24by7Article.com | Things You Might Not Yet Know About Babies

It's a fair assumption that you already know some things about babies. You understand that babies do not recognize most people right away. You already know that a baby will understand on instinct who his mother is even within a minute of being born. You've probably learned that babies develop at their own rate. There is no set schedule for walking or talking or eating solid foods or sitting up or any other "first" in a baby's life. You might be surprised to learn that there are plenty of other things to learn about child development and babies. Infancy is a fascinating period in human development. Between conception and toddlerhood is an incredibly exciting time. It doesn't look like babies do all that much in their first years of life but beneath that calm (and sometimes fussy) exterior is a factory that is working like mad to grow, change and develop!

Babies can sense light changes even in the womb. Your eyes are very intricate organs that consist of millions of fibers and nerve endings. The coordination needed for the eyes to function properly is extraordinary. Babies usually have working eyes by the end of the first trimester or very beginning of the second trimester. Even as early as six months after conception your baby will show signs of light sensitivity. Another interesting fact about babies: most Caucasian babies will not show their "true" eye color until a few months after they are born. Babies born with blue eyes often do not keep that eye color. Don't get too set on the color blue you see in a newborn's eyes. They might change before you know it!

Music can be heard and recognized by babies even before they are born! By the thirty fourth week of development in the womb a baby can hear and identify songs. That means that this happens more than a month before the baby is born! Some mothers even report that their babies will move in time to the beat of certain songs. So a person's musical preference does show up before the child is conditioned to like one type of music over another. Isn't that amazing?

Common knowledge states that babies don't smile until long after they are born. Smiling is often attributed to gas or the baby's having to go to the bathroom-at least until it reaches a few weeks in age. Even experts thought that it was the parents that taught a baby to smile when it was happy, that the baby did not know how to express happiness right away. Common thought said that learning how to express happiness was harder for babies than learning how to express displeasure (which is usually done through crying). Now, however, these theories are being debunked. Smiling has been picked up by newer ultrasound machines, proving the old theories are wrong. Many families have been given ultrasound pictures of their smiling children weeks before they are due to be born. Doctors now think that babies seem to "learn" how to smile because it takes them a few weeks to get over the trauma of having been birthed. Experts are constantly making strides in early childhood development. What scientists believe as fact today could be proven false tomorrow! Are you really surprised by how confusion most people find infancy since you now know how rapidly new discoveries are being made? Keeping up with the science does not have to be difficult. Babies are more than humans in the larvae stage. Babies are actually very complex and have their own sets of needs that must be met. It is important that you learn how to communicate with your baby. You should do everything you can to learn how your baby will develop. You'll be a better parent if you take the time to learn all about your baby.