The first five years shape the brain’s ability to organise, develop, and function.
Around the 28th week of pregnancy, babies can begin to smell the same smells as their mother.
Babies whose parents talk to them frequently know 300 more words by age two than babies whose parents rarely speak to them.
Babies are born with the ability to taste sweet, bitter, and sour; however, they can’t taste salt until they’re four months old.
A baby’s eyes are about 75% of adult size, but its vision is blurry at 20/400. It should improve to 20/20 by six months old.
Between ages one and two, a toddler’s cerebral cortex adds more than two million new synapses (connections between brain cells) every second.
By age two, toddlers have more than 100 trillion synapses, the most they’ll ever have in their life.
Social interaction increases the speed and accuracy of learning in all ages, including babies.
Holding and stroking an infant helps release hormones that are important for its growth.
If babies’ bodies grew at the same rate as their brains, they would weigh 77kg by one month.
From ages three to eight, childrens' brain tissue uses twice as much energy as adult brain tissue.
A five-year-old child weighing 20kgs requires 860 calories a day. Half of that energy goes to the brain.
A baby’s brain reaches 70% of its adult size by the first birthday, and 80% by the second birthday.
Multiple studies have shown that infant TV watching is correlated with poor language development
Playing is the most effective way for children to learn life skills and find out what they like.
All babies have a period of peak crying around the gestation age of 46 weeks.
"Parentese”, or baby talk, is seemingly instinctive. Its exaggerated musicality and slow structure helps a baby grasp words.
By kindergarten, a child’s brain has reached its full size but it won’t stop developing until their mid-20s.
60% of all the energy a baby expends is concentrated in the brain.
“Floor time” with a child including talking, singing, reading, playing, and exploring objects and physical space are the best ways to stimulate brain development.
Babies learn what is important to pay attention to by following the eye gaze of adults.
Babies use the facial expressions of adults to decide how they feel.
Newborns can recognise human faces, and can even discriminate between happy and sad expressions.
Newborns to three months are attracted to bright light, primary colours, stripes, dots and patterns.
In the first few months of life, a baby in an English-speaking home can recognise the difference between English and the sounds of a foreign language. This ability is lost by the end of the first year, as the brain is now wired for English.
Warm and loving relationships help children to develop confidence, resilience and communication.
Babies are social creatures. They need to chat, make noise, and be responded to. Talking and gesturing helps kids learn about communication, behaviour and emotions.
A daily routine helps structure a little ones life, and also helps them to prepare for the routine of school and life moving forward.
A preschoolers’ appetite declines because their growth has slowed.
Children mimic their parents' food habits. Parents who drink milk or soft drinks tend to have five-year-old children who like the same drinks.