When To Start Teaching Your Baby
When is it that I should start teaching my baby? That is a question that may come to mind for many first time parents; other parents may never consider the question at all, and just leave things to evolve naturally.
In a way, that is an unnecessary question as, whether you like it or not and whether you mean to or not, you begin teaching your baby while it is still in the womb, and then continue through its early years, teenage years, and even into adulthood. So, perhaps it is better to rephrase that question slightly to "when should I consciously start teaching my baby?"
Even with the rephrased question, the answer is the same: while the baby is in the womb. How can that be?
While the baby is in the womb it starts to learn about its environment after about six months of pregnancy, when it is capable of hearing external sounds. Of course, it is aware of its internal environment earlier than that, but there is little you can do to enhance that. But when it comes to the external environment, you are in a position to have some influence even from that early stage of development.
What Can You Teach Your Baby In The Womb?
With the baby in the womb there is clearly a very limited scope for teaching as such. However, you can provide additional stimulation that will form an important part of their learning at that stage. You can provide many hints as to what the outside environment is like, in a way that sets a good foundation for their feeling of love and security.
The main external awareness of a baby in the womb is sound. If you can make the external sounds comforting and welcoming then that will help the baby more than you may think. Music is a proven stimulation to babies, especially classical music; a daily dose of Mozart will stimulate the baby's brain and senses. With any luck, they will become a musical talent, but that is not an issue at this stage of their development.
You do not, of course, have to restrict her to classical music. Whatever music you like, just turn the volume up a bit more than usual to ensure she hears it. The sound will be muffled, but by the time baby is born, she will be used to your musical tastes.
Your aim should be to make the outside environment familiar to the baby. Most of that will happen naturally, and she will become used to the daily sounds, such as vacuum cleaner, liquidizer, lawnmower and other domestic noises that are penetrating.
Our baby daughter was born in the Philippines, where our usual form of transport is a tricycle. I do not think it a coincidence that, once she was born, she was contented with the noise of a tricycle; and they are noisy here, I assure you, especially outside the womb! However noisy the tricycle, she would always be asleep within a minute or two, and even now at 20 months is particularly relaxed on a deafening tricycle.
If you want to insist on having a most important sound in the womb, then it must be the voices of the parents. Getting to know the voice of mum and dad will come naturally, but dad especially can get up close and talk to the baby in the womb. It will not talk back of course, but you can rest assured, if she is awake, she will be intrigued by your up close and personal voice. It is something I did every evening with Saffron. That also had the effect of keeping her awake as long as possible during the evening, so she was less restless at night. That can be very helpful for mum to get a good night's sleep.
Another external stimulation which I never learnt about for my now grown up children, and that is light. This can be even more useful for keeping baby awake in the evening. If you take a powerful flashlight, switch it on, and hold it close to mum's tummy, the baby in the womb will respond to it. I must say I thought it a silly idea, until the then unborn Saffron started moving every time the light was switched on. So, the flashlight became another tool in the "keep baby awake in the evening" campaign to stop mum being kicked so much during the night.
Maybe Saffron did not appreciate my "keep her awake" tactics; no doubt she will tell you that in her Blog. She was probably wondering "who is this guy keeping me awake all the time; doesn't he realise I want to get some sleep?"
© Roy Thomsitt September 2005
I am glad to see that I am not alone in wanting to emphasise the importance of prenatal teaching, learning and stimulation for a pregnant woman, her partner and her baby. I am pleased to include an article below by Olivia Lim and Safia, which covers the very same topic, from a slightly different angle.
Prenatal Stimulation For A Smart Baby
Most parents think that parenting only starts after baby is born, but current research is proving otherwise. From the moment you learn that you are pregnant, you can start to stimulate and communicate with your baby.
Think of the womb as your child’s first world, so whatever he experiences in the womb will shape his expectations of life after birth. This means that the prenatal period (time between conception and birth) is the critical time to establish the basic architecture of the brain and build the foundations for its future potential.
Also, research in the field of prenatal stimulation found that external stimulation such as stroking the unborn baby through the belly, playing soft and melodious music, as well as light and vibrations are pleasurable to the baby.
Baby learns life’s first lesson in the womb.
When a mother actively engages her unborn baby in prenatal communication and stimulation, she is actually creating a conducive womb environment that will create a positive influence on her baby’s future life.
According to Dr Thomas R. Verny – the world’s leading expert on the effects of prenatal and early postnatal environment on personality development – prenatal stimulation bodes well for healthy fetal development.
"Every minute, there are new brain cells being formed in the unborn child. And as the new brain cells are being formed, pathways or circuits are being formed along the lines that help assist communication for whatever the child the needs. For example, the child will obviously need to breathe, the child will need to move when he is born, the eyelids will need to open and close; so all these organs and all the nervous tissue that supply these organs has to start developing long before birth.
It’s the same thing with the brain circuits. The more you stimulate a child’s skin, or the more you stimulate its auditory nerves (hearing) the more those pathways will develop and become stronger so that when the child is born, he or she is better prepared for the world."
5 prenatal tips to shape your child’s future today
Here are some suggestions on what you can do today to stimulate and communicate with your unborn baby:
Converse with your unborn baby One of the simplest ways for you to do that is to start communicating with your baby as if he or she is already present with you. Treat your baby as a conscious being. Begin talking, singing or even humming to your baby. This will help them get used to your voice and begin to recognize language formations.
Think about your baby. Although your baby is not physically present with you at this moment, you can still think about him now and about the time when you would meet soon. Your baby will be able to sense your loving thoughts and this will provide him with a sense of comfort, love and stability.
Use daily experiences to prepare your baby for life after birth The prenatal experience is all about preparing your baby for life after birth. So it is only fitting that you use normal, everyday experiences to share with your baby. It is all about showing your baby your lifestyle and the world that he will be born into. Make an experience out of the little activities in your daily life. Talk about your experiences to your baby no matter how mundane or ordinary it may seem to you. Remember, what seems ordinary to you is certainly not ordinary for your baby!
Reach out touch your baby. You may have noticed that you frequently rub, pat or touch your tummy throughout the day. Perhaps it is because we unconsciously know that this is one way of physically reaching out and communicating with the unborn baby. You can touch your belly in different ways and explain the difference of each touch to your baby as you do that i.e. patting, stroking, rubbing and so on. You can make tummy-rubbing a frequent daily exercise as you shower, while you are using an anti-stretch mark cream on your tummy and even patting your tummy in time to the music you are listening to!
Keep stress at bay or under control. Maternal stress has a direct and negative impact on the formation of your baby’s personality even as early as in the womb. You see, your baby is totally dependant on you for all of his or her needs, including physical, psychological and emotional content. You have to remember that your baby is still at an extremely fragile and fertile state of development, so you have to be careful about the kind of environment and influences that you are creating for him or her.
While it may take some time for you to get the hang of communicating with your unborn baby, rest assured that it will get easier as you continue to practice some of the suggestions above.
After a while, it will become as natural as your performing your other normal, everyday routine. And the best part is, studies have shown that parents who engage in prenatal stimulation report having a closer and strong bond with their children. So take the time to stimulate and communicate with your baby during your pregnancy!
The authors of this article are also the Founders of http://www.brightbellybaby.com These 2 friends, Olivia, a professional writer and Safia, a registered nurse, are passionate about creating a stronger awareness among expectant mothers on the importance of prenatal stimulation. They have just created an audio CD featuring an interview with Dr Thomas R. Verny which is available on their website. Visit their website to listen to excerpts of the CD or learn more about prenatal stimulation by signing up for your FREE Prenatal Stimulation Email Course at Tips!
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