Why curiosity fills the gaps! Your baby's listening and laughing are signs of understanding
Since birth, your baby has been developing their understanding of the social world through interactions with you and other familiar people. They have been particularly interested in other people's facial expressions, talk and movements; they are able to communicate and are active participants in relationships. In short, your baby's brain has been making meaning from what you and other familiar people do.[1]
Curiosity and their contagious laughter
Your baby’s curiosity is developing further and is manifesting itself in a wider range of ways. For example, your baby’s first laugh is a magical moment. Parents often have no trouble remembering it even years later. Happening anywhere from a few weeks old to a few months, those early laughs will very likely be small and subtle – a light and breathy chuckle. A tiny baby can't coordinate the rapid contractions of the intercostal chest muscles required to laugh properly, but the sound is unmistakable nonetheless.[2] There's nothing like it when your baby makes you laugh!
What research tells us about the sounds babies like
Your baby will also give attention to songs you sing or to your talk. Plenty of research has looked at adults’ emotional responses to songs or music. But research with babies is more piecemeal and eclectic, perhaps reflecting the difficulty of asking them what they like. Researchers know that babies can hear and remember rhythm and music, even while they are still in the womb. There is also research to indicate babies prefer the female voice, but like it even more when it takes on the qualities of “motherese” (typically the high-energy singsong tone we all naturally adopt when talking to babies).[2]
Your baby will love 'back and forth' chat
“Motherese”, is also known as infant-directed speech (IDS) or “baby-talk”, referring to the spontaneous way in which mothers, fathers, and caregivers speak with infants and young children. A main quality of this talk is its ‘emotional charge’. IDS has been shown to work in an interactive loop, highlighting the back-and-forth nature of the interaction. Your baby’s presence and responses improve the quality and quantity of your IDS, and in turn, your use of IDS improves your baby’s engagement and reactivity. This has positive implications for your baby’s early socio-cognitive development which is shown by your baby's preference for your voice, engagement and joint attention.[3]
This will enable crisscrossing of emotions and feelings
As your baby grows and experiences many styles of interaction, they will develop their range of ‘emotional literacy’. Emotional life could be largely described as a matter of coordinating ourselves with others, through participating in their states of mind and thereby predicting what they will say and do. When we pay close attention to someone else, the same neurons are activated in our own brain. This enables us to share each other's experience to a certain extent. We can resonate with each other’s feelings. This enables a process of constant mutual influence, crisscrossing from one person to the other all the time.[4]
References:
[1] Zeedyk, S (2012) Babies come into the world already connected to other people. The Science of Human Connection (Online) Available at: www.suzannezeedyk.com
[2] Addyman, C. (2020) The Laughing Baby: The extraordinary science behind what makes babies happy. Unbound.
[3] Saint-Georges, C. Chetouani, M. Cassel, R. Apicella, F. Mahdhaoui, A. Muratori, F. Laznik, M.C. Cohen, D (2013) Motherese in Interaction: At the Cross-Road of Emotion and Cognition? (A Systematic Review) https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0078103
[4] Gerhardt, S (2004) Why love matters; how affection shapes a baby’s brain. Routledge.