We know that, although babies have the ability to see from birth, during their first months of life there is really very little they can see, approximately between 20 and 30 centimeters. However, this does not mean that you should not pay attention to their eyes.
Actually, eye contact with your baby is essential from the moment it is born. We share why it is important to look the newborn in the eyes.
Baby's brain
During its first three years of life, the baby's brain forms a thousand new connections per second. But in addition to forming all these new connections every day while you are at this stage, your brain grows faster than ever, particularly during its first days and months of life, to subsequently reduce the speed of its growth over time.
In Babies and more, how does a newborn see you? (and how far he recognizes you)Thus, It is very important that as parents we help the development of your brain during this early stage of your life, which is the more it grows and the more new connections are formed. During those first three years it is also when their thought and response patterns are created, which will greatly influence the environment in which the baby grows and develops.
Remember that the baby's brain adapts its structure to match the stimuli of the environment, and when it establishes eye contact, he will begin to differentiate himself from the other person and react to what she does, as well as to measure the reactions that his presence causes before the other person.
Therefore, we often see that Babies imitate what we do, or synchronize their movements with the words, gestures or sounds we emit. The more we talk to him, sing or give him smiles, the better we will help stimulate his senses and contribute to the development of his brain.
Eye contact, the basis of the link with your baby
But in addition to seeing your baby in the eyes to help contribute to the development of your brain during its first years of life, establish eye contact with him causes a special bond to form between them, and encourages the process of individualization of children from an early age.
Curiously, the distance in which babies can clearly distinguish during their first months, is the distance that our face is from his when we hold him in his arms Or we feed him. At first, your baby will look more at the parts of your face that are easy to distinguish, such as eyebrows, the line of hair growth or your mouth when speaking, by the movement that makes and attracts your attention.
Then, little by little, they will focus more on your eyes and become familiar with your face. It will begin to relate it to those pleasant sensations that your arms offer you, because by taking him and seeing him in the eyes, we transmit that heat and security that they need during their first years.
Also, by holding him in his arms and making eye contact, your baby will also analyze your face and facial features, beginning to understand some of the expressions you make and that he will later imitate, contributing to his emotional education from the first months of life.
In Babies and more The GIF that shows us how a baby sees from birth to the year of lifeBut in addition to beginning to create and strengthen an emotional bond, a study found that maintaining eye contact with the baby helps facilitate communication between the two, and from which it was concluded that establish and maintain eye contact with the baby, help create a synchronous state which facilitates the transfer of information, during the early stages of learning and communication.
As we can see, although at first our newborn babies do not see as clearly as we do, establishing eye contact is good for the development of your brain and will help us have a stronger emotional connection, helping you feel safe and loved.
Photos | iStock
