That can result in both cognitive stunting – that is, the child is delayed from a developmental point of view – but also from the physical point of view.” “A baby will get all the nutritional needs they need from breastmilk and we say that it’s really important for mothers to try to breastfeed.Īfter that, that’s when there’s a danger period for some children in some countries where there’s food insecurity, where the quality, the diversity isn’t there, where there isn’t enough food to put on the table. How does nutrition affect brain development? So there are lots of reasons why music is good for young children. So if parents want to introduce music into the household, that’s a great idea because as parents calm as they enjoy the music, that feeling is passed onto their infant and they’ll be calm as well. On the other hand, it certainly doesn’t hurt. There’s no real evidence that babies listening to classical music makes them more intelligent. “For some time, a number of years ago, it was thought that babies being exposed to classical music made them smarter. So they get into that predictable pattern of being awake for longer periods of time, engaging and interacting with their parents and caretakers and the world around them, and then falling asleep again.”Ĭan a baby’s brain be stimulated while it’s still in the womb? So they sleep in bursts of three or four hours usually, wake up to have a feed and then go back to sleep.Īs their brain develops, there are reasons for them not to sleep because there are things to be curious about they’re engaging with their world, parents are talking to them, reading to them. “Babies don’t know that the norm is to sleep at night-time and be awake during the day. Hi, my name is Professor Frank Oberklaid and this is my Mini Parenting Master Class.” You’ve asked me lots of questions that many parents have about their young child growing up and I’m here to answer them. “Did you know that your baby is developing memory from as young as two or three weeks of age?Ī baby as young as two or three weeks will remember your smell. Transcript of '7 questions about babies every new parents asks: Mini Parenting Master Class' video