The fetus may be aware of the body, for example by perceiving pain. It reacts to touch, smell, and sound, and shows facial expressions responding to external stimuli. However, these reactions are probably preprogrammed and have a subcortical nonconscious origin.
The most important information about the development of fetuses is when they become conscious or aware, or when they become able to feel anything. Scientific evidence suggests consciousness likely emerges, at the earliest, after the first trimester, at least three or four months into pregnancy.
New research shows that babies display glimmers of consciousness and memory as early as 5 months old. For decades, neuroscientists have been searching for an unmistakable signal of consciousness in electrical brain activity.
Some scientists even believe that fetuses dream while they're sleeping. Just like babies after birth, they probably dream about what they know: the sensations they feel in the womb.
Research has shown that, during pregnancy, your baby feels what you feel—and with the same intensity. That means if you're crying, your baby feels the same emotion, as if it's their own.
Studies have shown that infants as young as one month-old sense when a parent is depressed or angry and are affected by the parent's mood. Understanding that even infants are affected by adult emotions can help parents do their best in supporting their child's healthy development.
The current consensus is that infants are thinking all the time, busy trying to make sense of the world around them from the moment they emerge from the womb. "Babies are little experimenters," says Susan Hespos, Ph. D., a cognitive psychologist at Northwestern University, in Evanston, Illinois.
As a newborn, babies have no sense of themselves as individuals. Your baby thinks that the two of you are one and doesn't realize that the tiny hands and feet waving before them are their own.
According to Dr. Radford, “While we don't know for sure if babies in the womb dream, we know that their sleep patterns include REM sleep, which is when we dream, so it is likely that babies do dream in utero.”
The baby is well-protected in the uterus, and even a hard sneeze will not affect the baby.
Babies can't cry out loud of course until they're born. In the womb, babies are totally immersed in amniotic fluid, so there is no air in the lungs and air is needed to produce sounds. Once they are born they can fully expand their lungs, taking in air and letting out those first few wonderful cries.
But when a mother laughs, says Als, ultrasound images show that “the baby kind of trampoline bounces.” When she laughs harder, the baby bounces even more exuberantly. “It's fascinating,” she says. “There's such an interaction between mother and child on all levels.”
Sleeping for at least seven to eight hours is important for the health of the mother and the baby. Disrupted maternal sleep is often associated with poor pregnancy outcomes like preterm babies, growth restrictions and more. However, oversleeping can also have a detrimental impact on the health of the child.
This is often put down to distraction and being busy during the day, but that may not be the whole story. A number of ultrasound and animal studies have shown that the fetus has a circadian pattern that involves increased movement in the evening, and this is likely to reflect normal development.”
Most babies naturally prefer the parent who's their primary caregiver, the person they count on to meet their most basic and essential needs. This is especially true after 6 months when separation anxiety starts to set in.
Studies show that, from the womb, babies respond to their own mom's voice differently than they do to other voices — their heartbeats accelerate, showing they're more attentive, more alert, more in tune with the sound of Mom.
When do babies recognize their father or mother? Babies can recognize their parents pretty early actually – as young as 4 days old. By making eye contact with your baby during feeding times, cuddle sessions and throughout the day, you're helping your child memorize your face and learn to trust you.
In short, yes: Babies do feel love. Even though it will be quite a while before they're able to verbalize their feelings, they can and do understand emotional attachment.
Inner monologue is common, but it's not a part of being human. Some people do not process life in words and sentences. Studies show that children as young as 18 to 21 months of age can use some form of inner phonetics. Also, kids as young as 5 to 7 years can utilize an inner voice.
However, while they may not think like an older person, babies think from the time they are born. These first thoughts, called protothoughts, are based on sensations, as children this young are not capable of specifying everything they perceive with words or images.
Fetal movements typically increase when the mother is hungry, reflecting lowered blood sugar levels in the mother and fetus. This is similar to the increased activity of most animals when they are seeking food, followed by a period of quietness when they are fed.
Even when the baby is in the womb, it starts to recognize the mother's mood, voice, laughter, etc. The baby also learns to distinctly recognize mother's laughter and your laughing and being joyful promotes a sense of calmness in the baby.
When you feel happy and calm, it allows your baby to develop in a happy, calm environment. However, emotions like stress and anxiety can increase particular hormones in your body, which can affect your baby's developing body and brain.