Newborn communication skills
At birth, the parts of a baby’s brain responsible for thought, memory and movement are not very well developed. Unlike other animals that can walk as soon as they’re born, human infants are completely dependent on their parents.
Your role as a parent is 24-hour caterer, cleaner and carer. Don’t expect much conversation or a thank you card.
But you will get to watch your child develop and respond to your touch and your voice, as well as to sights and sounds all around. This can feel like the most amazing thing in the world.
Crying
Most of your newborn’s communication with you is about basic needs – sleeping and eating. Crying is a newborn’s way of telling you what’s needed. Newborns cry when they:
- have wind
- are hungry, tired, too hot or cold, uncomfortable or sick
- need their nappy changed
- need to feel secure.
Sometimes – and in some cases, often – babies cry for no apparent reason.
Newborns don’t cry just to annoy or upset you – they can’t help it. Understanding why your baby is crying adds the role of ‘interpreter’ to your job as a parent.
Body language
Newborns also communicate through movement. A baby will tense up if uncomfortable or fall into a comfortable shape in your arms when relaxed.
Newborns are very responsive to your calming touch. Cuddles and physical affection are as important as food for making a baby grow.
How newborns see the world
Vision is one of a newborn’s major sources of information about the world. This means that babies spend most of their awake-time trying to look at things.
At this age, the distance between mother’s face and baby’s head during breastfeeding is the best distance for baby to see things. Your baby might sometimes appear to be cross-eyed. This is because baby’s eye muscles still need to strengthen.
Although images are still unclear, newborns can recognise faces, see facial expressions and recognise voices. In fact, young babies are interested in faces and voices and will look towards them from birth. Movement and bright contrasts are easiest to see.
As weeks go by, babies gain more control over their facial expressions. Watching you smile while talking, and observing your facial expressions, will help your baby learn how to do the same to communicate.
Video:
Bonding
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20mb
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In this short video, parents share their experiences of bonding and connecting with their newborns. These mums and dads describe the joy that came with watching their babies respond to their touch and voice.
Some parents also talk about the experience of not feeling an instant connection. They discuss how that bond came later, as they learned more about communicating with their baby.
