What do babies think about in the early stages of development?

Scientists and researchers have long been fascinated by whether infants can understand and make sense of the world around them, given their limited ability to communicate or express their thoughts. 

What do babies think about as they encounter new experiences? Understanding how babies perceive, interpret, and respond to their environment is essential for understanding cognitive and sensory development.

To explore this, researchers use behavioral observation, habituation, and preferential looking to track how infants react to stimuli based on their developing senses. Neuroimaging and eye-tracking also help monitor how babies' brains and visual attention develop in response to sensory input. 

It’s all so fascinating! Read on to learn more about the sensory and emotional cues babies are aware of, what sense develops first, and at what point your newborn starts seeing and hearing you.

What babies are aware of: Sensory and emotional cues

Babies are born with all five senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. However, some of the senses are not fully developed. 

Sensory-wise, babies can detect a wide range of stimuli. For example, they can hear their caregivers' voices and recognize familiar scents. Their emotional awareness is also keen, which is why babies can pick up on tone of voice and body language and respond to these cues by feeling comforted or distressed.

What’s the first sense a baby develops?

The sense of touch is the first to develop in a baby, starting around seven weeks of pregnancy. At this early stage, the skin begins to form, and nerve endings start to develop, allowing the fetus to respond to touch stimuli. By the time the baby is born, its sense of touch is already highly sensitive, enabling them to feel warmth, cold, pressure, and pain. 

This sensitivity also plays a vital role in emotional and cognitive development. For instance, early tactile experiences, like being held or gently stroked, foster bonding with caregivers and help to create a sense of safety and security. At the same time, skin-to-skin contact immediately after birth promotes the release of oxytocin, which supports brain development and enhances cognitive processes such as memory and emotional regulation.

As a result, the sense of touch lays the foundation for a baby’s physical, emotional, and cognitive development, shaping how they engage with and understand the world.

When do newborns start seeing and hearing?

Newborns start seeing and hearing from the moment they are born. However, like other senses (besides touch), they are not fully developed at this stage. For context, a baby’s vision is blurry at birth and can only focus on objects within a range of 8 to 10 inches, which is typically the distance between a mother's face and her baby when they are being held.

This close-range vision is ideal for bonding, allowing babies to focus on their caregiver's face during feeding and early interactions. 

By the second to third month, babies start to improve their ability to track moving objects and show more coordination in their eye movements. However, their eyes may still appear crossed or uncoordinated at times.

By the sixth month, babies’ visual acuity has drastically improved. They can recognize faces, see objects in greater detail, and perceive colors better.

By the time they reach 2 to 3 years, most children’s vision has fully matured. They typically achieve a 20/20 vision standard, meaning they can see objects clearly at the same distance as an average adult.

In comparison, newborn ears are functional at birth, can recognize their mother’s voice, and even respond to familiar voices, music, and other sounds they heard in the womb. This is why babies smile in response to certain voices when spoken to or quiet down if crying.

By the second to third month, babies can orient their heads or eyes toward a sound source. Around the fourth to the sixth month, babies start repeating sounds (babbling) they hear in their environment and experimenting with vocalizations, such as “ba-ba,”  “ooh,” “aah,” and  “da-da.”

Between the seventh month and one year, a child can fully respond to their own name or the sound of a phone ringing, even at a low volume. They also know words for everyday things, such as “cup” or “shoe,” and respond to requests such as “come here.”

When do newborns become more alert?

Newborns develop alertness and responsiveness gradually, with noticeable changes through the first few months. 

In the first few weeks, babies sleep most of the day and are only awake for brief periods, typically for feeding or basic interactions. However, their alertness increases around 3 to 4 weeks as they focus on faces and track moving objects, responding more actively to visual and auditory stimuli. At this stage, babies also show early signs of social responsiveness, such as reacting to familiar voices and engaging with caregivers through eye contact.

By 6 to 8 weeks, babies become more consistently awake and alert. They respond more intentionally to social cues by smiling, cooing, and expressing emotions through body language.

As they approach 2 to 3 months, newborns’ responsiveness expands further, with more active interactions, such as reaching for objects, showing curiosity about their environment, and communicating through sounds or movements.

What babies think about in the early months

While it's difficult to know precisely what babies think, we can infer a lot about their cognitive and emotional states based on their behavior and developmental milestones. Here's a general idea of what babies might be thinking about during their first few months.

What do babies think about?

In the earliest months, babies’ thoughts primarily focus on fulfilling immediate needs, such as hunger, comfort, sleep, and responding to sensory input. When they feel hungry, tired, or uncomfortable, they signal these needs through crying or other cues, and their primary focus is on getting relief, whether through feeding, being held, or falling asleep. 

At the same time, babies absorb sensory information from their environment: touch, sound, sight, and smell, and they learn to make sense of the world around them. When babies feel the warmth of their caregiver’s body or hear a familiar voice, they start to associate these sensory experiences with comfort and security. 

Over time, this helps babies form the mental frameworks they need to interpret more complex stimuli and eventually understand that their actions can affect their surroundings.

What do toddlers think about?

As babies transition to toddlers (around 12 to 36 months), their thoughts evolve significantly, shifting from reflexive behaviors to more purposeful actions. They begin to explore with purpose, such as pushing buttons, stacking blocks, or intentionally seeking out a caregiver for attention or comfort. 

This shift allows them to reach for a toy not just because it's within reach but because they specifically want to play with it. They might also point at something to get an adult’s attention, signaling a shift toward goal-directed behavior.

Emotionally, toddlers start to develop a deeper understanding of their own and others' emotions. They react to a caregiver’s facial expression, tone of voice, or behavior, beginning to empathize with and respond emotionally to those around them. At this stage, toddlers may engage in simple forms of imitation, copying the actions of adults or older children, which helps them learn and make sense of social norms and expectations.

They may show a preference for certain people and become more attached to their caregivers, seeking comfort when distressed. This emotional connection strengthens as toddlers start to engage in more purposeful bonding behaviors, like hugging, comforting a peer who is upset, sharing a toy, or trying to get their caregiver’s attention to share a moment of joy or to seek reassurance.

Exploring actions and reactions

Why does my 3-month-old kick so much?

At three months, your baby is in the early stages of motor development, and kicking is an excellent way to strengthen their legs and improve coordination. Babies still have primitive reflexes like the Moro reflex (a startle reflex) or the stepping reflex, which persist into the first few months of life. These reflexes help babies develop coordination and strength as they prepare for more purposeful movement later on.

Why do newborns move their arms so much?

At birth, newborns learn to coordinate and control their bodies, so their arm movements are often uncoordinated and may appear jerky or random. These movements are mainly driven by primitive reflexes, such as the Moro reflex (a startle response) and the grasp reflex, where babies instinctively move their arms or hands when they feel a sudden sensation or touch.

These reflexes are necessary for survival, such as throwing their arms out suddenly when they feel like they are falling, instinctively reaching for a caregiver when startled, or grasping objects for safety.

In addition to reflexes, arm movements are part of babies’ early sensory exploration. They connect their physical movements with the sensory feedback they receive. For instance, newborns are discovering how far their arms can stretch, what happens when they touch or grasp objects, and how their actions elicit responses from their environment.

Why do babies throw things or make repetitive actions?

When babies throw or drop objects, they begin to learn that things fall or move in certain ways, which helps them understand gravity. These behaviors also allow them to explore how different actions produce specific outcomes, such as hearing a sound when a toy hits the floor or watching an object move. 

Conversely, repetitive actions strengthen motor skills, such as hand-eye coordination and muscle control, which are vital for later milestones. Throwing objects helps babies begin to understand object permanence, learning that things still exist even when out of sight. These behaviors provide valuable sensory feedback, allowing babies to explore objects’ weight, texture, and motion while helping them test their growing sense of control and autonomy.

What do babies think about? Key takeaways on infant perception

At birth, babies are already absorbing the world through their senses. What do babies think about as they experience their surroundings? Their early perceptions shape how they understand and interact with their environment. While newborns have all five senses, they are not yet fully developed. Here’s a quick recap of how the senses develop in infants and how they affect cognition and development:

• Vision is the least developed sense organ at birth, with babies able to focus only on objects about 8 to 10 inches away.
• Touch is the most developed sense organ, providing babies with immediate sensory experiences.
• As newborns grow and transition to toddlers (12 to 36 months), they shift from reflexive behaviors to more purposeful actions. They learn to interact with their environment through exploration, cause-and-effect, and early social interactions. 
• Babies develop an understanding of their world by engaging their senses, strengthening their motor skills, and forming emotional connections with caregivers. This is the foundation of early social and cognitive development.

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