Understanding your young child’s amazing brain

The brain is the most complicated organ in the human body.  It’s a powerful supercomputer that controls everything from our heartbeat and breathing to our feelings and moods.

At birth, human babies have very underdeveloped brains compared to other species – yet by the time they are fully grown, their brains will be much larger (relative to body size) than those of primates and most other mammals.  If human brains developed fully inside the womb, babies’ heads would never fit through the birth canal!

Since babies’ brains are a blank slate, parents have a big responsibility for shaping and nurturing their development – and this process begins with understanding how your child’s amazing brain works.

Here are ten fascinating insights into your child’s developing brain:

1.      Rapid Growth 

For the first 4 months of life, your baby’s brain grows faster than it ever will again. By 9 months, it will be half its adult size and by age 3, it will be 90% developed. Interestingly, the last part takes much longer - scientists estimate that the brain is not fully developed until your child is an adult of 25!

2.      Building Connections

As well as growing in size, your child’s brain grows in complexity. Babies are born with 100 BILLION brain cells called neurons – but there are few connections between these cells. From birth, these connections develop at an astonishing rate, perhaps as many as 1 million per second.

3.      Programmed For Survival

To begin with, it’s your love that helps develop the connections in your baby’s brain. They instinctively want to be close to you, and they cry to communicate their needs for warmth, comfort and food. By meeting those needs, you help your baby to form physical and emotional attachments that make them feel safe. This forms the basis for their future self-esteem, self-worth and resilience.

4.      Attachment Matters

Secure attachment helps your baby to develop trust. When they trust that their needs will be met, they learn to wait – a skill called delayed gratification, which is a major predictor of success in later life. Attachment is like an invisible string that allows your child to feel connected to you even when you’re not right by their side. This helps them to explore the world, and form relationships with other people.

5.      Brainy Babblers

At just a few weeks old, babies begin to communicate in a pattern experts call ‘serve and return’. You smile and coo at your baby, and they smile or coo back. Then they offer a smile or babble, and you respond. These ‘conversations’ develop your baby’s emotional understanding, and are also an important building block for speech.

6.    Learning by Doing

As your child grows, they will learn through play, and by trying new things. All of these experiences build new connections in their brain – hundreds of new ones every day! The more positive experiences your child has, the stronger the positive connections inside their brain will become. This helps them to develop a positive mindset that can last for life.

7.      Copycat Kids

Almost all of your child’s early learning happens through observation, imitation and repetition. Your child is always watching and copying the things you do and say in order to figure out how they should behave. As parents, it’s important for us to set a positive example by modelling the kind of attitude we want to see from our children.

8.      The Stretchy Brain

The brain’s ability to change is called neuroplasticity. Because your child’s brain is forming so many new connections every day, it is super stretchy and flexible. This means that children can learn new skills much more easily than adults! It also means that it’s much easier for a child to develop good habits and a positive mindset – but this can only happen when they have positive experiences, good role models and lots of emotional support. 

9.      No Bad Feelings

Things that may seem silly or unimportant to us can feel hugely important and very real to our children – a fear of monsters is a good example. It’s important to emphasise that ALL feelings are allowed, but not all behaviours are OK. Listening calmly will encourage your child to express how they feel, and help them gradually learn that they have a choice about how to react.

10.   The Bossy Brain

Even as adults, around 80% of our decisions are dominated by the subconscious part of our brain, based on our previous experiences. Small children have even less control over this bossy part of their brain, so they often react without thinking first. It’s important to understand that your child is not doing this on purpose – they just haven’t learned how to master their bossy brain yet!

The Sociemo Book Club is designed to help you nurture your child’s developing brain from birth, helping them grow into happy, well-rounded adults ready to take on the world!