October 14, 2021

7 sensory development facts that will blow your mind!

*This is a collaborative post*

Did you know that your sense of smell can be linked to your emotions? That’s just one of the fascinating facts about sensory development. Sensory development is an essential part of human development. Understanding it will help you better understand yourself, your baby, and those around you.

Autism

Did you know that children with autism have a more acute sense of smell? This is because they are less likely to block out smells from their environment. It’s been found that those on the spectrum will often avoid things like perfume or other scented products, as it can be too intense for them. At the same time, this heightened sensitivity gives some people with autism a leg up in certain situations where scent detection is important such as cooking.

Photo by RODNAE Productions from Pexels

It All Works Together

Another interesting fact about sensory development has to do with your senses working together. Your brain actually uses all five different senses at once when processing information. Thus, making each experience even richer and fuller than it already is just by itself. For healthy sensory development to take place, though, everything needs to be working together. For example, suppose your child is sensitive to touch and easily overwhelmed by stimuli such as loud noises or bright lights. In that case, it will make their senses work against them instead of with each other.

The Nose Know

Did you know that the sense of smell can also determine whether a person will enjoy certain foods? According to some studies done on mice (who have nearly identical sensory systems like humans), those who had their sense of smell blocked enjoyed sweet tastes more than bitter ones compared to those who didn’t block their olfactory senses at all. This indicates that this particular type of learning happens through our noses, not our mouths. Other research has shown that babies prefer breast milk over formula because they can smell the different ingredients in breast milk.

Your Baby’s Eyes

What do babies see? Not much until they’re ready for it. At birth, a newborns’ visual acuity ranges from 20/400 to 20/100. Meaning a baby could recognize mom from 40 feet away, but it would be harder for them to see details up close.

Look Whos Talking

Babies hear all the time, not just when you think they do. In fact, babies can start learning about their language as early as in utero by listening to the sounds of your voice and other conversations around them. By six months of age, most infants will respond differently to familiar vs. unfamiliar voices. Many even have some basic understanding of conversation structure.

The Louder The Better

Newborns love loud noises. They may cry in response, but inside, their little brains are actually enjoying all that auditory stimulation. So just wait until you have a toddler who loves music so much he wants to hear it played at concert levels. And be sure not to miss hearing those first words spoken by your preschooler. She’s been practicing them since infancy while listening to children’s songs during car rides with mommy or daddy.

Abolish White Noise

Imagine you were surrounded by a room of constant white noise. It would be very difficult for you to focus on anything else, right? Well, babies also have this problem because their ears are always open, and new stimuli are constantly entering the brain. Which means they can get overwhelmed easily. This is why it’s essential to create environments with lots of fascinating sights, smells, and textures For Your Little One when they start crawling or walking. Being tuned in will help them learn more quickly through all five senses.