6 Things You May Not Know Your Baby Can Do
Hey, supermom! Did you know your tiny tot is a super baby? Yes, that little one sitting in their crib, playing with their favorite doll, is no less than a pint-sized wonder!
Babies are full of surprises! Every day they spring up a new one, making you smile in wonder at their cute little antics.
But they are a lot more than adorable cooing and cutesy capers. Your baby is a little genius who possesses a great set of skills, helping them pull off things you never expected them to!
Here are 6 amazing things your baby can do:
1. Babies Notice Emotions
Infants are way more perceptive than you think. They can sense emotions (1). Within a few months of being born, babies start recognizing the differences between sad and happy expressions on people’s faces. In fact, by the time they’re one year old, you can expect them to identify how people feel as well! According to a study conducted by the University of California, Berkeley, babies not only know how to distinguish emotions, but they’re also smart enough to choose positive emotions (2). In their study, researchers made adults peer into two boxes — one that made them smile and one that disgusted them — and made 14-month-olds observe the adults. They then asked the babies to pick a box, and most of them chose the “happy” box!
2. Babies Can Communicate Via Their Hands
You might think you have to wait till your baby learns to talk properly, but they’re communicating with you all the time. Via their hands! Babies, as a matter of fact, learn sign language even before they learn to speak. And that actually works out very favorably for them. Through sign language, babies can communicate what they see and hear with you. Plus, this ability to sign can improve your child’s ability to pick up new languages as they grow older. It can even help them speak early (3)! And increase their IQ, boost their self-confidence and help them develop a large vocabulary, among other things (4)!
3. Babies Can Master Math
Another thing babies are good at? Math! They actually have a pretty decent grasp of the basic concept of subtraction. In a study held at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, babies aged between 6 to 9 months were made to watch a 2-character puppet show (5). At the end of it, researchers removed 1 puppet and drew the curtains. They then repeated the act, reopening the curtains with 2 puppets on stage. The babies stared at the change longer, understanding that a basic subtraction of puppets had taken place. That’s very sophisticated for a baby if you think about it!
4. Babies Can Speak French
Or Spanish. Or German. Or whatever language you want! The thing is, babies have this inherent ability to learn a second language. And that works out well because studies have proven that multilingual children have better focus, memory, and a greater capacity to think flexibly. Typically, you’re supposed to wait till a child is 3 before introducing them to another language. But according to research carried out by Italy’s International School for Advanced Studies, bilingual babies have the same number of words in their vocabulary as those learning one, thus proving they can learn 2 languages without any difficulty (6).
5. Babies Can Recognize Your Face
All it takes is just a week for your baby to recognize your face. And other faces as well. In fact, they turn into experts of face recognition within a few months! Kind of handy considering how much your tiny tot depends on you for everything. As per research conducted by the University Of Sheffield, England, 6-month-old babies are far better at recognizing individual people from a group of them (7)! However, this ability starts dimming when babies hit the 9-month age mark.
6. Babies React To Music
Well, all the effort you put into singing different lullabies actually pays off! According to research, 3-month old kids have the ability to distinguish between different rhythms (8). Another study proves that babies can boogie! When you play music, they respond to the beats by swaying their tiny arms and bodies (9). Isn’t that cute? The way you rock your baby when comforting them might have something to do with it!
Amazed, aren’t you? Babies are not only bundles of joy, but they’re also way smarter than we give them credit for! Who knows what other hidden talents they possess, yet to be discovered by science.
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