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Right from birth, babies are motivated to become social beings. They’re looking for human contact, and are responsive to the ways people communicate with them. From birth to 6 months, development is focused on senses, speech, motor skills and face recognition.

In the first month or so, touch is the main vehicle for communication. Parents hold, stroke, touch and rock baby to sooth and communicate. Babies recognise and pay attention to maternal smell, voice and eyes.

By 2 months old, babies have a strong desire to respond socially. They hold eye contact and exhibit intentionally social behaviours such as smiling, and making gestures and noises.

A baby at this age can discriminate between smiling and frowning facial expressions – they’re learning whether they can trust their environment. They test to see what happens, and test again to see if it happens again. Baby is relying on another human being to help them understand the world.

An attentive parent will recognise baby’s attempts to engage with them. By responding to baby’s expressions, sounds and gestures in a careful and well-paced manner, their parent will encourage baby’s attempts to be part of the conversation.

In the next couple of months, baby’s vision improves and they begin to reach for and grab objects. The conversation moves outwards — it’s not just about face-to-face communication anymore. Previously the interactions have been about ‘being together’. Now, other objects and parts of the body become part of the focus.

Interaction now takes the form of playing with objects and games that involve the body — for example, songs or finger games.

Sharing books with a baby also gives them an opportunity to learn some social skills. They’re being held and talked with, and the adult is sharing about what they’re looking at together. Baby is taking their cues from the trusted adult — ‘If he’s interested in it, I might be too’.