Newborn Babies Information: The Communication Bridge

Do newborn babies communicate and If so, how do newborn babies communicate? This is a good question as there was a time in history when people believed newborn babies were born with a brain that had nothing built-in so the newborn babies brain was thought of as a tabula rasa or blank slate. This theory purported that newborn babies start out knowing nothing and have to learn absolutely everything.

We know today that this is an erroneous premise and that newborn babies brains are actually "hard wired" to do many, many things useful for survival. In fact, newborn babies come out of the womb learning ready. They are feeling and sensing new sights, sounds, and personal experiences that are foreign to them. All of these stimuli are being taken into the brain and it is reacting to them.

There is reliable scientific evidence indicating that the structure of a newborn baby's brain is affected by the kinds of experiences the newborn baby has, the attachments they develop with important persons, and the kinds of stimulation they receive. Knowing the importance of attachment and stimulation to brain structure and development is important for parents, grandparents, siblings and caregivers of all sorts. This is so because - these people have a critical role to play in ensuring the time they are with the new born baby is quality and supports healthy brain development. Research has shown that newborn babies learn through relationships with significant others. People, regularly in a newborn baby's life, are key to helping that newborn baby learn to regulate their emotions, to get their needs met, and to communicate.

Some of the skills newborn babies have at birth they can use to communicate with others are: being able to cry, being able to make noises, being able to look at people who are interacting with them, and being able to look at people and things in their environment. It is critical that parents and caregivers learn how the newborn baby uses these skills so they can make sure the newborn baby has its needs met in a timely manner. You may be saying, "Wow, how can a parent or caregiver learn what these communication attempts mean?" This is a fair question. A caregiver learns by observing, listening, and through trial and error.

It actually doesn't take long for newborn babies to learn what pitch and loudness of a cry gets adult reaction the quickest. The same can be said of the parent or caregiver; they too learn very quickly what a fussy cry is versus a happy cry versus a bored cry etc. Newborn babies need attention when they are awake to promote healthy brain development. They need parents and caregivers to talk to them, sing to them, and to hold and rock them.

There was landmark research conducted in the late 1930s by Rene Spitz, who was an American psychoanalyst. Dr. Spitz's research was related to the effects of emotional and maternal deprivation on the ability of young children to form attachments. He recorded his research on film and this has been attributed to creating major societal changes in childcare sections of institutes, homes and hospitals. Because of his work, people gained knowledge about the impact of deprivation on child development and this information has had significant results in the world of parenting as well.

Another way to look at this research is to say that the world learned how important it is to pay attention to a newborn baby's and young child's communications and to respond as quickly as possible to help them get their needs met. Consistently letting a newborn baby or young child go for long periods of time trying to communicate their needs through fussing and crying puts that infant or young child at significant risk for issues related to emotional, behavioral and/or cognitive development. Learning how newborn babies communicate is the best way to be sure to meet their needs and help them grow healthy brain structures.

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