The first few months for your baby are defintely busy ones, as your little one is constantly paying attention to everything that’s going on around them. Some senses are fully functioning from the very beginning (smell and taste), while hearing doesn't fully mature till their a month old and your baby’s eyesight is continually developing over the first year.
It’s good to know about the development of your baby’s senses so you can do things to help them along, but also so you can use them to your advantage.
Smell
Apparently, the sense of smell is one of the earliest to emerge in the foetus and after the first trimester your baby can actually smell what you’re eating. You can use your baby’s super sense of smell to help calm them down or soothe them during a bad night. Placing your nightgown or a piece of clothing in your baby’s cot can help them sleep at night. Also, you could try putting some soothing lavender in the bedroom.
Touch
It takes about eight months for your baby to be able to identify something, perhaps their soother, purely through their sense of touch – but this doesn’t mean that they’re skin isn’t super sensitive. It’s important to use a gentle touch when handling a new born baby, but once they get a bit older, they can respond well to massages.
Sight
It takes about six to eight months for your baby’s eyesight to develop. When they’re first born they can focus eight to 15 inches away and by the end of their first month this has increased to around three inches. It’s a good idea to make lots of eye contact with your new born to help them focus and when you’re bottle feeding your baby, try and swap sides as this will give both your baby’s eyes a proper workout. It also takes up to four months for babies to be able to tell colours apart, so it’s important to give them colourful toys and mobiles that will help develop this sense.
Hearing
Babies prefer high pitched noise (hence, the reason ‘baby talk’ is such a hit with your little one) and you should keep an eye on whether or not your child is responding to your voice. It's a good idea to contact your GP if they aren’t responding, or aren’t blabbing away by seven months, as there could be a problem with their hearing.
Taste
It’s believed that eating a wide variety of flavours during pregnancy and breastfeeding is a good idea, as your baby will taste the different flavours in your milk and be less inclined to be a fussy eater. Babies from other cultures eat entirely different foods than what you’re feeding your little one – such as exotic or spicy foods - so this is proof that they will adapt to a diet similar to yours.
