The World According to Your Newborn – A Full Guide

By Anisha Nair - Updated: December 13, 2018

As soon as your baby is born, it is welcomed with a brand new world, which is quite different from the one in the womb. Although the world is different, your little one is born with some senses and perception that she acquired in the womb. These help her develop a perception of the world quite early…
Your baby’s senses start developing in the womb and progress at a fast pace after her birth. The world outside helps your baby process lot of information. When your baby is born, she is born with the capability to use the senses she is gifted with.
Here are some of the senses of your baby that let her create for herself an early perception of the world:

1. Touch

Touch is the first sense your baby perceives. As soon as your baby is born, she is placed on your stomach or chest to feel you. Your baby’s sense of touch is completely developed at the time of birth. At about 10 weeks gestation your baby reaches out to touch the lining of your womb and after it is born it craves to touch and feel you. The sense of touch is a very important as your baby’s brain develops and grows through touch.

2. Sight

Unlike touch, sight is the least developed sense at birth and your baby’s vision is usually blurred. Initially your baby can see things only 20 to 25 cms from her face. At about 2 weeks she will start recognizing you, and will start smiling back at you at around 6 weeks. She will be able to respond to bright color contrasts when she comes across such images. Her sight will continue to develop and get stronger in the next 6 months of her life. By 6 months your baby will be able to see and perceive fine details and be interested in things she never bothered about before.

3. Hearing

Your baby begins to hear sound waves while still in the womb. At around 18 weeks, your baby’s sense of hearing starts developing and he can even hear your heartbeat and voices from outside. Your baby’s sense of hearing is well developed at birth and will rapidly improve in the forthcoming months. Singing and interacting with your baby through speech will help increase his sense of hearing.

4. Smell

Your baby develops the ability to smell right from your sixth month of pregnancy. When your little one is born her sense of smell is very well developed. She will be familiar with your body smell and also associate herself with the smell of breast milk. This sense of smell will draw her comfort of being close to you. You can also help your little one improve her smelling sense by putting the same blanket that you wear on her to help her identify you.

5. Taste

Your baby will develop his taste buds right in the womb when he swallows your amniotic fluid. The taste of the amniotic fluid depends on what you eat. The same continues when you breast feed your baby, as your breast milk will also taste similar to what you have eaten. The best advice to feeding mothers therefore is to introduce a variety of healthy foods into your baby’s diet.

These are the five main senses that develop before and after birth. These senses help your baby perceive the world inside and outside. Your baby will use these senses to live in the same world that you are living – and enjoy it heartily!

Previous article « Toys For Your Newborn – All You Need To Know

Next article When Toddlers Learn to Lean Over »