How Does Your Child’s Brain Develop And What Can You Do To Nurture It?
The first three years are crucial for a baby’s brain development. This is the time when your kid’s brain is developing social, emotional, linguistic, cognitive and motor skills. There are reports from the studies in Harvard University by Dr. Jack Shonkoff, which says, ‘a baby’s brain forms 700 neurons per second in the first five years of life’.
How To Develop Child Brain?
Your child’s brain grows at a very fast rate that will leave you surprised! It triples in weight in the beginning three years and it establishes about 1000 trillion nerve connections. The way a child sees, feels, smells, tastes and hears are factors that helps the brain grow. When a child uses any of these senses, a nerve connection or a neuron is established in the brain. New connections are also established when any new experience is repeated several times.
[ Read: Moral Development In Children ]
Facts About Your Child’s Brain:
Various aspects and perspectives have been explored about child brain development here and to help you in nurturing your kid in the best way you can. Some facts that you do not know about your baby’s brain development are:
1. Hugging Is Important:
Motherly nurturing is vital and it is seen that those children who get plenty of maternal comfort during stress periods possess larger brains. A study on the growth of hippocampus, a brain part responsible for stress modulation and memory, in Washington University, St. Louis, showed that this part was bigger in size and developed better among children who consistently got comfort and support from their mothers.
2. Your Baby Has Strong Recalling Power:
Hippocampus responsible for memory is only 40% developed in infants and gets fully developed when your baby is 18 months old. This is the reason why babies recognize their mother’s voice and other sounds that they might have heard in the womb. Your baby can remember when you will feed him normally. When he is only one month old and by four months, he can recognize your face too. If you read a book after bath regularly, he will recall that sleep comes next.
3. Your Toddler’s Brain Is More Energetic:
Since new neurons are developing at a fast rate and the brain size is doubling every year in the first three years, you must expose your toddler to various activities. Also, let him sleep properly, to allow rest to his brain. This will help stimulate your darling’s brain. Brain development in children is effective when parents play, sing, read, speak or tell a story to their kid, nurture with good, healthy food and provide attention, love and affection to their toddler.
[ Read: Language Development In Children ]
How Infants Develop Various Skills?
In the early years, babies do need a lot of love and care. 1. Cuddling, pampering and talking to your baby can stimulate the growth of brain and help promote emotional bonding. 2. Breastfeeding on demand and keeping your baby close to you provide your darling with a sense of emotional security. 3. Babies cry to communicate their needs and thus, when parents respond to their cry by holding and soothing them, they develop a sense of security and trust. 4. Babies love music and lullabies. The rhyming and rhythm elevate language skills, spatial orientation and also develop mathematical thinking.
[ Read: Emotional Development In Children ]
Nurturing Your Child’s Brain:
The above suggestions of early bonding help your child to develop a wide range of abilities that can be used throughout his or her life. These abilities can be categorized as:
- Ability to learn and visualize things
- Develop positive social skills
- Possess self-esteem and feel self-confident
- Build a sense of empathy
- Possess better relationships in later years
It is important for parents and caregivers to get involved in various activities to improve the brain development of a child. It is vital to encourage them to explore and learn. Do share your views with us. Give creative and independent time to your kid and let him explore his surroundings by himself, but of course under careful and discreet adult supervision. Doing so will greatly aid in optimum brain development for your darling.
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