A Baby’s Smile
Posted by Danielle Bean in Family on Sunday, July 20, 2008 11:42 PM
I saw this article about mothers’ responses to their babies’ smiles linked up a few different places around the internet last week.
Like most moms, I LOVE this stuff.
“Science may have confirmed what most moms already know: When a woman sees her baby smile, certain areas of her brain activate, stimulating happy feelings.”
*snip*
When the mothers saw photos of their own baby’s face, an extensive brain network was activated, according to the study. But, it was when mothers saw their own infant’s happy face that the dopaminergic reward system in particular was activated. This system was not activated when mothers saw their own children looking either sad or neutral.
This is the kind of parenting science I can really appreciate. Don’t tell me, Mr. Scientist, about all the ways a mother can unintentionally mess up her kid for life by serving him juice in a plastic cup or failing to expose him to French, German, Spanish, and Mozart by the age of 6 months.
Tell me instead, Mr. Scientist, that God does indeed have a plan for mothers and their babies. And further tell me that following that plan need not be complicated. Prove to me that the kinds of things most mothers naturally do with their babies are good for them and that human babies are pre-programmed to reward and reinforce motherly behaviors that benefit them. Tell me that.
This smiling study reminded me of “Motherese” that I read about in college child development courses. You know Motherese, don’t you? It’s a term for the sing-songy, high pitched, repetitive way most mothers talk to their babies.
It turns out that the kind of “baby talk” that comes naturally to most mothers is actually very good for their babies’ speech development. In fact, it “exaggerates the acoustic components that are exactly the dimensions that the baby needs to pay attention to in order to form the maps for speech.”
Like I said, I LOVE this stuff. Motherhood is complicated and challenging enough. Don’t tell us what we’re doing wrong. Tell us what we’re doing right and how good it is for our babies.
And while you’re at it, remind us that our babies will reward us for doing all the right things with something as emotionally and hormonally stimulating as a sweet and gummy smile.
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