A different side to your baby's memory

Have you noticed that your baby remembers how to do things? This is one aspect of their ever-increasing memory skills. 

Defining memory

Memory involves the processes that help us to encode, store and retrieve information. There are different types of memory – from implicit (information that's remembered unconsciously and effortlessly) to declarative (which involves our ability to recall factual information, like words dates and events) to name just a couple.

Researchers think that babies might remember more than they can show us, but for now you might be noticing something called their procedural memory.  

This is your baby starting to show the things that they remember through their actions. 

Procedural memory involves the things that we remember but cannot easily describe. So, for example, we know the process of making a cup of tea, or for your baby, the process of bathtime, but we do not describe it as a particular memory.  

As you watch your baby you might notice now that, through their actions, they are beginning to show you more of what they can remember using their procedural memory.