Your Baby's use of the Sensory System to Learn

We learn and experience our world through our senses. What we taste, touch, hear, see, and smell teach us about the world we are living in ( sensory experiences help build neural connections). We need to create an environment for our child that is rich with experience through the senses. 
Here are some examples of sensory experiences.

Music in a variety of different beats, volumes, tones, voices, and tempo.
Providing the opportunity to play with toys and environmental objects of varied texture.
Providing books and pictures of varied colored and patterns to look at.
Providing a variety of things for our children to taste, sweet and sour foods, and so on.

Your baby will go through a stage form 4 months to about a year when everything will go into her mouth.  This is normal, your baby is learning about objects by how they taste and feel in their mouths.  As a matter a fact your baby will need to learn every item individually through each one of her senses.

Your 8 month old might crawl to a ball she sees on the floor, and notice it is round and green.  She might try to pick it up and feel its fuzzy surface. She might bring it toward her face and notice a scent to the ball as she places it in her mouth. While in her mouth she will learn that it is not and edible object but the experience will further reinforce what she has already learned by touching the ball, that it is a fuzzy texture.  She might then try to shake or drop the ball and will learn if this object does or does not make a sound. Your baby will need to do this with every new object she encounters in her world until she is satisfied that she has learned everythin there is to know about that object.

We can even help encourage the sense of smell by pointing out, naming, and expressing the different smells in food and in her world.  This is true for all of our experiences through our senses. Go ahead and label what your child is learning, aid her on her exploration and journey by telling her things like " That feels bumpy" or "We smell flowers they smell nice."

Most importantly, we must understand that new and varied sensory experiences provide our children with experiences that will help them grow.  So encourage safe exploration as much as possible.

How Your Baby Develops Hearing

Babies begin to hear sounds in the last few months of pregnancy. They are well equipped for hearing when they are born.

1-3 Months - Studies have shown that a newborn will choose to listen to their parents voice by turning their head to that sound rather then the voice of a stranger. Your baby will love to listen to your voice. Your voice is associated with comfort and food.  At this age your baby will enjoy music and listening to familiar sound in her world. Infants will respond well to high pitched, rhythmic, and singsong, vocalizations. You will notice that your baby can often be consoled by your voice. This response is setting the stage for future communication.

4-7 Months- Your baby will begin to understand the different parts of speech. Your baby will begin to differentiate various sounds and is beginning to learn that words make sentences.  By seven months she will respond to her name. There will be more babbling at this age as your baby experiments with speech and sounds.

8-12 Months- Your baby's first sounds should be GA, BA, and DA. Now you know your baby has been listening to you. Around this age your baby will begin to respond to simple verbal requests such as " Wave by, by". Your baby should begin trying to use the sounds she can make to communicate with you and play.  Keep talking and encouraging your baby!

1-2 Years- Your baby will begin using words at this stage. A lot of progress is being made with building word vocabulary in this year. Your baby is sure to understand even more then she can say. Your baby should begin to follow simple commands and instructions. Your baby will begin to learn to identify and label items in her environment. Your baby will begin to love to listen and participate in baby songs such as " Open Shut Them" and " Eensy Beensy Spider". Your baby will begin to enjoy really listening to stories and talking about the story book's pictures. Your baby will begin to point to pictures that you name for her. Speaking, singing, and laughing are now a part of your baby's routine.

How amazing is your baby's development in just 2 short years!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Your Baby's First Expereinces Effect On Brain Development

  The brain is the most immature of all organs at birth. How it grows was thought to be determined by genetics, scientists now believe that it is highly dependent on the child's experiences. The belief is that the "plasticity" of the brain (it's ability to grow and develop in different and changing ways) will cause the brain to adopt to it's experiences, environment and needs.
   The brain consists of many areas. Each area has millions of neurons ( nerve cells) that speak to each other by sending messages through synapses.  These synapses are your brains wiring system.  The areas of the brain communicate to each other in this manner. Neurons (nerve cells) have branches on them called dendrites and axons. Dendrites bring information to the nerve cells and axons take information away from the nerve cell. Information is passed from one nerve cell to another through a synapse.
   The number of connections will influence how the brain functions.  For the most part we do not develop new nerve cells but rather we develop new synapses. In early childhood the brain is programmed to create new synapses. This is our window of opportunity.  By facilitating varied and new experiences for our children, particularly before three years old, we facilitate the creation of new synapses.  We now understand that what a child experiences in the first years of life will effect how his brain will develop and how he will interact with the world throughout his life.
  So get creative with your baby and enjoy the variety of experiences that life has to offer.

Language and Communication

 You can make a big difference when it comes to your child's language and vocabulary development!!! How? Actively engage your baby socially by fostering eye contact, facial expressions, and lots of conversation.
Respond to your babies sounds and cooing noises.  Babbling is your baby's first attempt to speak.  Verbal responses from you will not only encourage your baby but will help her develop attention, listening, and language recognition. Holding and talking to your baby is one of the most important things you can do to help encourage her cognitive and language skills.  Use the opportunities of visual alertness in your baby to foster eye contact or "Face Time".  Face time will help to establish communication with your baby that will enhance your bond and stimulate interaction.
Talk through all your routines such as feeding, changing, and bathing.  Tell your baby what is going on,  where she is going and label items in her environment. Repeated words form your will help build her comprehension as well as her expressive language.  Reward your baby with animated expressions and conversation and in a short time you can be sure that she will reciprocate.