Baby Brain Development

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Baby brain development is a highly complex process. One that is being continually researched to try to fully understand.

What we have learnt though, are some ways that we can help to stimulate baby's brain to encourage it to develop naturally.

Babies thrive on stimulation for all five senses, but not necessarily at the same time. Noisy and expensive toys are not necessary to baby's brain development, but a loving adult is needed. A parent or carer can help baby better understand and interpret the world as they make new discoveries.

The most intelligent children are ones who have been given opportunities to choose their own materials to manipulate and make their own judgments and conclusions.

Ideally for baby brain development, a parents goal should be not to "teach" their baby, but to help them discover how to organize their own thoughts and experience for them self.

Ways to enhance baby brain development (0 - 18 months):

Pay particular attention to your baby's nutritional needs. Preferably breastfeed until you can and cook nutritional meals with good wholesome food once your baby starts solids.

Worry less about providing your baby with toys and ensure they are in a reasonably stable, predictable environment. Babies thrive when they feel safe in their space and know that when they cry, someone will come to help them.

Emotional and verbal responsiveness of parents and caregivers are important. When a baby vocalizes, respond with kind, friendly words, rather than gesturing. Use warm and loving language to comment, question and extend your baby's experience.

Refrain from shouting or needlessly restricting babies where possible. We all know when they keep emptying out the bottom drawer in the kitchen it can be irritating. These learning explorations can however help them develop problem solving skills. Make sure the activity is safe, allow them some time to explore and when you've had enough, tape the drawer up. When parents get angry when their baby explores different areas, this can inhibit their confidence to take risks and have a go.

Ensure baby has regular interaction with adults and take interest in their activities. Too much radio and TV noise can confuse a baby.

Provide appropriate play materials - toys that require a child to be an active participant rather than a passive one. Toys that are interesting to manipulate, have movable parts, creative materials that can be used in a variety of ways are better for brain development. Busy toys that have lots of detail can be overwhelming for babies.

Provide a variety of new activities for your baby. Confining them to the same environment day after day can cause frustration and boredom. Provide outings and new things to look at and manipulate where possible.

Praise, prompt attention, immediate feedback and lots of vocabulary and reading used by the caregiver are very important factors for baby brain development. Babies who are talked to frequently about objects, events and things in their environment develop better vocabularies and generally find it easier to learn the skills for reading.

Encourage your infant to test their physical abilities (in safe environments) against activities such as climbing, jumping, finding their way around new areas and extricating themselves from surprising experiences.

Babies and infants need to be moving, exploring and independently pushing their boundaries on problem solving. Self guided exploration set early skills for later problem solving, such as "How do I make my arms, feet and hands move to make this object move?", "How can I get this cupboard to open?".

Parents and caregivers can inspire and help their baby start tasks, but they then need to take a step back and allow their child's busy brain to form synapses. Provide environments with safety, love and conversation that stimulates baby to wonder, manipulate and explore.

Necessary correction of behavior should be done calmly with explanation.