Ahhhh, the smell of a new baby. Close your eyes (or just sniff if your baby is in front of you!) and enjoy that amazing, yummy, delicious smell. When your children are a little older, don’t be surprised if they spontaneously tell you that they love the way you smell! Sometimes, the root of baby & toddler special objects has its root in mommy’s smell. Without even knowing it, we’re drawn to our children and they are drawn to us in many ways through smell. Sometimes the baby smell isn’t so wonderful—we all know that—but we’ll leave that out of this post and save it for a later baby care topic. :)
Smell and taste are very closely related. Babies prefer sweet tastes and smells to bitter or sour ones. This is one of those amazing natural ways babies develop—they are attracted to the breast milk (or formula’s) sweet taste and smell. We all know that young babies aren’t yet eating foods with different tastes. By the age of six months and on through childhood, of course, your baby will be exposed to endless tastes and smells related to foods. We’re focusing here, however, on early developmental ideas to expose young babies to taste and smell!
Here are some silly and sassy taste and smell ideas!
- Go for a walk. Yes, your baby smells the fresh air! Although many of us are quite oblivious to the scents intertwined in our everyday life, the magical scent of a flower or tree or freshly cut grass exposes your baby to a new world! It reminds us to stop and smell the roses. :)
- Bring baby along to the local farmer’s market (if you are lucky enough to have one in your area), the supermarket, the bakery or other regular errands. Think of the smells around you and take a moment to bring the smell closer to baby.
- Snuggle, cuddle, wuzzle, zuzzle and bond. Baby loves the smell of a beloved caretaker—and maybe a little smoochy taste, too.
One Sassy Doctor recommends:
