By knowing how the baby's brain develops we have known that it is molded according to the environment and the care it receives, especially based on the interaction with its attachment figure, usually the mother.
Today I want to show you a video of an interesting study that analyzes how the environment influences the development of the baby and highlights the importance of eye contact with the baby, and why it is essential in our society to look him in the eye, talk to him and smile at him. German researchers looked at how several women interact with their babies in Germany and Cameroon, and found surprising differences.
How mothers of different cultures relate to their babies
German mothers, and mothers of the Western world in general, support their babies so that they can see them most of the time, establish eye contact with their babies and smile at them. When they smile at them, the little ones respond to their smile and reinforce it. It is a gesture of joy from the mother that the baby repeats, one of the most beautiful moments for a mother (and a father, of course).
This makes connect in a special way with his mother and encourages at a very early age the process of individualization of children.
On the other hand, in Cameroon, as well as in other cultures, it is not given so much courage to stimulate the baby to make him smile. Mothers carry their babies all the time, even while doing daily chores, but without establishing eye contact with them. They are loaded on the mother's back or look towards the environment while they do some homework. They have to turn their heads to look at it.
The researchers found that when the baby is two months old, mother and son look five times less than in western cultures.
I do not mean by this that one thing is right and the other wrong, or that a mother treats her baby with less affection than another. They are different ways of interacting with the baby, influenced by the culture where they live.
However, research shows that interaction with attachment figures at early ages, smiles, looks, caresses, nourish the baby and stimulate their emotional development, so important for the society in which we live.
The mirror test
It is also interesting differences about the conception of themselves as individuals They show babies in both places. For this they were made a very simple test: the mirror test.
A red dot was placed on their faces to detect if they recognized themselves in the mirror or if they simply saw a child on the other side. And the conclusions were also very curious.
In the West, children recognize themselves in the mirror an average age of one year and a half, while in Cameroon they discover their individuality six months later.
Individuals and community
European babies, which seem cheerful and savvy, in rural Cameroon would be seen as overexcited babies. On the contrary, a baby from Cameroon here would be considered passive.
The funny thing is how the environment influences the development of the child from birth. Unlike the Western world, where individualistic orientation is encouraged, babies in the villages of Cameroon are not encouraged to develop individuality at such early ages, since the community is in the foreground, and not the individual.
In our society, establishing eye contact with the baby is essential. Talk to him looking into his eyes, smile and give us a smile is the most beautiful gift he can give us.
Via | Dw
Photos | Thinkstock
In Babies and more | The baby's smile is universal,
