Can Babies Develop Bad Habits?
You might have been cautioned not to allow your new baby to do certain things, to avoid them becoming bad habits.
But can an infant actually develop habits, good or bad?
The newborn brain is very basic. It takes decades to reach maturity. Many of the processes needed to predict or anticipate outcomes take months or years to develop.
A newborn body basically operates on reflexes and instincts. By the end of the first year, many controlled physical movements are in place but thought processes are still very basic. If you watch a baby crawling or walking towards something they want, you can see how much effort is involved to identify and reach a target.
Habits are actions we do without planning, by repeating so many times we don't have to put much thought into it. Making a cup of tea, brushing your teeth, putting on your shoes are activities you have done so many times they are habits.
“Good” habits are automatic actions which have positive impact: taking supplements, going to the gym, putting your phone away an hour before bedtime might be considered good habits.
“Bad” habits are automatic actions which have a negative impact: biting your fingernails, scrolling social media, snacking on sweets might be considered bad habits.
At the beginning of a new year, many adults set resolutions to change habits. To reduce bad habits and increase good habits. Yet the fall-off rate is something like 14 days later! Creating habits is really hard for adults and even harder for children. For infants, it is impossible. A young baby cannot plan to do something to create a desired outcome. They simply react to physical prompts: feeling hungry, tired, overwhelmed, alone, uncomfortable … they signal to the adults who care for them. So immature are these signals, it takes weeks or months for parents to begin to interpret them. Mostly, we just throw potential solutions at the baby until they stop signalling!
Babies cannot develop habits. Parents are not creating bad habits in their infants. There is no last time or next time in the infant brain, there is only right now. There is no manipulation, planning, or intentions in the infant brain. Just reflexes and instincts.
Listen to your baby’s signals and respond to them every time. Breastfeed them as often and as long as they signal they need it. Support them to fall asleep every time they signal they need it. Hold them every time they signal they need it. Babies do not have wants, just needs.
And in the future, as you try to teach your toddler that shoes go on the shoe shelf and teeth are always brushed before bedtime, remember how hard it is to create habits with a fully mature adult brain.
