Yes. Familiar smells, especially those of Mom or Dad, can be very comforting for your baby. As well as being able to tell when you're nearby, your baby can sense whether they're in their stroller, the car, or a particular room at home just by using their sense of smell.
They recognize people, places and things by their scent.
That means that when you hold your baby or enter their room, they may recognize you not by how you look, but how you smell.
It is normal for your baby to become distressed when they are separated from you. Others may also notice that when you leave the room, they look around anxiously or seem to want help . If you do leave your baby to be cared for by someone else, say goodbye and go while they're watching.
Here's a wild fact: Your days-old newborn baby will be able to recognize you, Mom, simply by the smell of your skin. What's more, the foods you eat while you're expecting can affect not only your developing baby's sense of taste, but also her sense of smell.
“From birth, infants pick up on emotional cues from others. Even very young infants look to caregivers to determine how to react to a given situation,” says Jennifer E. Lansford, PhD, a professor with the Social Science Research Institute and the Center for Child and Family Policy at Duke University.
From your smell and voice, your baby will quickly learn to recognise you're the person who comforts and feeds them most, but not that you're their parent. However, even from birth, your baby will start to communicate with signals when they're tired and hungry, or awake and alert.
And babies don't just detect our tension. They are negatively affected by it. It's one more reason to look after your own well-being, and calm down before interacting with your child.
But it turns out, that intense closeness is critical well past the first few months of a child's life. Babies need it for the first three years — especially from their mothers. Several years ago, psychoanalyst and parenting expert Erica Komisar started noticing a trend among American families.
Differentiation Phase. This phase begins somewhere around four to five months of age. Up until that point, the young infant has enjoyed a very symbiotic relationship with her mother, which simply means that she has experienced her mother for the most part as simply an extension of herself.
But did you know that they're also receiving chemical, hormonal signals through the placenta? These signals include ones connected directly to your emotional state. If you're very sad, or suffering from depression, your baby experiences those feelings as well.
Understanding newborn bonding behaviour
Your newborn baby uses body language to show you when they want to connect with you and strengthen the bond between you. For example, your baby might: smile at you or make eye contact. make little noises, like coos or laughs.
Young babies don't understand time, so they think a parent who walks out of the room is gone forever. They have not yet developed the idea that a hidden object is still there (object permanence). Babies can become anxious and fearful when a parent leaves their sight.
“Most babies develop a preference for their mother within 2 to 4 months of age. From birth, the combination of sight, smell, and sound likely all help babies distinguish their mother from others.
A parent's scent alone has the ability to reduce cortisol levels in babies, in turn reducing stress and anxiety, helping to promote longer, more sound sleep (for both the baby and parent). The feeling of a parent being nearby will as a result make babies feel content.
And there staring is their way to communicate. Babies can't quite interact yet for the first few months, so their staring is their way of communicating with you. A baby looking zoned out may be a way of communicating that they are sleepy.
They smile at you.
The first time your baby gives you a true grin is a magical moment. It's their way of saying "I love you." Most babies will smile back if you smile at them by the time they're two months; by four months, they'll smile to get your attention, which is somehow even more adorable.
A study showed that babies and toddlers tend to prefer their moms because they spend more time with them. Of course, this isn't always the case, but it certainly rings true for many families. Simply put, primary caregivers are around more often, so they're automatically thrust into the role of the go-to parent.
Months 2 to 4: Your baby will start to recognize her primary caregivers' faces, and by the 4-month mark, she'll recognize familiar faces and objects from a distance.
It's your voice Baby knows best — having heard it far more clearly than any other sound during his uterine stay (Dad's voice was muffled, yours was amplified). It's your scent that Baby is most familiar with, and when it comes to the smell of your breast milk, most attracted to.
Myth: Babies who have been breastfed are clingy.
Breastfeeding provides not only the best nutrition for infants, but is also important for their developing brain. Breastfed babies are held a lot and because of this, breastfeeding has been shown to enhance bonding with their mother.
If your child starts crying as soon as you kiss or hug your partner, it is definitely a sign that your child wants more attention. This doesn't necessarily mean that you aren't giving your child enough attention already.
Showing Your Baby Physical Affection Teaches Them Empathy
This in turn can help them relate as well as interact better with those around them. Kissing your baby is not just about building that unique relationship between mom and baby. It's more than that. It helps the baby pursue a unique personality and demeanor.
Horvitz gives another example: “Babies can store memories as a sequence of reactions,” she says. “They may tense when they see their caregiver's face move a certain way like how it did before yelling; or they may learn not to cry or to stay quiet while in distress due to the punishment of repeated yelling.”
Baby may start to know when their father is touching mom's belly. Babies can sense touch from anyone, but they can also sense when touch (and voice) is familiar. And by 24 weeks into pregnancy, dad can usually feel baby kick – but the exact time varies.
Between 4–7 months of age, babies develop a sense of "object permanence." They're realizing that things and people exist even when they're out of sight. Babies learn that when they can't see their caregiver, that means they've gone away.