Understanding How Your Baby Uses His Senses
Bonding with your baby is one of the most satisfying and special experiences of motherhood. Some feel the bond immediately but it also naturally develops day by day, a result of the care you give your baby, and your understanding of how your baby navigates his world.
At the beginning, it may seem that your newborn does no more than sleep, eat and go through more diapers than seems possible, but in reality, there is a lot more going on. As his senses develop, your newborn is getting acquainted with his environment a little more each day. In every twenty-four hour period, a newborn generally sleeps from sixteen to twenty hours.1 The remaining hours are sometimes called the “quiet alert” phase although, as any mom will attest, those hours are not always so quiet! These hours are when your baby is most aware of his surroundings and responsive to those around him, and when his senses are actively engaged. Understanding how your baby uses his sense of smell, taste, hearing, touch and sight provides insight into how your baby experiences his environment, and enhances your bond.
Smell: Your skin's scent is soothing to your baby, and research has proven that babies can easily distinguish their mother's smell from that of others.2 Babies respond well to skin-to-skin contact, in part because of the reassurance they get from your scent. From birth, your baby's sense of smell is fully developed, with a preference for sweet scents like citrus or vanilla.3
Taste: Although your baby's diet right now – at three months of age – will consist solely of breast milk or formula, this will change as your baby grows. Generally at about six months of age, your baby may be introduced to solid foods4 and will likely favour the fruits and vegetables that you do, since the flavours of your diet would have transferred to him through your breast milk, or through the amniotic fluid while still in the womb.
Babies are born with a sweet tooth so when the time comes for solid foods (generally around six months of age), introduce puréed vegetables that are sweeter-tasting, like carrots or peas. This makes the transition to solid food easierand helps your baby to be receptive to vegetables. As your baby matures, introduce other flavours so that he grows to enjoy a variety of foods.
Hearing: Your baby's hearing is well developed at birth but he is more responsive to sounds such as a higher-pitched voice. This is why "baby' talk, characterized by a high pitch, is so effective. Researchers have noted that it can also be beneficial to an infant's cognitive development.5 In fact, responding to your baby's sounds – with baby talk as well as an adult tone – encourages speech. Although it may seem early, it helps your baby grasp language, and the pacing and give and take of words that characterize conversation.
From birth, your newborn may have responded to sounds in front of him. From four months on, his sense of sound develops and from six months on he learns to track it, turning towards sounds from other directions as well.6
Your baby already understands meaning through tone; for example, your soothing tone helps baby stop crying. However, between months four to seven, your baby will start to understand not just tone but words, such as responding to the word "no.' From seven months on, babies will typically recognize and respond to their name.7
Touch: Being held communicates love, security and comfort to babies. Touching your baby is medically beneficial to newborns, and continues to stimulate and help develop your bond as they grow.8 For the first three months of your baby's life, he will depend primarily on you to provide touch. Hold your baby often and play games such as “This Little Piggy” as you touch your baby's fingers and toes. You may also want to learn about baby massage and how this can enhance your bond and help your baby to thrive. Soft touches and fabrics are your newborn's preference, as opposed to scratchy or rough surfaces.
From four months on, your newborn will start to facilitate touch himself by reaching out to what is around him.9 Toys of different materials will help him explore textures, as will foods like raisins, Cheerios, oatmeal, etc. when your baby starts to eat solid food.
Sight: This is the last sense to fully develop. Newborns can distinguish light from dark but until about four months of age, most babies can't distinguish colour easily.10 Toys and objects of contrasting black and white or bold colours are most likely to hold your baby's attention, along with high-contrast stripes or checkerboard patterns.
The human face is a baby's favourite object to focus on, so hold your baby close often so he can see you clearly. Newborn babies are extremely nearsighted, and are able to focus more sharply on objects only about 8 inches from their eyes, with images further away appearing blurry. This improves as your baby develops and by three months, he may see objects clearly from approximately six-feet away.11
At four months, he'll begin to practice hand-eye coordination, making reaching and grabbing easier. You'll want to have child-proofed your home prior to this, including making sure that any mobiles above the crib are out of reach and the crib is not placed near curtains or anything else that could prove a danger. By six to seven months, your baby will typically find it easier to distinguish different colours and will be able to focus without crossing his eyes.
Encourage your baby's development by providing lots of interesting sights. Different toys, stroller trips through the neighbourhood or shopping mall and brightly coloured storybooks are stimulating to baby.