These days the kids are really fast in achieving every milestone. And the same holds for development of parent recognition. Kids as small as 5 months like to stay with their mothers only. I was shocked to see the behavior of my sister in law's 5 month old son. She had gone for some errands and had left him behind. For the whole one hour he kept yelling at the top of his voice. As soon as she came back he stopped crying as if nothing had happened. He developed parent recognition and stranger anxiety pretty early. Isn't it?
I believe that 5 months is the time when the baby becomes aware of the environment. And that awareness begins with the person close to the baby, can be the parent, sibling or caretaker. The voice is the easiest to be recognized and next is the face then the odor.
I thought children only start recognizing their parents or mother when they can already walk, lol. I didn't know infants can already discern who their parents are at such a young age.
One of the most precious things to behold is when a baby's face creases into such a beautiful smile at the sight of the mother's face. Their faces exudes so much joy and happiness and they gurgle and wave their tiny chubby hands in delight. I can watch them do this for hours. So beautiful.
Yes, I guess at about five or six months, babies could already recognize their main 'caregiver', and would go berserk when handed or held by someone new or unfamiliar to them. My niece was about that age when we visited her summer of this year and she would always cry out loud when I tried to hold her. She's already a year old now and I'm excited to see her this holiday season. Her mom said she already allows other people to carry her and added that to make it easier, one has to give her chocolate or biscuits, haha.
Ah, that is indeed so wonderful to watch, so mesmerizing. Makes all the difficulties bearable at the end of the day. I miss those days... babies are such angels.
There is a bond between the baby and the mother right from the womb. Infants start recognizing their mother much earlier than many people think, its almost instinctive. You will see an infant crying when in someone else's hands but when the real mother picks it up, everything changes.
I totally agree with you, @remnant on the instict of a baby. Truly, how do they recognize their mom when they haven't seen her in person? Instinct is the best explanation.
I agree with this. Even after they are first born they gaze intently into their mother's eyes. I remember when feeding my son he would break off and stare at me intently. They also recognise the mother's smell and touch .. my son was more attached to me than my daughter in the early months. He didn't like to be with anyone else even though I fed them both myself but she was quite comfortable with other people.
The same is the case with my nephew. He is only 7 months old and recognizes his mother so well. He refuses to play when his mother is not around. If he does not see his mother then he would cry out aloud and keep howling loudly.
It is not impossible. An infant unknowingly could recognize his mother for he's used to be with her being nourished and nurtured. As the the behavior or a 5-month old child, it is his nature to be dependent from her mother. He feels being left behind when he couldn't see his mother around even a minute or an hour. But that would be not a problem. It is just a feeling of dependency. However, when he is preoccupied to do things of his liking he won't be able to long for the presence of his mother. Again, it is natural part of the child's growing up or stages of development.
Yes, you're right. It's a natural part of growing up. Eventually, the baby learns to recognize other people and would remember them according to how frequent he/she sees the person. If he/she often sees the person, then trust can be established. The baby does depend on the mother for nurture and care so it is but normal that the baby would not want to be away from her.
I think a baby can recognize the mom much earlier than that, but when they are about 5 months old, they started to recognize other people. I am not sure if it's because I was breastfeeding my kids, so since they were new born babies, they felt more secured and comfortable when I was holding them, as compared to other people. They calmed down much easily when I was with them. I think even newborn baby can sense the connection with mom, as they have been in the womb for months.
Exactly, @kaka135. Babies literally spent nine months "attached" to their moms when they were in the womb so I'm sure they had sufficient knowledge about their mothers even when they were already outside the womb. Babies are also able to differentiate their moms' smell as compared to others. And since they are in contact with each other everyday, especially for those who are breastfed, they are able to retain a clear image of their moms' face.
I know Tallulah! Even I can watch a baby for hours while it is with his mother. In fact, I used to leave my chores aside and spend hours with my son just for the look on his face when I was with him. I think that expression and smile is the most beautiful thing in the world.
True. Most of the babies develop separation anxiety very soon. They start feeling insecure immediately after they sense a change in their surroundings. This kind of behavioral pattern was witnessed after a year but these days all the kids are over smart and achieving all the milestones very quickly.
Yes, I do think so, too. It seems that babies these days are also keeping up with the hi-tech life, haha. They're adjusting faster and some have reached milestones earlier than other kids.
I would have to agree and think it is pretty much right away or if not close enough to it. I would be curious to see if there is any sort of number attributed to it or studies, but even then not too sure.
Yes, this has proved true in a recent couple of years. Maybe, kids get exposure to the high tech world very soon. This is the reason why they develop corresponding senses and instincts. But. I really feel happy to see kids getting smarter day by day.
In this competitive world every parent desires an oversmart kid. It might sound unpleasant but it is true that none of the parent will accept a medium child who does not excel in one field or the other.
I found a report from the Parenting Science webpage indicating studies on babies entitled "The social abilities of newborns" and it says a baby can already recognize its mother's face in as early as 12 to 36 hours. Here's a link to the report: https://www.parentingscience.com/newborns-and-the-social-world.html
I agree with the report. The baby can very well recognize his mother soon after birth. They start relating to the feel smell of their mother and feel of their hands. When to comes to facial recognition of the mother then it comes after 6 months.
I am not sure, but I guess they can recognize their mother even faster than that. I have seen 3 months baby stop crying suddenly when their mother take them. And they start crying again when other people take them again. So its not with just eyes, they can also recognize their mother by touch and voice. I have seen some baby stop crying just by hearing their mother's voice. So its kind of natural thing as they are hearing their mom's voice since they are in tummy of their mom.
Yes, I'm sure infants recognize their moms even before six months. If I may just add, they also recognize their moms through smell.
For sure. Even I have heard that they can recognize their mother by smell. Sometimes it feels really wonderful seeing baby's act with his/her mother. It feels really amazed seeing baby recognizing their mother in different ways.