Emotions, Emotions and more emotions!

We all know it: emotions. We get up with them and go to bed with them. Scattered throughout the day, we feel a variety of emotions, based on the situation around us and how we feel about it. Emotions influence our actions and send a message to the outside world. So it is important to be familiar with emotions and know how to deal with them. But did you know that this begins at birth? Emotional development starts at day one and slowly grows with you. As you read this, your little one may well be in the process of shedding his or her world. Depending on their age, they will become increasingly aware of their own emotions as well as those of their caregivers. In this blog, we take you through your child's emotional development: how does it start and what to expect?

In the belly

Even before the baby comes into the world, it feels with you. The baby gets inside how you feel and what is happening outside the belly. To some extent, they share the same emotions you experience and react to loud noises outside the belly. The emotions you feel, and so do they, can have an effect on the baby after birth. So it is important to pay close attention to your feelings and to your mental health.

The first few months

There he/she is: your newborn baby! In the first few weeks pretty little happens and they mostly sleep, but that doesn't mean they don't have emotions yet. In fact, babies are capable of having basic emotions. At first it will be a matter of contentment/dissatisfaction, but in the second month, emotions such as happiness, joy and sadness are added. They express their feelings immediately when they are present. This may cause your little one to cry suddenly, or the very first smile may appear on their face. Emotions guide your baby's actions. They are not yet able to regulate them.

When your baby reaches the age of three months old, the actions of others will have an effect on their emotions. Babies may start smiling or showing their satisfaction in response to something you do or their toys. They will also imitate people around them by imitating sounds. They are fascinated by their own voice as well as yours.

Months 4 - 6

In the second quarter of the first year of life, your baby will communicate more and more - and better. They will let you know when they want to be picked up by raising their arms. Also, emotions become more intense as time passes; the difference between positive and negative emotions will increase. In addition, interest in the emotions of others increases. Your little one will try to imitate the emotions and facial expressions of others.

Responsiveness continues to grow; the baby responds to the emotions of you and others around them. For example, they may become sad when you are angry, and look away when you are sad. Actions also affect the baby's state of mind - for example, your baby will start crying when you stop playing.

In month five, your baby begins to laugh. Further, they expand their emotions to include anger and frustration. Both emotions will show on the face. It is good to remember that babies do not mean anything personally, but simply live "in the moment. Everything they do is in response to a situation.

Babies also begin to have more and more likes and dislikes about certain things or situations. They may react negatively to food they don't like, or become frustrated when they want to do something that is not yet successful.

When month six arrives, your baby may experience mood swings - they may become cranky from one moment to the next. Fortunately, there are also plenty of positive milestones to note in this month: babies will stick out their tongues and divide their attention. This allows them to pay attention to more than one person and follow your gaze. Also, you are likely to have them turn their heads when you call them by name.

Month 7 - 9

During this period, your baby acquires another new emotion: fear. Babies may now react fearfully when a stranger approaches them or when you disappear from view. This is because babies at this stage can separate acquaintances from strangers. Thus, they attach themselves to a selection of people they prefer to stay near. As a result, your baby may no longer want to sit on the neighbor's lap, although that was different before. This is also known as "single-mindedness. Another word for this is "stranger anxiety.

For you as a parent, this can be a difficult period because it becomes difficult to go anywhere. Because another development that comes after shyness is separation anxiety. Babies realize that they and you are not one. In other words, they gain an awareness of their own.

When you disappear from the picture, your baby may suddenly start crying. This is because your baby does not understand that you will eventually come back; she thinks you will be gone forever. This can trigger crying and necessitates a calm, reassuring approach. It is important to take your little one's emotions seriously.

No worries! Having separation anxiety is part of emotional development. It usually occurs in children from eight months to eighteen months of age, although exceptions are possible.

Babies at these stages will need more signals of emotional responses from you. They see this as a gauge of whether something is "safe" and use it to be reassured. They also use it to see what they should think of something. For example, if you make a dirty face when eating asparagus, chances are the baby will do the same. Their preferences are based on yours. And if you get emotional about visiting a store or doctor, or dropping the baby off at daycare, your child may associate the locations with sadness. This is known as "social referencing," or "social cues" in Dutch. This phenomenon occurs mainly in babies.

In addition to the shyness, separation anxiety and social referencing, more room for games arises and your baby is increasingly able to link their facial expressions to emotions. They are now familiar with all the basic emotions: interest, joy, surprise, anger, sadness, disgust and fear. And they increasingly enjoy games like "peekaboo. Now is a good time to play social games with your baby!

In addition to expressing their own emotions, they are getting better at reading other people's gestures and facial expressions to gauge how someone is feeling. They are also able to point at something and then check to see if you are actually looking at the object. This is a follow-up to the area of distributing attention, which was covered earlier in month six.

Month 10-12

The end of the first year of life is in sight and this is accompanied by even more milestones for your little one. Baby's awareness expands and he/she can show more and more emotions. The emotion "shame" now comes into play when they do something that is not allowed. Furthermore, the baby becomes even more sensitive to the approval and disapproval of others.

A new era begins at the twelfth month: your baby's emotional development expands with the first words. Babies can then communicate with physical gestures and small words. Still, for now, emotions will feel as intense as before. This will diminish only later in life, when they have learned to regulate their emotions.

But for now, you will have to make do with unregulated emotions for a while. Look on the bright side: you can communicate with your child even before they turn one year old! That is certainly a milestone to celebrate and be proud of. Your baby will surely share this emotion with you, just like the previous emotions!