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Help those brain cells connect using all eight senses.
Article: Megan Faure from women24.com
Image: Getty
On the day of your baby’s birth, he has every brain cell he needs to reach his full potential. The way he makes sense of his world is by making connections (synapses) between the brain cells. The question is how can you best nurture your baby so that he makes these connections and reaches his full potential?

We know that enhanced sensory environments and experiences lead to stimulated brain growth. That’s why its vital that your baby receive stimulation in the form of sensory input. The commonly known senses include the sense of touch, sound, sight, smell and taste.

But we also have 3 important hidden body senses, which include the sense of movement, the internal sense of the organs (interoception) and the body sense – proprioception – from your muscles and joints. All our senses work together to form our multisensory picture of the world and give babies the input necessary to develop.

But is the case of ‘the more the better’ really true in terms of stimulation? The answer is no! The baby’s immature brain can only cope with a certain amount of stimulation before becoming overwhelmed or over-stimulated by it. In this state, the brain can’t use the positive experience of stimulation.

For example, if you’re in a baby stimulation class, you might find that your 6-month-old has had enough. Then no matter how wonderful the activities, he or she won’t gain any more benefit.

So to enhance and optimize our babies’ potential, we should regulate his environment and experiences. That’s how we can ensure that he is sufficiently and appropriately stimulated but not over-stimulated. For more ideas on stimulating your baby optimally go to www.babysense.com or order a copy of Megan Faure and Ann Richardson's book Baby Sense.

 


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