Baby Brain Development Information

If you’ve already been the parent of a young child, you already know the excitement and anticipation watching the baby brain development milestones indicating your child is picking up the skills expected at a certain age.

We as parents also know instinctively that the early years setup the all-important foundation for our children’s future learning.

Newborn babies come into this world with sophisticated brains that are naturally wired for intellectual growth. During the first year of life, whilst your focus may be concentrated on their motor skills, they are more impressionable and more able to develop than at any other time in life. This early cognitive development affects them for the rest of their lives.

Typically parents only shift their focus in the second year of life to language development.

"The reason language is instinctive is because it is, to a large extent, hard-wired in the brain. Just as we evolve neural circuits for eating and seeing, so has our brain, together with a sophisticated vocal apparatus, evolved a complex neural circuit for rapidly perceiving, analysing, composing, and producing language"

- (Dr Lise Eliot, Neurobiologist, Department of Neuroscience – Chicago Medical School 1999).

The first few years are so crucial for your baby’s brain development and parents should be aware of the information these 2 important ideas suggest from current research:

Nature Versus Nurture. The ability of your baby to learn depends in part on their genes (nature) and in part on the stimulation, care and teaching they receive mainly from their parents (nurture).
The human brain and its development is built to respond most sensitively to experiences that occur during the first few years of their life.

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Baby brain development information tips:

Interact with your baby using language as much as you can. Always sing, talk even on trips in the car and read plenty of books and stories.
Mimic all the sounds your baby makes. As you do, your baby begins to understand the two-way nature of language and its conversation.
Say your baby’s name often and talk with variable tones closely so your mouth can easily be seen in their field of vision. Point things out and say what they are. Some may say it’s irritating, but there’s evidence that suggests “baby talk” actually helps them hear as they learn language. Either way, tonal variation is important.
Use touch and baby massage often. Touch is a vital sense and is the first tool they use to learn about the world. Touch also provides the feeling of love and security and obviously continues to be a basic element of our adult lives.
Be responsive to your infant’s gestures and certainly don’t discourage them. Over-exaggerated movement will help your baby learn language faster than focusing purely only on adult language. Play age appropriate games that encourage movement.
Good nutrition is vital for baby brain development. Brain cells are made up of DHA - an Omega-3 fatty acid which provide the natural building blocks for baby brain development. Omega-3 is present in breast and most formula milk, so once your child begins to eat solids, ask your doctor about consideration of a dietary supplement.
Laughing. As well as making you smile when your baby does, you may well be helping to develop a sense of humour. Babies love it when you do the same thing to make them laugh over and over and this helps them learn to pay attention, as well as memory skills.
Music – Infants have good hearing from birth and babies adore music. Learning the rhythm of music is also linked to good mathematics skills later on in life. Sing, hum and chant at every opportunity and encourage movement to the music.