Baby’s Brain; Everything you do with your baby helps to develop their brain and helps them to learn. You are the most important first teacher for your child. Forming a loving, strong relationship with your baby helps their brain to develop.
How does my baby’s brain develop?
At birth, your baby’s heart, lungs and liver are fully developed. The connections for these actions have already been made in their brain before birth.
Your baby’s brain, however, needs stimulation from the environment to form completely. As your baby grows and is stimulated, the connections between the cells (or neurons) in the brain continue to form. These connections form pathways in the brain that are the basis for all learning, thinking, feeling and knowing.
There are so many connections in your baby’s brain that, if an electrician had to solder all the connections between the neurons, it would take millions of years!
How can I help my baby’s brain to develop?
To develop properly, the pathways in your baby’s brain need to be covered and protected – this happens with the right diet. You can help to strengthen the connections in your baby’s brain in many ways, such as feeding, holding, touching and talking to your baby. These all send messages to your baby’s brain via their senses. Help build pathways in your baby’s brain by:
Talking and singing to your baby
repeating learning experiences over and over.
How do relationships and experiences help my baby’s brain develop?
Building your relationship with your baby is the basis for learning and stimulation for their brain that helps them to prepare to walk and talk. Babies can be stimulated through ordinary experiences and quiet, close times with family.
Right from the beginning, talk to your baby in the language that you speak in your family. This will help them to learn to talk. Use the language you speak at home with your baby to help develop the parts of the brain responsible for language.
Wiring the Brain
A baby is born with more than 100 billion brain cells. In the first months and years of life, brain cells form connections in many parts of the brain. When we plant a garden, we want the crops that we planted to grow and thrive. By about age 3, the brain cells have made many more connections than the child will ever need. But the brain is also efficient at weeding out the connections. It keeps track of the connections that the baby uses most.
In time, the brain gets rid of the connections that it does not use regularly. From the moment a baby is born, every experience taken in by the five senses helps build the connections that guide development. No two brains are alike!
Here are some of the most important ways you can help your baby’s brain develop :
Remember that brain development begins before birth. Nutrition makes a big difference in brain development even before the baby is born. Women who are pregnant should eat nutritious foods, avoid alcohol and other drugs, and have regular prenatal care to help ensure that their babies are born healthy.
Stress can slow brain development.
Talk to your baby. Interacting face-to-face builds the brain connections needed for both language skills and a healthy emotional bond.
Hearing adults read helps the brain develop language connections. It also gives parents and babies a chance to spend time together and helps your baby build a lifelong love of books.
Choose high-quality child care. To ensure healthy development, babies need sensitive, loving care and stimulating experiences.
