Got a newborn? Then you’ve also got a burgeoning brainiac with a whole lot on his mind. The past two decades have shown huge strides in understanding baby brain development, from what infants can remember to how much they dream. The overwhelming lesson from all this research: Parents can help build baby brainpower simply by interacting with their infants, talking to them as much as possible, and providing good old TLC. (No flash cards, educational videos, or Mozart music necessary.) Read on to learn more about your baby’s brain — you might be surprised what a gorgeous little genius you’ve got on your hands.
Babies are born with all the brain cells (aka neurons) they’ll ever have — about 100 billion of them. But during the first year, those neurons will be connecting with one another double-time, creating trillions of synapses, which are the basis for your child’s understanding of the world. After just 12 months, your baby’s brain will double in size — at no other time will so many neuronal connections be made, so take advantage: Expose your infant to as much as possible (while at the same time allowing her brain to rest during sleep and quiet playtime). Just observing the world around her is enough to stimulate a young brain.
Healthy babies who receive plenty of maternal reassurance during stressful times actually have larger brains than babies who don’t get as much motherly nurturing. A study out of Washington University in St. Louis examined the growth of the part of the brain responsible for memory and stress modulation — the hippocampus — and found it to be physically larger and better developed among children who consistently received loving support from their moms (the study did not examine the effect of paternal care), particularly during high-stress situations. The takeaway: You can’t spoil an infant with too much love, especially when he’s experiencing something stressful, like a cold, a boo-boo, saying good-bye to you, or taking a bath for the first time. So don’t hold back, Mom — hug away!
A newborn does not yet understand language. And his eyesight isn’t so sharp, either — he can focus only on objects within eight to 12 inches away, like your face when you hold him. So one of the first reliable sources of information a newborn brain can process is scent, the sense dogs rely on most as well. One study found that newborns who smelled their mother’s milk while undergoing a routine heel stick (blood draw) experienced less stress than infants exposed to the scent of another mother’s breast milk. Another study found that crying babies who were given an article of clothing that smelled like their mom calmed down faster than babies given an article of clothing with no scent. And a healthy, full-term baby born vaginally, if placed on his mother’s belly, will squirm toward her breasts, following his nose to the source of food, just like a puppy. Tip: Your baby’s brain is hardwired to respond specifically to your scent, so don’t mask it with heavy lotions and perfumes.
Babies spend half their shut-eye in REM sleep — the stage during which dreams are more likely to occur — compared with just 25 percent for adults. While no one knows what tiny tykes might be dreaming about, it’s likely that their reveries are strictly visual since they have no capacity yet for language. Luckily, they also have little capacity for nightmares, considering most children don’t have real fears until they’re two or three. If you wake to find your baby crying, screaming, or thrashing about in her crib, she’s probably having a night terror — not a bad dream. Night terrors are actually partial arousals that happen as your baby transitions from one sleep stage to another. No one is entirely sure how or why night terrors occur, but rest assured your baby will calm down after a few minutes and won’t even remember the episode in the morning.
The part of the brain responsible for memory, the hippocampus, is already 40 percent developed in newborns and will be fully developed by 18 months. That’s why a typical newborn baby will recognize his mother's voice and other sounds that he has heard frequently from the womb. More memory tricks: By one month, your baby can remember when you normally feed him and will begin to expect a bottle or your breast at those times. By four months, your wee one can pick your face out of many others. This emerging memory is why setting up routines for certain parts of the day can be so helpful. A bath and book before bed, for example, will trigger the memory for your baby that sleep comes next.
Besides having more brain cells, your baby's brain is wired differently at birth, which makes it harder for her to screen out stimulation. While you automatically tune out most of the background “static” as you go about finishing your task — the dog barking next door, the coworker on the phone in the cubicle over, or even the way the carpet feels under your feet — your baby doesn't yet have that ability. That’s why wee ones are constantly distracted by their surroundings — they're so busy taking everything in that it's hard for them to focus. They can also become overstimulated pretty quickly, which can lead to crankiness and crying. If you want your baby to concentrate on the task at hand — like nursing or eating — take her to a quiet, dimly lit place. Another way to get your tyke’s attention: Bring your face within 12 inches of hers and speak in “parentese,” the sing-songy baby talk. Research shows that the pitch variations in parentese capture a baby’s interest better than regular speech.