Babies are smart

Diane McGuinness, in her book Growing a Reader from Birth, relates a number of studies that have been done on the communicative patterns of babies. My favourite one is the Scottish study that filmed mothers in conversation with their young infants. Here are a few reactions the babies had to mom's soothing voice:

• when mom swayed closer, so did baby
• every time mom made eye contact, they locked onto mom's eyes
• when mom gazed and talked to her infant, she got a bright smile in return
• when her voice dropped in cadence and she paused slightly, the baby would pause with an ooh or a wiggled fist.

Now, when the babies were propped up to watch a replay of the mom's portion on a different day, something really interesting happened. The baby's face lit up "like a ray of sunshine" as soon as mom's face appeared on the screen. As the seconds ticked by, and baby would interject with a gurgle or a happy grunt and mom's response did not fit in with what her baby did, the baby's eyes opened wider. The baby stared harder. Each time he tried to take a turn, and mom didn't respond with the appropriate behaviour, the infant became sober, the corners of his mouth dropped, his brow furrowed, and it was long before he started wailing!

This proves that even at the tender infant age, the conversational dance between baby and mother is recognized as important by the baby. Babies are much more intuitive than people give them credit for! A lot goes on behind those seemingly dozy eyes. This kind of research is fascinating for a new mom, and would be the perfect thing to mention during any type of librarian-led storytime to reinforce the importance of singing/rhyming/reading with your baby. Eye contact and responding to the reactions of babies/conversing with them is CRUCIAL right from birth. According to that study, the babies have basically told us this themselves!