Your baby's sense of smell develops in the womb, and by the time they're born babies can smell about as well as adults. Because the sense of smell is closely related to taste, it influences what your baby does and doesn't like to eat. Familiar smells, including your scent and the aroma of their favorite places, are comforting to your baby and play a role in bonding with you and other caregivers. Also, natural smells such as lavender can help to soothe and calm your baby.
Your baby's sense of smell plays an important part in their development. It's closely connected to their sense of taste, so it influences what they like to eat. But smell also has a strong connection with your baby's emotions and plays a key role in the bonding process.
When does my baby's sense of smell develop?
Your baby's nose starts to form early in the first trimester of pregnancy. Two tiny nostrils appear just a few weeks later. By 10 weeks, the receptors that your baby will use to detect smells have already formed.
Babies start using their sense of smell while still in the womb. As they breathe and swallow amniotic fluid, they become familiar with its scent.
This is useful because the smell is similar to that of their mother's breast milk, which they'll need soon after birth. Your amniotic fluid also carries the scent and flavors of the food you eat, so your unborn baby will be familiar with the aroma of that fish you ate for dinner, too!
Newborns have a highly developed sense of smell. Though your baby can't yet recognize you by sight, they'll know you by your natural scent, and that's what they'll most want to smell. They'll also be drawn to the scent of your breast milk. These smells are connected to their basic needs for comfort and food.
The sense of smell is processed by a part of the brain that also controls memory. It creates strong associations between particular scents and experiences. As a result, years later a scent may trigger a memory for your baby and remind them of a time or feeling from the past.
How does my baby's sense of smell develop?
Your baby's sense of smell is highly developed at birth and is similar to an adult's sense of smell. One study even found that newborns were more sensitive to odor components in sweat than adults.
Newborn
As a newborn, your baby will be familiar with your unique scent. They can even smell the difference between your breast milk and another woman's.
By recognizing your scent, they feel comforted and secure knowing that they're with you. You can help them distinguish your scent by not wearing highly perfumed or fragranced skin products.
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When you cuddle with your baby and smell each other's scent, you both experience higher levels of the hormone oxytocin. This so-called love hormone helps you bond with your baby.
1 month
Your baby is getting used to different smells but can still find strong aromas overpowering. A strong smell can even interfere with their sense of taste. Continue to avoid strong perfumes and heavily scented products that can cover up your natural smell.
3 months
Your baby is becoming more aware of different people around them. They'll use their sense of smell to tell the difference between the people they know and strangers. If they feel scared or threatened by a person's smell, they may cry or kick their legs.
6 months
When your baby starts solids, they'll use their senses of smell and taste to decide whether they like a new food. If they enjoy the aroma of food being prepared, they may react by smiling, gesturing, or making noises.
Your baby's smell preferences may be similar to yours, especially since they got used to the smells of some of your favorite foods while in the womb.
12 months
By age 10 months or so, your baby may be less eager to try different foods. Their sense of smell helps them decide what they definitely don't like. If they don't like the smell, they'll let you know!
Can particular smells soothe my baby?
Yes. Familiar smells, especially those of Mom or Dad, can be very comforting for your baby.
As well as being able to tell when you're nearby, your baby can sense whether they're in their stroller, the car, or a particular room at home just by using their sense of smell. If your baby needs soothing, being in a favorite place with familiar smells can help calm them down.
A lovey like a stuffed animal or blanket also develops a scent that can be reassuring for your baby. That's why they may seem unhappy if you wash it, however desperately you think it needs cleaning!
The smell of natural remedies, such as scented essential oils, may also calm your baby. One study found that babies with colic responded well to a massage with lavender oil and appeared to find it soothing. However, it's not clear from the research whether it was the massage or the lavender oil that had a calming effect.
Another study found that aromatherapy using lavender and sweet almond oil reduced stress in premature babies.
When using essential oils, don't put them directly on your baby's skin. Some oils can be harmful, and babies and children can be extra sensitive to their effects. Instead, use baby lotions or baby washes with calming scents such as lavender and chamomile.
Alternatively, put a few drops of oil in a diffuser and keep it safely out of your baby's reach. The scent of the oil will gradually be released in your home. Try different essential oils and see which your baby responds to and which they seem to find soothing.
FAQs
By 10 weeks, the receptors that your baby will use to detect smells have already formed. Babies start using their sense of smell while still in the womb. As they breathe and swallow amniotic fluid, they become familiar with its scent.
Do babies have a sense of smell? ›
Studies have found that newborns have a strong sense of smell. Newborns prefer the smell of their own mother, especially her breastmilk.
How do baby senses develop? ›
Babies are able to follow or track an object in the first few weeks. Focus improves over the first 2 to 3 years of life to a normal 20/20 vision. Newborns can detect light and dark but cannot see all colors. This is why many baby books and infant stimulation toys have distinct black and white patterns.
How is smell developed? ›
A smell is created when a substance releases molecules (particles) into the air. For us to detect the smell, those molecules need to enter our nose. The more volatile the substance is (the more easily it gives off molecules), the stronger its smell.
Do babies naturally smell good? ›
Generally, there's some kind of a pleasant, sweet, slightly cheesy odor that accompanies a newborn in the first few weeks of his life — but the specific notes vary from baby to baby. One mom will say her little one smells like a combination of soap, milk and fresh bread.
Do babies care about smell? ›
According to a 2021 study, “babies are more socially receptive to unfamiliar women when they can smell their mother's natural body odor, suggesting that maternal scent functions as a safety signal.” This study was done using a t-shirt that mothers were instructed to bring home to sleep with and then return to the test ...
How far can babies smell? ›
One of my favorite things to do is show mothers how their baby can smell them from as far away as 1 to 2 feet.
Which of the five senses is most fully developed at birth? ›
During pregnancy, many mothers find that the baby may kick or jump in response to loud noises and may quiet with soft, soothing music. Hearing is fully developed in newborns. Babies with normal hearing should startle in response to loud sounds.
Which sense is least developed at birth? ›
Being that vision is the least developed sense at birth, a lot happens during the first 12 months. Your baby will go from being nearsighted and having difficulty focusing their eyes to being able to imitate movements, recognize faces and play peek-a-boo.
How developed is a newborn's sense of smell? ›
Babies have a very strong sense of smell.
Babies are born with all senses, but they vary in strength. Their sense of smell is one of the strongest, and will continue to get stronger for the first 8 years of their life.
Touch is the first sense your baby develops before the senses of smell, taste, eyesight and hearing. Parts of the somatosensory system start to form only a few weeks after conception.
How can I improve my baby's sense? ›
You can also put your face in your baby's line of sight, and then talk or smile; that allows him to focus on your face and watch your movements. Start playing games like pat-a-cake and peekaboo at about 4 months to help his hand-eye coordination.
At what age do babies taste buds develop? ›
By the time you're 9 weeks pregnant, your baby's mouth and tongue have formed, along with their first taste buds. In the womb, your baby can taste what you eat through your amniotic fluid. Babies are born with a highly developed sense of taste, and their first preference is for the sweetness of your breast milk.
What activates the sense of smell? ›
The molecules that activate the sense of smell (the technical name is olfaction) are airborne; they enter the body via the nose and mouth and attach to receptor cells that line the mucus membranes far back in the nose.
Why do babies smell good? ›
Newborns arrive after spending months floating in amniotic fluid, covered in the waxy white substance known as vernix caseosa. Some theorize that these fluids and substances play a part in that new baby smell. This might be part of the reason that special newborn scent is fleeting, lasting only a few weeks.
Can babies smell stress? ›
Can babies sense stress in the people who care for them? Yes, they can. And babies don't just detect our tension. They are negatively affected by it.
Do babies sleep better with parents scent? ›
A parent's scent alone has the ability to reduce cortisol levels in babies, in turn reducing stress and anxiety, helping to promote longer, more sound sleep (for both the baby and parent). The feeling of a parent being nearby will as a result make babies feel content.
Why do babies smile while sleeping? ›
A baby smiling in their sleep is a completely normal reaction and an expected part of their development. If your child frequently smiles in their sleep, it could mean nothing more than a reflex reaction, or perhaps they are merely replaying a happy memory from earlier in the day.
Can babies smell their mom when sleeping? ›
Yes, newborns recognize your scent within days of birth — but can newborns smell you when they sleep? Though there are mixed reviews on whether or not it's a good thing that they can smell you when you sleep, the general consensus seems to be, yes, they can smell you when they sleep.
Can babies smell Mama? ›
The tiniest newborn babies can sniff out breast milk and even lactating women because breast milk has very specific fragrances that are extremely attractive to babies. Infants can also recognize their own mothers simply by smell.
Right from birth, a baby can recognize their parent's voice and smell, says Dr. Laible. The next step is linking those sounds and smells with something they can see. That's why they'll start studying your face as if they're trying to memorize it.
Can babies sense when Mom leaves the room? ›
That's because between 4 and 7 months babies begin to realize that people and objects exist even when they can't see them. This is called object permanence. For example, if you leave the room your baby will know that you've gone away.
Which sense takes longest to develop? ›
While some senses, like touch and hearing, are fully developed at birth, others, such as sight, take several months to mature.
What is the highest developed sense? ›
The top sense was sight, followed by hearing, smell, taste and then touch. Sight and hearing allow us to sense things from a distance and so were deemed critical for survival, whereas taste and touch require contact.
Which human sense is the most developed? ›
There is a seemingly easy answer to this question: It is because vision is our most important and most complex sense.
Which of the five senses is not fully developed at birth? ›
The sense of sight is the least-developed sense at birth.
Which sense is most immature at birth? ›
Vision. The womb is a dark environment void of visual stimulation. Consequently, vision is the most poorly developed sense at birth and time is needed to build those neural pathways between the eye and the brain.
What is the weakest sense organ? ›
Taste is a sensory function of the central nervous system, and is considered the weakest sense in the human body. The sense of taste begins with the taste buds, which are found in large bumps on the tongue called fungi form papillae.
In what order do the 5 senses develop? ›
Sight comes first, because the eye is such a specialized organ. Then come hearing, touch, smell, and taste, progressively less specialized senses.
What is the last organ to develop in a fetus? ›
The lungs are the last major organ to finish developing. When fully mature, they produce a chemical that affects the hormones in your body.
What are the signs of intelligence in babies?
- They seek constant stimulation.
- They want to play with older children a lot.
- They are happy to play on their own and can remain focused on a task.
- Your baby can quickly mimic sounds when compared to other children.
Why do babies stare at me and cry? ›
They Are Trying to Communicate
As early as three months, babies learn to recognize their parents or primary caregivers. And there staring is their way to communicate. Babies can't quite interact yet for the first few months, so their staring is their way of communicating with you.
Can my baby taste what I eat? ›
Research shows that what a woman eats during pregnancy not only nourishes her baby in the womb, but may shape food preferences later in life. At 21 weeks after conception, a developing baby weighs about as much as a can of co*ke — and he or she can taste it, too.
Why do babies wrap their toes around your finger? ›
The grasp reflex is an involuntary movement that your baby starts making in utero and continues doing until around 6 months of age. It's a crowd-pleaser of a reflex: This is the reflex at play when your newborn wraps their adorable little fingers around one of yours.
Do all babies have blue eyes? ›
Are All Babies Born With Blue Eyes? It's a common belief that all babies are born with blue eyes, but this is actually a myth. A baby's eye colour at birth depends on genetics. Brown is also common, for example, but a newborn baby's eyes can range in colour from slate grey to black.
What part of the brain is responsible for smell? ›
Smells are handled by the olfactory bulb, the structure in the front of the brain that sends information to the other areas of the body's central command for further processing. Odors take a direct route to the limbic system, including the amygdala and the hippocampus, the regions related to emotion and memory.
Which part of the brain is responsible for sensation of smell? ›
The Olfactory Cortex is the portion of the cerebral cortex concerned with the sense of smell. It is part of the Cerebrum. It is a structurally distinct cortical region on the ventral surface of the forebrain, composed of several areas.
Which part of brain is called on control the sense of smell? ›
The brain is considered the central organ of the human nervous system. The parietal lobe belongs to the cerebrum part of the human brain. The parietal lobe is responsible for controlling the sense of smell, touch as well as pain.
Can smells make babies cry? ›
Researchers have found that sensitivity to odours may explain up to half of the excessive and inconsolable crying in some infants.
Can babies feel love? ›
In short, yes: Babies do feel love. Even though it will be quite a while before they're able to verbalize their feelings, they can and do understand emotional attachment. Affection, for example can be felt.
Here's a wild fact: Your days-old newborn baby will be able to recognize you, Mom, simply by the smell of your skin. What's more, the foods you eat while you're expecting can affect not only your developing baby's sense of taste, but also her sense of smell.
How do I introduce my baby to smells? ›
Catch the scents
Put a little of each smelly item in a sock or bag, or for the liquids add a drop to the cotton wool, then tie securely and offer to babies to smell. Introduce each smell one at a time to avoid sensory overload and to understand more about children's likes and dislikes.
Can 2 year olds smell? ›
Babies this age are maturing rapidly, and so is their understanding of the surrounding world. As they grow, they'll be seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching things that are all new.
How far away can baby smell Mom? ›
One of my favorite things to do is show mothers how their baby can smell them from as far away as 1 to 2 feet.
Can babies tell who their mom is by smell? ›
The ongoing development of the fetus helps him/her in recognizing the unique smell of his / her mother. The odour of their mothers' amniotic fluid is the first smell babies are exposed to. The same sense of smell also helps the baby to recognize his / her mother after birth.
How do children learn with smell? ›
Sense of smell is closely linked to memory and emotions.
Just as your child recognises people and places by their scent, they can also remember those scents for a while. Hence, your child may recognise something from a long time ago just by the smell of it.
How do you teach sense of smell? ›
15 Simple Sense of Smell Activities for Preschoolers
- Smell Bottles. Gather small plastic bottles, cotton balls, and items for smelling. ...
- Good Smells & Bad Smells. ...
- Go on a Smell Walk. ...
- Smell & Taste Connection. ...
- Sense of Smell Arts & Crafts. ...
- Homemade Scratch & Sniff. ...
- Fruit Tea Bag Painting. ...
- The Nose Knows.
What is sense of smell for kids? ›
Let's talk about the Sense of Smell
We smell in two ways: by breathing in through our nostrils and also through the back of our nose from our mouth. Our sense of smell helps us detect hazards, food, and pheromones. When you sniff in, odor molecules are drawn into the nose.
At what age does sense of smell decline? ›
Some loss of taste and smell is natural with aging, especially after age 60. But other factors can contribute to loss of taste and smell, including: Nasal and sinus problems, such as allergies, sinusitis or nasal polyps.
Do babies know their dad? ›
When do babies recognize their father or mother? Babies can recognize their parents pretty early actually – as young as 4 days old. By making eye contact with your baby during feeding times, cuddle sessions and throughout the day, you're helping your child memorize your face and learn to trust you.
Can babies sense stress and anxiety? Babies sense stress. While most caregivers and parents tend to think the ability to sense stress only happens later in their child's life (after a year or so of age), studies show babies can sense their caretaker's stress as early as three months of age.
When can you stop feeding baby every 3 hours? ›
Bottle-fed babies
Newborn: every 2 to 3 hours. At 2 months: every 3 to 4 hours. At 4 to 6 months: every 4 to 5 hours. At 6+ months: every 4 to 5 hours.