during their transition into the world around them.

2.) What’s the deal with tummy-time? When should I start?

Tummy-time is often introduced gradually during supervised awake time early in infancy.

For many families, tummy-time naturally begins through chest-to-chest positioning and holding during the newborn stage. These early experiences allow babies opportunities to begin lifting and turning their head while remaining close, supported, and comforted.

As babies grow, families can gradually begin introducing short periods of supervised tummy-time on the floor based on comfort and tolerance.

The goal is not perfection or long stretches right away — it’s simply creating positive opportunities for movement, positioning, and interaction over time.

3.) Are there any tips for helping my baby breastfeed or bottle feed?

Feeding is one of the most important — and sometimes most challenging — routines during early infancy.

Every baby responds differently to feeding experiences, and it’s normal for feeding routines to take time, patience, and adjustment.

Creating a calm, supportive environment can sometimes help babies feel more comfortable and organized during feeds. Some simple strategies include:

Reducing background noise or distractions

Dimming lights when appropriate

Allowing your baby time to settle and get comfortable

Holding your baby in a supported position

Talking or singing softly

Paying attention to the types of movement or soothing your baby responds to best

Just as importantly, give yourself grace. Feeding is a learning experience for parents and babies alike.

If you ever have concerns about feeding, growth, or comfort during feeds, consult your pediatrician or qualified healthcare provider.

4.) How concerned should I be about developmental milestones?

Developmental milestones are best viewed as general guidelines rather than exact deadlines.

Every baby develops differently, and there can be a wide range of normal when it comes to movement, communication, interaction, and play skills during infancy.

Rather than focusing on perfection, parents can help support development by creating opportunities for supervised play, movement, interaction, and exploration throughout everyday routines.

Simple things like floor play, reading, talking, singing, and engaging with your baby during awake time can all become meaningful developmental experiences over time.

If parents ever have concerns about their baby’s development, pediatricians and early intervention professionals can help provide guidance and support.

5.) I’d love to connect more with other parents. Where should I start?

Building community during parenthood can make a huge difference.

Local libraries, parenting groups, movement classes, music groups, and family-centered community programs can all be wonderful ways to meet other parents and caregivers while introducing babies to new environments and experiences.

A few great places to start include:

Local libraries and community centers

Parent-and-baby movement or music classes

Neighborhood parenting groups

Family-focused community organizations

Parenthood isn’t about perfection. It’s about learning, adapting, and showing up day after day with love, patience, and care.

If you’re taking the time to learn, ask questions, and support your baby’s growth, you’re already doing meaningful work as a parent.