Awakening the Senses from Birth

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

• The Sensory Awakening of Newborns
• The Sensory Experience of an Ergonomic Soft Silicone Bottle
• The Baby Feeding Experience

An adult’s perception is the result of the delicate chemistry between their senses. This is even truer for babies, who discover and learn everything through their five senses. Touch, taste, smell, sight, and hearing: for infants, sensory experience is essential. Sensory awakening allows your newborn to become aware of the world around them from the very first moments. That’s why their environment should consist only of reassuring and familiar objects, designed to create and enhance a succession of sensory experiences.

The Sensory Awakening of Newborns

Birth represents one of the greatest sensory upheavals in life. From the mother’s womb, where the baby floats in amniotic fluid, the newborn transitions to a world of open air where their entire body is subject to gravity. Overwhelmed at first, they gradually learn to recognize the sounds, smells, people, and first objects around them. 

Hearing is their most developed sense. That’s why, thanks to an advanced auditory memory, a baby is quickly capable of identifying their mother's voice.

During pregnancy, the baby has already developed certain food preferences thanks to the food shared through the umbilical cord. Taste goes hand in hand with smell, which develops in utero as early as the 7th month of pregnancy. For a child, the most familiar and comforting scent is their mother’s.

Finally, a baby must reach two months of age to have a sufficiently developed vision and be able to recognize their parents’ faces. In contrast, touch is highly sensitive from the very first moments. Through their hands, mouth, and entire skin, more and more consciously, the infant physically and emotionally constructs their own world.

How Does the Sense of Touch Develop in Babies?

Touch is an early-developing sense. Some receptors are functional as early as the 4th week of pregnancy, followed by the fetus’s first reflexes around 12 weeks.

When they are born, babies are not yet capable of controlled movements, and yet, they already react strongly to touch. If you place your finger in their hand, they will instinctively grasp it. A little later, once more agile, their hands and fingers allow them to explore shapes and textures, experience hot and cold, and appreciate objects’ roughness or, on the contrary, their softness.

Among the very first objects encountered is the baby bottle. A pillar of their most intimate circle, the bottle nurtures the body and mind, within a comforting, ritual-like milky bubble.

The Sensory Experience of an Ergonomic Soft Silicone Bottle

The story of Élhée begins with a disappointment—a mother unable to find the right bottle for her children—and continues with a revolution, that of a businesswoman who decides to create the BibRond.

This new bottle and its physiological nipple, in addition to being 100% safe for babies, are made from soft, gentle, and unbreakable silicone, nothing less. The medical-grade silicone of the bottle invites babies and their parents each day to a true sensory experience. The flexibility of the material recalls the softness of the mother’s breast, while its peach-skin feel is close to real skin—perfect for deeply emotional feeding moments.

Thus, every element of the iconic BibRond, now available in 3 sizes (5, 8, and 11 oz) and in over 10 colors, encourages sensory development from birth:

• the medical-grade silicone under their fingers stimulates touch,
  
• breast milk or formula inside the bottle develops taste,
  
• the closeness of the parent during feeding stimulates the baby’s sense of smell,
• the unique design, all curves and gentleness, awakens sight and curiosity.

The Baby Feeding Experience

The sensory aspect of mealtime is very important for your baby. Along with your hugs and lullabies, the bottle is a moment of pleasure and intense satisfaction for them.

Cuddled up against you, they benefit from your warmth, the contact of your skin, and the scent of both you and the milk they’re drinking. They savor their meal and exchange grateful glances with you. And, throughout, their tiny hands rest on yours or on the body of their bottle. 

Taste, touch, sight, and smell interact for a complete and satisfying feeding experience. And because the baby bottle is one of the very first objects to enter the intimate circle of the parent-baby relationship, it was essential to consider the sensory dimension of the moment.

4 Sensory Activities to Try During Bottle-Feeding

1. Practice skin-to-skin as soon as possible: enjoy skin-to-skin contact with your baby both after and, when possible, during bottle-feedings. This will not only make their meal nourishing but also comforting.
2. Try different milk temperatures: whether room temperature, cold, or slightly warm, all three options can be offered to your infant. An enjoyable temperature enhances the flavor of their milk and creates a pleasant sensory experience. 
3. The power of your voice: try soothing your baby with your voice by speaking softly, singing lullabies, or telling stories during feedings. It’s a gentle way to tune their ear and continue the communication started in utero.
4. Expose them to different textures: a soft silicone bottle that’s easy to grasp, skin-to-skin contact, cotton clothing, or faux fur on the couch—all these experiences help stimulate their sense of touch.

Bonus: Because the bottle rolls and bounces and its lid stacks effortlessly, after feeding, the BibRond doubles as a toy to spark creativity and boost babies’ motor skills.

During the first 6 months of a baby’s life, breast milk or infant formula alone is enough to cover all nutritional needs for healthy growth. However, your newborn’s sensory perception will vary depending on whose arms are holding them and which bottle is being used.

For a truly unique feeding experience, Élhée has developed a soft medical-grade silicone bottle with a natural feel that’s easy to hold, also equipped with a physiological nipple and an anti-colic valve. For carefree feeding and to ensure the safety of your baby’s meals, offer them an emotional bottle with a unique design to accompany their sensory awakening from the very first moments of life.