I am always interested in the claims of products in the Baby Industry (particularly when they are advertised for newborns), the boldest claims being; “improves concentration” and “stimulates brain development”, which as a new parent would of course instantly grab your attention.

The Heibaika (Mandarin for black-and-white cards) started in Taiwan in the twenty-first century; parents use these cards for infants below 3 months old due to claims that the cards stimulate vision and enhance brain development. Indeed, developmental psychology reveals that infants below 3 months of age tend to be attracted by the high contrast between black and white. However, there is no evidence or agreement that this preference equals enhancement in vision nor brain performance. Yet I have seen these claims advertised alongside these products.

Even if the claims were true and backed up with scientific research below are some of the reasons I still can not get behind such products:

1) Because of the advances in modern medicine and maternal care, we forget that the newborn/neonatal period is a delicate stage of life as babies adapt to the world. In a newborn, importantly the most active structures of the brain are linked to survival and to innate reflexes such as breathing, sucking and rooting. A newborns body is also adapting to try and maintain physiological homeostasis, for example temperature control and blood sugar levels. In my opinion, newborns do not need to ‘concentrate’ on anything other than communicating their needs to their caregiver to ensure survival and should not be detracted from this.

2) The sensory pathways that connect a baby to the outside world such as those associated with vision and hearing are the next most active. From birth our babies have preferences for faces and those with a direct gaze. This early sensitivity to mutual gaze is reported to “arguably be the major foundation of the later development of social skills”. Gazing at faces, listening to familiar voices and experiencing nurturing touch is the perfect brain stimulation for a baby (and its care giver) not only developmentally but also for bonding and connection. In my opinion things that take a baby away from this could therefore potentially stimulate the wrong type of brain development. Babies need to spend time engaging with faces not inanimate objects or pictures of them.

3) Most significantly, the sensationalised words improves concentration and stimulates brain development when attached to objects, reinforce the notion to already vulnerable new parents that babies brains are highly malleable, that it is their responsibility to properly form their children’s brains, and that they are blameworthy when things go wrong. It undermines a parent’s instinct that they are enough, that their baby has a natural curiosity to learn and that just being with your baby and letting them experience life is enough.

So in answer to my initial question, what babies really need, my answer will never be products, toys, classes or structured activities.

What babies really need are parents and in particular mothers who are supported physically and emotionally so that they feel content in the presence of their baby, confident to follow their instinct and know they are enough for their baby.