Babies Adjust Bodies When Mothers Pick Them Up

Babies as young as two to four months know when their mothers will hug them and make it easier for them to be picked up by stiffening their bodies accordingly, a latest study revealed.

Professor Vasu Reddy, of the University of Portsmouth examined the way babies correct their postures when their mothers walk toward them with their arms outstretched. He found that all newborns in the study stopped thrashing around and readied themselves as their mothers approached.

"We didn't expect such clear results. From these findings we predict this awareness is likely to be found even earlier, possibly not long after birth. The results suggest we need to re-think the way we study infant development because infants seem to be able to understand other people's actions directed towards them earlier than previously thought. Experiments where infants are observers of others' actions may not give us a full picture of their anticipatory abilities," Professor Reddy said.

She also said that the findings may prove helpful in detecting developmental problems such as autism.

The research team included Gabriela Markova of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, and Sebastian Wallot of the University of Aarhus in Denmark. They conducted two separate studies - one on 18 babies aged three months, and a second on 10 babies aged two to four months.

All the babies were put on a pressure mat that measured their postural adjustments in three phases. They were: when their mothers chatted with their babies; opened their arms to pick them up; and as the babies were picked up. The findings showed that as the mothers were about to pick up their child with hands outstretched the babies as young as two months made specific adjustments. These included extending and stiffening the legs that increase body rigidity and stability, and widening or raising their arms that helps creating a space for the mother to hold the infant's chest.

The study also found that between two and three months, the baby's' gaze moved from mostly looking at the mother's face to often looking at her hands when she stretched her arms to pick up the child.

"In other words, they rapidly become more adept at making it easier for parents to pick them up," Prof Reddy said.