Will Your Baby Remember This?

by Valorie Delp | More from this Blogger

08 Mar 2007 09:33 AM

My oldest daughter was six weeks old when the first installment of the most recent set of Star Wars movies came out. Now my husband is a pretty easy going guy and not a lot ruffles his feathers. But we HAD to go see that movie in the movie theatre or he may have spontaneously imploded. Since I was breastfeeding and not willing to leave my daughter at that point (pumping was NOT my friend) we brought her with us to go see Star Wars. We joke in our house that our children have to be under 3 months or over 13 years to watch Star Wars. After all, even if she did see it--she wouldn't remember it right?

Turns out we were wrong. She slept through the entire movie. . .but apparently young babies do form memories. According to a new study--they also forget. In fact, they forget faster than adults do. (I am wondering if these people have ever met anyone like my husband?) This phenomenon is known as infant amnesia. It used to be thought that babies simply didn't form memories but newer studies show that they do. So what happens in infant amnesia?

No one is sure yet. Researchers gave infants two cups and a block and showed them how to put the block in one cup and cover it with the other cup to make a rattle. Babies wouldn't necessarily do this on their own (or so say the researchers) but they will copy it. Researchers then measured how long it was before babies would forget how to make the rattle by reintroducing the same objects and seeing what the baby did. Researchers say that between the ages of six months and two years memory spans from about 24 hours to up to a year. Researchers also note that extremely early memories tend to be connected to extremely emotional events whether those events are positive or negative.

I have some of my own theories on baby memories which I'll share tomorrow! What do you think? How much of early life does your baby remember?

Related Articles:

The Inner Workings of Your Baby's Mind: Part I

The Inner Workings of Your Baby's Mind: Part II

Is Your Baby Mentally Stable?

Learn more about Valorie Delp

Hello everybody! My name is Valorie and I am one busy lady! When I'm not writing or editing for families, I am busy trying to get my brood of 5 in line.

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Sara Denomme (1063) 11 Mar 2007 07:19 PM

I've read some articles about synapses being formed that result in a sort of "residual" memory, in that the cells actually retain the memory. So perhaps the brain doesn't store the memory for easy reference throughout life, but certain things like PAIN (like that from circumcision) or sounds, smells and tastes associated with certain instances may be remembered. ;) I haven't read your other entry yet, off to do so.

karabu (980) 19 Mar 2007 01:20 AM

I assumed my daughter (now 3) wouldn't remember anything from the first few years of life. I've since been quite surprised how good her memory really is. It's almost like when she learns new vocabulary, or skills to communicate, she'll try to talk about something that happened many months or longer ago. I'm beginning to think she just didn't have the tools earlier to understand her environment well enough for true memories. Does that make sence?

Valorie Delp (49340) 19 Mar 2007 04:39 AM

Perfect sense. And of course they really can't communicate what they do remember or understand.