The five baby senses they start up in the womb, so at birth they are already fully functioning. It is through them that they begin to receive stimuli from outside and interact with people and the environment.
During pregnancy, I could distinguish levels of light and darkness and hear the voices and sounds, feel the warmth of the uterus and the sensory stimuli coming from outside, as well as the smell and taste of the amniotic fluid I swallowed.
But once it is born, it receives a lot of new stimuli, which it processes and reacts to them in different ways. These reactions are what allow us to know your preferences and above all, better meet your needs.
The sight of the newborn baby
The baby can clearly distinguish what he sees since birth. The most comfortable focusing distance for your eyes is about 20 to 30 cm, then their eye muscles are strengthened and can focus people and objects at a greater distance. What is beyond that distance is blurred, but is able to perceive movements and changes in the intensity of light.
The focus distance is no accident. It is the distance at which the face of his parents is when he is caught in his arms or that of his mother when breastfed.
In Babies and moreEye contact with your baby: why it is important to look the newborn in the eyesIf different objects are placed in your focus distance, you will direct your attention to the more complex figures, as you must learn a very complex visual world.
Either way, human faces are what newborns prefer to look at. They are born programmed to recognize faces and love to observe them, stopping especially in the eyes.
How much the newborn sees often plans doubts, especially as to the colors he sees. It is not known for sure how he perceives them. Probably on a scale of white, black and gray, although it is believed that within a few days he begins to discern those of greater contrast such as red.
The sense of touch in the newborn
He touch It is the most important sense for the baby, because being touched, hugged, caressed and caught is also a need of the newborn.
What he enjoys most is the contact skin to skin. When placed on his chest his breathing becomes deeper, feeling relaxed and comforted.
The baby's skin is very sensitive. Through it it is able to perceive the cold, heat, humidity, as well as the softness or roughness of fabrics or objects.
The touch also sets in motion some reflexes of the newborn such as the plantar grip reflex or the search reflex when stroking the cheek.
The smell of the newborn
He Smell is one of the most developed senses in the newborn baby, even more than in adults. If you put a cloth impregnated with the smell of your mother and one with the smell of another mother, choose the one that smells like mom.
It is pure survival. She looks for the smell of her mother as soon as she is born and needs to be close to her to ensure food, in addition to feeling protected.
There is nothing for him like the natural smell of his mother's skin, so it is convenient to avoid perfumes and colognes.
The sense of taste in the newborn
It is perhaps the least developed sense at birth, although it can be very sensitive to some levels of taste.
They dislike acid and bitter flavors and prefer sweet flavors, such as breast milk.
Slowly, the baby develops the sense of taste, although the first six months you only need breast milk, then open to try new flavors.
The ear of the newborn
It is able to distinguish sounds from the womb. He even recognizes the mother's voice and once born reacts to sounds he has heard in the womb.
The loud and sudden sounds startle you and you dislike the high pitched sounds. Instead, enjoy the soft, rhythmic and repetitive sounds. And we don't talk only about music but about continuous sounds such as the noise of the vacuum cleaner or the hair dryer.
What catches your attention are people's voices of his surroundings, especially his mother, who is the one who takes care of him. For survival, it is programmed to pay attention.
In Babies and more Keys to know if your baby hears wellHe is pleased to hear his mother's sweet words, although in the first few days the function of looking and listening is separated and he still does not turn his head towards where the voice comes from.
The senses of the newborn they allow him to start establishing a relationship with people and the surrounding environment, but of course, what stimulates the baby's senses most is the closeness of his mother, being in contact with her as long as possible and hearing his voice .
Photos | iStockphoto and QuinnDombrowski and on Flickr
In Babies and more | Being a dad: meet your baby (II), Baby stimulation begins in the womb
