How Babies Learn - Tundraco's Daily Living Guide to Raising Kids

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How Babies Learn

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How Babies Learn
By Rochelle Caviness

Current research indicates that babies begin learning the moment they are born, and that their experiences, even at this young age, can affect their long-term mental development.

Brain Food

Just like the physical body, the intellect also needs nourishment. For a baby's brain to develop properly, it needs to be fed a brain healthy diet. For a baby, this should consist of

Being talked or read to,
Hearing songs sung and music played,
Lots of physical contact and interaction,
And being exposed to a variety of physical and sensory stimuli.

Learning to Speak

When a baby is born, it has a unique ability to learn languages. To ensure that this skill is utilized, a baby needs to be exposed to all the sound (phonetic) combinations of the languages they need to learn.

It is essential that parents talk to their infants. This is because babies have the ability to learn the sounds of a language, well before they learn to speak. Just hearing the sounds (such as from TV) is not sufficient for them to learn.
In order to enable them to make the association between the sounds and their meaning, a baby must interact with the speaker.
If the baby has not been exposed to the full range of sounds that compose their native language by time they are 11 months old, they may experience language problems later in life.

At around the age of three months, babies will begin to make phonetic sounds on their own. Cooing and babbling is actually rudimentary speech.

Developing Relationships

Babies are phenomenally equipped, from an early age, to identify different people by their facial expression, smells and the way they make eye contact. In addition, how you react to his facial expressions and cooing noises helps teach the baby how to relate to you.

Spend as much time as you can with your baby. Try to learn what each of his expressions or sounds indicates. Then try to meet his needs. This will help teach him the connection between stimuli and response. It will also help the baby bond more closely with you.

Muscle Development

During the ages of three to six months, most babies will progress from merely lifting his head, to actually trying to stand. Playing with your baby can enhance muscle development. Play, even something as rudimentary as holding a doll out for your baby to grab, can help your baby develop strength and coordination.

Is Your Baby on Schedule?

Each baby is unique, and they tend to grow in fits and starts. Therefore it is difficult to say, at any given point, that a baby is, or is not, developing 'on schedule'.

When· a baby is born, its brain contains millions of neurons, which are used to transmit signals from one cell to another. Each one of these cells can create over 15,000 synapses; in other words, they can create links to other brain cells. How these cells link up depends in part upon the baby's environment, its health, if it is held regularly, if it is talked to, basically everything that a baby experiences affects how these connections are made. Which is turn will dictate when a baby will be able to do a specific task.

Assisting in your Baby's Development

Babies need a lot of physical closeness and interaction with other people. Without this attention, a baby's physical and mental development can be stunted.

To stimulate his development and his curiosity, show him different sights, let him feel different textures, and hear a variety of sounds.

At this stage, babies like to have a predictable, routine environment. It takes them time to adjust to each new sensation and experience, so go slow. While you should strive to stimulate your baby, you don't want to go overboard. Introduce him to one new item at a time and give him time to familiarize himself with it. This may take as little as an hour or several days, depending upon the nature of the stimulation. When he is comfortable or bored with that item, introduce a new one.

Talk, sing, read, play, touch – just be there for your baby. Not only will you baby be happier, but evidence also suggests that he will actually be smarter than if he did not have this stimulation!

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The information provided on this site is for informational purposes only.

Always consult your doctor for medical advice.

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