Touch : The first sense a baby develops
Baby's skin, learning to touch
The skin is the largest organ in the human body . It protects, regulates temperature, produces vitamin D and transmits information to the body. A baby's skin plays a vital role in their development, allowing them to interact with their environment and transmit their emotions.
Baby's skin: the sense of touch
The skin a sensory organ
The skin has nearly 600,000 touch receptors and over 200,000 temperature receptors , all coupled to the network of sensory nerves (which carry information from the skin to the brain). Through the motor nerves, the brain transmits its response to the skin. This is how we react to heat, cold, pain, pressure, etc.
Special features of baby skin
The baby's skin is more fragile and sensitive because it is thinner and not yet fully developed. It lacks keratin, and sweat glands in particular (sweat secretion). Its skin therefore reddens more easily and temperature regulation is more difficult. It is also more permeable to the products and ointments applied to it.
The baby's skin remains one of his main means of communicating and discovering the world around him through touch. In the womb, he already grabs the umbilical cord and touches the wall of the uterus. At birth, skin-to-skin contact with his mother helps soothe the baby.
Touch to discover the world
The skin also contains nerve receptors that will allow the baby to understand the world around him, to acquire balance and therefore learn to walk.
You have already noticed that your baby tries to grab objects that pass within his reach. He is simply discovering his living space through touch!
Don't forget that your baby's skin is fragile, taking care of it also means using suitable products.
