The power of eye contact with your baby

Gazing into your baby’s eyes isn’t just important for building an emotional connection. Research suggests that it can also have a powerful effect on early communication and learning.

A study conducted in the Baby-LINC Lab at the University of Cambridge found that when an adult and baby gaze into each other’s eyes, their brain waves synchronize ❤️ In the study, when the adult made direct eye contact, the babies made more vocalizations.

Researchers suspect that when you look at your baby, you send a signal to their brain that you’re tuned in and receptive to hearing what they have to say. This makes them more likely to communicate with you through their voice, eyes, or gestures. 

As simple as eye contact seems, it can positively impact your baby’s brain and pave the way for deeper learning.

Learn more about the research

Leong, V., Byrne, E., Clackson, K., Georgieva, S., Lam, S., & Wass, S. (2017). Speaker gaze increases information coupling between infant and adult brains. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 114(50), 13290-13295.