touch & vision

Your baby learns about herself and her surroundings through her five senses – touch, vision, taste, smell and hearing. They are her means of experiencing the exciting new world into which she’s been born. Her sensory stimulations are constant and often overlap: when she’s breastfeeding, for instance, all her senses are used at once, adding up to a magical experience.

Research shows that a varied pattern of sensory stimulation is key to your baby’s intellectual, physical and personal development. You’ve only got to look at how enchanted she gets by your singing voice, how fixated she gets by a brightly coloured mobile or how tight her grip is around a tactile, noisy rattle to see how valuable these kinds of experiences are. And by making sure you gradually introduce various sensory stimuli into your baby’s life, you’ll be helping her be happy, calm and in tune with her environment too.

touch

The power of touch is hugely undervalued: it can communicate love to your child, soothe her and even boost her immunity. Research suggests babies who are more frequently touched and gently massaged develop and grow faster than those who aren’t. This is a powerful way in which you can bond with, relax, stimulate and offer symptomatic relief to your child when she is poorly.

“Parents spend so much time doing things to babies – feeding them, burping them, changing them, putting them to sleep – but not enough time with them, enjoying them,” says Aoife Ryan, a baby massage therapist. “We have fantastic car seats, great rockers, fabulous swings but we don’t touch them enough.”

She adds, “Gentle touch helps them relax and has knock-on physiological benefits. She’ll sleep more soundly, feed better, experience less colic, and be more calm and confident in her body. Stimulating touch or massage, meanwhile, encourages weight gain and develops muscle tone and strength.”

Your baby will also benefit from exposure to a variety of touch sensations: soft, tactile fabrics, such as wool, cotton and the smooth texture of your skin and hair. When she’s old enough, and under close supervision, let her roll about naked on safe and clean textured rugs, carpets, blankets, and – dressed – even on a patch of grass. Let her play with toys that can be squeezed, moulded and caressed.
Encourage her to feel using not only her hands and fingers, but with her toes and feet, too. A feather on the sole of her foot may well delight her.

Good sense tip: expose her to rougher textures too, for instance by letting her feel daddy’s stubble with her fingertips (and a great bonding exercise).


vision

Sight is vitally important: her visual experiences enhance her curiosity and concentration. A newborn, though, has double vision, practically sees in black and white, and the world at large may appear predominantly blurred.

“Vision develops naturally over time,” explains developmental psychologist Dr Nadja Reissland. “Newborns see mostly in shades not colour, don’t have depth of vision, and they recognise their mother’s face through her hairline. Simple mobile toys with geometric shapes in contrasting blacks and whites will stimulate her vision at first, but it’s equally important to choose toys that you, the parent, enjoy playing with. If your baby sees you happy with the toy, she will be more visually stimulated too.” Picture books offer valuable experiences as the months progress and she shows increased

interest in bright colours; point out images and objects with contrasting characteristics. Also try taking her out and about regularly to give her wider visual experiences of the world. If you live in the country, take her to see the sights of the town, and vice versa. Direct her vision to objects that are far as well as near, which will exercise her long-distance visual skills.

Art and colourful drawings, too, can offer huge stimulus to older babies. “Visual and artistic stimulation offers a child another way of learning about the world,” says Diane Rich, a specialist in early infant education. “She can explore colour, materials and relationships between colour, shape and texture, which will help to stimulate her thinking and develop her powers of observation.”

Good sense tip: as her visual awareness develops, she might look at reflections or moving objects intently. Encourage this by letting her see herself in mirrors, and point out pets and kinetic objects such as swinging pendula or washing-machine drums in action.

taste, smell, sound

taste

Your baby’s tastebuds begin to develop before she’s born and research suggests flavours that appeal to you will later appeal to your child. Yet even if you prefer savoury foods, your baby is nevertheless born with a sweet tooth, and when you begin to wean her she will probably lean towards fruit-flavoured purées over vegetable-based ones.

At about six months, you’ll probably find she enjoys purées of banana, apple, pear and mild vegetables such as sweet potato and carrot, mixed with milk, mild yoghurt or puréed rice. Don’t be tempted to add salt, sugar or spices to these early meals as they’ll confuse the developing tastebuds, smothering the natural flavour of the foods.

From around six months or later – whenever your baby has got used to simple purées – you can begin to slowly introduce other tastes. “Try different proteins in the form of meat, fish, properly cooked eggs or beans, various starchy foods, and, of course, as many different fruits and vegetables as possible, like peaches or berries,” says nutritionist Dr Frankie Robinson. “Gradually and individually experiment with different tastes, colours and textures; the more food experiences she has, the more likely it is she’ll find more foods she loves. By a year, her tastes may almost be as varied as yours.”

Good sense tip: if a new food taste is rejected, don’t persist in trying to impose the food on your baby. Instead, try again gently the next day. Sometimes, a taste is declined merely due to the “surprise” factor of a novel taste flavour.


smell

Smell is intimately tied up with taste and your baby is born with an affinity for natural, pleasant smells. She will be familiar with your own unique scent, and will prefer sweet smells too.

“Babies make strong connections with smells they experience at an early age, and they remember and distinguish them,” says Dr Reissland. “A smell they associate with breastfeeding will still be recognised in later years, and babies will rather drink from bottles that have that smell. This development starts in the womb, as the food the mother eats is transferred to the amniotic fluid, and later into breastmilk. Babies will prefer the smell of food that the mother has eaten in pregnancy.”

Have clean air in your home and try to keep artificial odours to a minimum so that her olfactory sense isn’t overwhelmed unnaturally. Avoid the use of detergents, cleaners, bleaches, synthetic air fresheners, perfumes and eaux de toilette as these can be unpleasant and irritating to a baby.

Good sense tip: food aromas help stimulate tastebuds, but don’t expose her to the smell of greasy or unhealthy meals. The aroma of fresh fruit and wholesome foods can help her develop an appetite for good foods.


hearing

Through hearing, your baby experiences language and music, both key in stimulating her intellectual and emotional development, as well as her speech. Reading to your child is invaluable. When books are read to babies, they learn the familiar sounds of the story, song or poem,” says Diane Rich. “Children love to hear sounds repeated over and over, as this gives them a sense of security and order.”

Specialist hearing expert Brian Symington adds, “Varying your voice and pitch is useful when reading to your baby as it helps her identify characters in stories and develops learning skills.”

Music encourages a child’s cognitive development in many ways, helping her to concentrate, understand, remember and learn. Even unborn babies respond to music and a just-born baby will often show a preference towards music she heard in the womb. “Listening to music from an early age is very beneficial,” says Symington. “The radio is good, as it generates both musical sounds and speech, and parents should try playful music, singing nursery rhymes and simple piano chords – repetitive, simple sounds appeal to babies.”

Avoid the temptation to make too much use of the television for sound stimulation, as the noise can be too cluttered. Music helps develop listening skills, teaches toddlers rhythm and encourages language and speech. It can also help with their social skills, co-ordination and concentration too.

Good sense tip: when she’s older, encourage her to make her own musical sounds with toys and easy and safe instruments.

Milestones

Developmental milestones

TOUCH
Birth: touch is fully developed at birth; after the softness and warmth of the womb, baby will only be interested in comforting and soft touch; able to express a preference for soft and smooth over rough nipples.

3-4 months: starts to enjoy touching her own feet and body.

5 months: developing greater interest in touching other objects and in grasping objects and bringing them to her mouth to further explore shape and texture.

8-12 months: will respond to more adventurous touch experiences – water, grass, thick carpets, soft sand or smooth stones.

VISION
Birth: sight is the least developed sense at birth, but baby will be able to best focus on objects about 25cm away – roughly the distance between your sets of eyes during breastfeeding.

2-3 months: begins to show interest in high-contrast images in black and white shades, although some colour vision is present.

4 months: able to focus on objects within a few feet, and will be using her eyes to co-ordinate manual movements; colour vision is developing – bold colours may appeal.

6 months: she’ll be able to distinguish colours fully (and may prefer red), so reading books to her while you let her observe the brightly coloured pictures will be an endless source of fascination; she’ll also be able to clearer see more distant objects, and can discern relative distances.

7 months+: she’ll understand that objects can be hidden behind something, and don’t fail to exist when they disappear, so will derive great pleasure from “peekaboo” games.

TASTE & SMELL
Birth: will prefer sweet smells and tastes, and recoil at unpleasant ones; able to find a nipple by using sense of smell alone, and detect subtle taste differences in breastmilk.

4-7 months: the introduction of foods helps develop baby’s tastebuds and discover which tastes she likes best; bitter tastes are likely to be aversive.

8-12 months: taste preferences are well established and baby will understand that there are lots of different food tastes available.

one year: will be able to send clear messages to you about taste and smell likes and dislikes.

HEARING
Birth: hearing is advanced at birth; she will respond to soothing music, sounds and repetitive, gentle beats (like the heartbeat she heard in the womb); will be startled by sudden or loud noises (doorbells, barking dogs); will quickly recognise and be comforted by a nearby mother’s voice; prefers high pitches.

one month: sense of hearing is almost fully developed.

4 months: she’ll recognise her parents’ voices even when they’re out of sight and will turn their eyes in the direction of those voices.

7 months: baby will be able to pick out your voice among a crowded room, as long as it is not too loud and provided she is not otherwise distracted; will turn immediately to your voice from across a room.

9 months: will enjoy listening attentively to everyday, familiar sounds; will try to listen out for quiet sounds out of sight; great pleasure in babbling – making and listening to her own sound.

10-12 months: beginning to understand some words and simple phrases (“yes”, “no”, “bye bye”), eventually leading to her responding to her own name.

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