More Information
Cry-sis (www.cry-sis.org.uk). Help and support for parents of excessively crying, sleepless and demanding babies. Helpline: 08451 228 669 (open 7 days a week 9am-10pm)
Further reading
The Baby in the Mirror: A Child’s World from Birth to Three (2009) by Charles Fernyhough
The Psychology of Babies: How Relationships Support Development from Birth to Two (2014) by Lynne Murray
Early Days
Both marking and mirroring are do unconsciously – try watching someone interacting with their baby and it is likely that you will soon notice both happening. These unthinking and automatic responses are the start of a lifetime of conversations.
The developmental psychologist Charles Fernyhough describes the early exchanges between babies and adults beautifully: “those sophisticated, emotionally rich wordless ‘conversations’, exchanges of smiles and happy vocalisations….follow the same turns of turn-taking as later linguistic exchanges – and for that matter the rules of love. I smile and you smile back – it’s how getting to know you begins”
Every baby is a unique individual and will respond in their own way to the interactions they have with their parents. For instance some babies will prefer more low-key exchanges because they have a very low threshold to stimulation and are highly sensitive to any changes in their surroundings.
As the developmental psychologist Lynne Murray puts it in her excellent book ‘The Psychology of Babies’ “unique patterns of mutual responsiveness are gradually built up between parent and baby which become more predictable and settled over time.”
By around three to four months, a baby has, in the words of Lynne Murray, “become a sophisticated social partner.” At around this time, in the usual course of development, a baby’s vision improves, as does her ability to reach out and touch things.
It is at this point that a baby starts to become interested in objects as well as people. Parents, again unthinkingly, start to incorporate objects into their interactions with their babies and to play physical games such as tickling and ‘round and round the garden.’ An exciting new stage of a baby’s life – and his communication with the people who love him – has begun.
Imitation in the early days
Even newborns are capable of imitating adults, for instance through mouth movements like sticking out their tongues or opening their mouths, facial grimaces or finger movements.
However very young babies will not necessarily imitate to order. It depends on whether they are alert, interested and in the right surroundings. It has also been shown that some tiny babies (like monkeys) have more of a tendency to imitate than others. So it should not be a cause of concern at this stage if your baby does not copy your actions.
As a baby develops and becomes capable of new behaviours such as vocalising or reaching for objects, his interest will shift to imitating these. A baby’s ability to imitate becomes increasingly sophisticated over time as his communication skills and social understanding grows.
Social animals cont.