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survivorboi · Jan 18, 2009, 01:36 PM

I don't know if I ask this in the right category. My friend's mom just got a new baby.Now, he is 2 weeks old. The other day, I went their house and saw that the baby was looking at the TV. What is he thinking? Can he make out the pictures and all that?

What goes on in a baby's head when you talk to it? How about when you get mad at the baby? Can the baby recognize between mad tone and happy tone?

NAPALMFACE · Jan 19, 2009, 07:56 AM

Let me answer this question by asking, does this infant have a tail? An infant has more synapses processing information than you and I put together! And yes they can and always do study the nuances in someones' tone of voice - we do it all the time. It is part of your survival instinct. A child start developing this from birth until the age of 6. Everything they will need to know in order to survive will be learned from their surroundings by then. Some adults like myself can recall things from as far back as two or three years old. While other cannot remember things prior to grammar school. Science has shown that the link that defines how advance a child will be as an adult academically speaking is found in how much mental stimuli then receive as toddlers. Language is akin to the development of social skills, as mathematics is akin to Einstein. In my home 3 languages were always spoken when I was growing up. I still have my test score done by the board of education - 125 IQ in the eighth grade. I gave you your answer - it is up to you how far you wish for this child to advance in life...

GirlWSlingshot · Jan 19, 2009, 09:30 AM

I have been asking myself that question for the last 16 months. (I have a 16 month old son.) It's incredible to think that the tiny squalling infant that is entirely dependent on benevolent adults will one day grow up to be one of those adults.

But for your more specific questions, at two weeks old the range of clear eyesight is about the distance to their mother's face as they nurse. That's about all they can make out. But I think at that stage the flashing colors (even though I think they can still only see black, white and red at that point) and lights of a television screen are distracting.

So at two weeks old, lots of quiet sing songy games at close range are about their speed. I used to put my son in his little vibrating chair and perform show tunes for him when he got fussy. The sound of my voice seemed to calm him. And remarkably enough, even in full toddler tantrum mode, there are still certain songs that quiet him right down if he's upset.

Babies definitely pick up on tones in voices and general moods in the atmosphere. There was a lot of anger and fear in our home for the first few months of his life. I tried to keep things calm around him but he picked up on the tension in the house and cried all the time when his dad was home. But once we left that environment and I was able to keep things around him peaceful, a lot of his constant crying ceased. He became a much more content baby. But he still picks up on every shift of mood around him so I have to be very careful about keeping my demeanor calm and collected in his presence. Children pick up on so much, long before we would give them credit for understanding.

survivorboi · Jan 19, 2009, 02:07 PM

So baby do watch TV? Or TV just distracts them? Do babies feel nervous? Lets say the baby is with his/her parents, then the parents friend comes by, is the baby a bit curious and nervous at 5 weeks old? The baby I was talking about can't even roll, all it does is lay on its back. It can't sit straight at all...