Not yet in your arms, but already very active, your baby is developing fascinating skills and behaviors in your womb. Thanks to ultrasounds and numerous studies conducted on fetal development, we now know much more about what your baby experiences, feels, and experiences before birth.
SUMMARY:
- Sucking, good training for bottle feeding
- He may already be dreaming (of whom, of what?)
- Your child reacts to your voice and to music too
- It also reacts to light (hello!)
- Those little fetal hiccups you feel so well
- He tastes what you eat (this is the beginning of sharing without counting)
- Baby's breathing in your womb is not what you imagine
- He grimaces (and it's not just a coincidence)
- What if the baby was already crying in utero?
- He explores (with hands and feet)
Sucking, good training for bottle feeding
Between 12 and 14 weeks of pregnancy, babies begin to bring their hands closer to their mouths to suck their thumbs or fingers. This is often one of the first moments of wonder for parents who discover their baby in this tender and familiar position during the first ultrasound.
A gesture of astonishing precision, which can have different functions: participating in the development of hand-mouth coordination, preparing the muscles for post-natal sucking and perhaps also providing a calming effect. However, this emotional and psychological dimension has never yet been truly demonstrated.
Sucking remains, in any case, a way for babies to become familiar with their bodies and to practice feeding themselves, whether from a bottle or breast.
🩷 Baby can suck his thumb from 12 weeks of pregnancy.
By the way, did you know that Élhée has developed a birth bottle that is accepted by the vast majority of babies? Made from healthy medical silicone, this soft and supple bottle can be given from the first day of life.
He may already be dreaming (of whom, of what?)
Baby's sleep/wake cycle quickly becomes out of sync with yours. Their peak activity tends to be between 9 p.m. and midnight, right when you're dreaming of a good night's sleep. (Could this be to prepare you for the months ahead?)
Thus, from the 7th month of pregnancy, his nights include so-called REM (Rapid Eye Movement) phases, characteristic of paradoxical sleep, that of dreams. And even if it is difficult or even impossible to affirm that he is really dreaming, these phases suggest at least, an intense cerebral activity, conducive to the processing of sensations and emotions perceived in utero.
🩷 The fetus already experiences REM sleep, which is conducive to dreams.
Your child reacts to your voice and to music too
Hearing begins to develop as early as the 16th week of pregnancy. At 23 weeks, babies recognize the most familiar voices, such as those of their parents. You may have noticed that when you talk to them, babies respond! In fact, they seem to have a preference for their mother's voice and melodious or classical music.
Future dads, don't be sad; it's because, almost forever, your child has been picking up on the sounds of their mother, their heartbeat, their breathing, their digestion... and of course, the melody of their words at every moment. What could be more reassuring?
🩷 At the end of the second trimester of pregnancy, your child hears you in utero.
It also reacts to light (hello!)
Only a little later, at the 28th week (at the beginning of the 7th month of pregnancy), your baby literally develops superpowers since he is now able to perceive light through the uterine wall.
Of course, it has to be bright, but still: what an achievement! You can try pointing a light source towards your belly to observe your baby's possible reactions and create a unique moment of connection.
🩷 During the third trimester, your baby will see certain flashes of light through your belly.
Those little hiccups that you feel so well
From the second trimester onwards, you may feel your baby hiccuping in your belly, but he or she is not breathing in any air! This very common phenomenon, much appreciated by mothers, is generally linked to the maturation of the diaphragm or the swallowing of amniotic fluid.
As explained in a study published in the journal ScienDirect, fetal hiccups are a sign of normal baby development that can be felt by the mother, as small rhythmic jerks.
🩷 Before birth, babies can already have hiccups!
He tastes what you eat (this is the beginning of sharing without counting)
Very early, around 13 weeks of pregnancy, babies perceive their first tastes. In fact, the amniotic fluid in which they bathe changes flavor depending on what you eat.
Definitely, the diet of the expectant mother influences the preferences of her baby after birth. It is worth noting that this is a particularly early start to food education!
🩷 Taste doesn't wait. Baby can perceive it at the end of the first trimester of pregnancy.
Baby's breathing in your womb is not what you imagine
At the end of pregnancy, during the third trimester, your baby practices real breathing movements, like yours, but without air. It is amniotic fluid that he inhales and exhales, in order to familiarize his body with the exercise and to strengthen muscles and lungs, which will soon be used.
🩷 Baby "breathes" amniotic fluid. He's stronger than freedivers!
He grimaces (and it's no coincidence)
If the morphological ultrasound takes place between the 21st and 24th week of amenorrhea, at roughly the same time, baby begins to work on his best profile! Not that he's trying to pose for the 3D ultrasound, but rather to train his facial muscles for later.
🩷 A fetus is quickly able to move its facial muscles.
What if the baby was already crying in utero?
Around 28 weeks, babies are capable of a "complex behavioral response." Therefore, observations from the Department of Psychology at Princeton University in the United States have been able to highlight some typical signals of crying that babies express from the moment of birth, but which are silent: the mouth opening, the chin trembling and irregular breathing.
🩷 It's hard to know if they're expressing discomfort, but your child is already mimicking crying in your womb.
He explores (with hands and feet)
Very early in pregnancy, your baby begins to move inside your belly. Initially, their movements are slight, but they become increasingly forceful as their muscles develop and space in your belly becomes limited.
So, with his hands, baby touches his face, his umbilical cord, your uterine wall... And around 20 weeks, begins to explore his environment intentionally.
🩷 From the middle of the second trimester, baby voluntarily explores your belly.
Your baby, inside your future mother's womb, is acquiring fascinating and complex behaviors and skills. Every movement, every reaction, and every development is a crucial step in preparing them for life outside the womb. Whether captured during ultrasounds or experienced by parents, they create precious and unique memories. If you'd like to delve deeper into the subject, here are some additional resources:
- The development of fetal sensory development: a medical article published by Dr. Marie-Claude Busnel
- The Contribution of Prenatal Psychology to Our Understanding about Prenatal Dynamics and Fetal Behavior, a study published in the Journal of Psychology Research
- Websites: Brain Research Foundation
Élhée baby bottles will accompany your baby from birth to 24 months and beyond, to allow him perfect autonomy, without risk of breakage.
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