0 to 2: Smart Start
Want to engage your baby's brain? Try a little tenderness.
The brain of a newborn baby is astounding. It contains almost as many neurons as there are stars in the Milky Way. Those neurons—the tiny cells that transmit nerve impulses—are just waiting to make the billions of connections that will foster her social, emotional, and intellectual development. To help ignite that development, all it takes is one simple thing—love and attention from you.
Feeling Secure
You, and your baby’s other caretakers, are the first influence on his developing brain. His neurons wire connections to feelings of being emotionally secure, well nourished, and sweetly cherished every time you snuggle him close; sing to him in low, sweet tones; read him silly stories; chat and coo with him; or gently rock him.
This kind of positive emotional learning is crucial for optimal brain development. Studies show that babies who are neglected or mistreated wire in feelings of fright or have a tendency to react with fighting anger to the slightest perceived threat; babies who are rarely touched have been found to have smaller brains. By making sure your child feels safe, you free her to develop intellectually by allowing her to focus all her energy on early learning.
Helping Her Learn
Before age 2, children have more neural connections in the brain than adults do. By age 10, the brain discards those connections that are not well wired in. You can help your baby make more connections faster by encouraging her to become a wonderful conversational partner. Even when she’s just producing early cooing sounds or strings of babble, you’ll want to talk with her as much as possible.
•Use self-talk: Tell your child what you’re doing as you’re doing it—patting him dry with a nice warm towel after his bath, cooking him some cereal, or dressing him warmly for playing outdoors.
•Use parallel talk: Describe your baby’s own actions to him. As he swats at birds swinging on a mobile over the crib, exclaim with delight over how he’s making the birds fly high in the air. With toddlers, let them know how much you enjoy seeing them try hard to fit puzzle pieces onto their puzzle board. Give words to your tot’s actions, emotions, activities, and kind gestures. The more you use language and encourage him to do so, too, the more you’ll be helping him make and keep those early neural connections that help build and fortify his brain.
Alice Sterling Honig, PhD, a professor emerita of child development at Syracuse University, is the author of many books on infants and toddlers, including Behavior Guidance for Infants and Toddlers and, with H. Brophy, Talking With Your Baby: Family as the First School
