Even before they are born, babies already use their senses inside the womb to learn about the world around them. At birth their brain already has around 50 million brain connections (synapses). In fact, your baby’s brain will grow the fastest during the first year of their life and, by the age of one, a baby who experiences rich interactions and engages in a variety of stimulating activities, would have increased their brain synapses to an amazing 1000 million! Being able to actively and consistently use all the senses helps to create new synapses in a child’s brain. The more their experience through engaging their senses the more synapses are being created in their brain, aiding its continuous development. There are many studies that show evidence of positive impact of sensory stimulation on a child’s brain but you do not need to read a study, just observe your baby's reactions when they explore messy play activities, such as painting, for the first time! After all, children learn about the world around them through their senses. They will be touching, tasting, smelling, being active and seeing everything that comes their way and there will be no stopping them. Although babies have an intrinsic motivation to achieve certain milestones in their development, research shows that the more opportunities and encouragement they have, the more they engage all their senses in learning, the faster they will be developing. At our nursery setting when working with babies we see this every day. The awe and wonder of learning through using the whole body and all the senses. Let’s have a closer look at how each of the senses develop before we explore ways of how we can support our babies’ sensory development in my next article 'Tips on sensory stimulation in babies'. Below we will look at the 7 senses that play a crucial role in your baby’s development: Sense of Touch (Tactile) Sense of Movement/Gravity and Balance (Vestibular Sense) Sense of Body Awareness (Proprioception) Sense of hearing (Auditory) Sense of Smell (Ofactory) Sense of Taste (Gustatory) Sense of Sight (Visual) Sense of Touch (Tactile) Tactile stimulation starts immediately after babies are born. The first hours after being born, the skin-to-skin contact with their mother starts engaging baby’s sense of touch. The power of touch between any two humans is usually therapeutic, provides a sense of security and comfort, happiness (therefore is stress-relieving) and stimulating. A newborn needs to be touched for optimal development. (Reference: The Importance of Touch in Infant Development - BrightHub Education) Sense of Movement/Gravity and Balance (Vestibular) The vestibular sense, also known as the movement, gravity and/or balance sense, allows us to move smoothly. We are able to maintain our balance while engaged in activities because of this sense. While vestibular helps us with balance while we walk and run, it also helps us stay upright when we sit and stand. (Reference: What is the "Vestibular" Sense? | Pathways.org ) . Babies will be developing this sense through being rocked back and forth, taken on a walk in their pram, holding their head up and eventually practising to sit up, crawl and walk. Further on, as this sense will be developing, the children will move smoothly and maintain balance in a variety of activities. The vestibular sense works with receptors in the inner ear that sense when we change our position in space. This means we know which direction we are going, how fast we are going and if we are getting faster or slower. When it is well developed we don’t become nauseous or react badly to normal movement. (Reference: The Simple Guide to Sensory Development in Children - Empowered Parents ) Sense of Body Awareness (Proprioception) This sense help us take control of our body and manage and adjust our movements. It helps us to: Sense the effort we are exerting. Determine our position in space. Control our arms and legs. Sense the force of something or its heaviness. Proprioceptors are found in all of our muscles, joints, tendons and the inner ear. They send information to the brain to say whether our muscles and joints are tense or relaxed, busy or still. When a child is able to sense where his body is positioned in space and he knows how his limbs are moving, he can explore the world with his body and grow in confidence about his movements and mobility. Proprioceptors are also responsible for regulating emotions and calming a child – we often feel a need for tight physical contact when we feel emotional. This closeness with our loved ones and a tight hug helps us to quickly calm down when we are distressed. (Reference: The Simple Guide to Sensory Development in Children - Empowered Parents ) Sense of Hearing (Auditory) A baby’s auditory system is usually developed by 28 weeks of gestation. This is why your baby responds to various sounds they hear when they are still in mother’s womb. At birth your baby responds to your voice and is reassured by your heart beat when you hold them close. The auditory system is in fact much better developed at birth than the sense of sight. Hearing and listening are crucial skills during childhood and are closely linked to learning. The better children are able to hear and listen, the better they will develop intellectually. (Reference: The Simple Guide to Sensory Development in Children - Empowered Parents ) Sense of Smell (Ofactory) Through our sense of smell, known as the olfactory system, we are able to: Smell pleasant and unpleasant odours. Differentiate between smells. Be alerted to danger. Babies start using their sense of smell in the womb. When they swallow the amniotic fluid they start recognising its smell. The smell of foods that you eat in pregnancy is also carried through the amniotic fluid to your baby, who starts becoming familiar with smells of foods you eat. At birth they also recognise you as their parent through the sense of smell before they can actually see you. (Reference: https://www.babycenter.com/baby/baby-development/baby-sensory-development-smell_10401106 ) Sense of Taste (Gustatory) We perceive taste through the taste buds on our tongue that register anything that comes into contact with them. There are different receptors for the four different tastes. We all know how babies enjoy mouthing different objects and putting virtually anything they can find in their mouth in order to learn. And this further stimulates their sense of taste, as although babies are born with a full set of glands that develop in the womb, these glands need a few years to develop fully. This is why it is very important to offer a truly varied diet to your child as these early experiences will impact their future eating habits. The more varied tastes are tried at this early age the better. (Reference : Importance of Sensory Stimulation for Babies (news-medical.net)) Sense of Sight (Visual) This sense, although the most highly developed sense, is the last sense to develop. Apart from recognising people, objects and places, vision allows us to find our way in space and direct our attention. Inside the womb, in around the 7th month of pregnancy, your baby starts being sensitive to light as retina and optic nerve develop in your baby’s eyes. However, because the womb is a dark place, your baby is not given much opportunity to practice and develop his vision. Therefore, at birth, your baby’s vision is blurry and not yet mature. Newborns are also very sensitive to bright lights. Coming from a dark place of comfort into a much colder and very bright new environment is a lot to take on. It is therefore advised to not expose your bay to very bright lights in the first few weeks of their life. As they vision develops they will love to observe colourful and bright lights and objects in the future. (Reference: https://5senses4kids.org/en/eyesight/)