Not yet in your arms, but already active, your baby is developing amazing skills and behaviors in the womb. Thanks to ultrasounds and research on fetal development, we now know much more about what babies experience, feel, and learn before birth.
CONTENTS:
- Sucking: great training for the bottle
- He might already be dreaming
- Your child reacts to your voice—and to music too
- He also reacts to light
- Those little fetal hiccups you feel
- He tastes what you eat
- Your baby’s breathing in the womb
- He makes grimaces
- What if your baby cried in utero?
- He explores with hands and feet
Sucking: great training for the bottle
Between 12 and 14 weeks, babies begin bringing their hands to their mouths to suck thumbs or fingers. This gesture helps develop hand-mouth coordination, prepares muscles for feeding, and may have a calming effect.
🩷 Baby can suck his thumb as early as 12 weeks of pregnancy.
Élhée has designed a birth bottle accepted by most babies, made from medical-grade silicone and usable from day one.
He might already be dreaming
By the 7th month, babies show REM sleep, characteristic of dreaming. While it’s impossible to know exactly what they dream about, these phases suggest intense brain activity that processes sensations and emotions.
🩷 The fetus already experiences REM sleep, conducive to dreaming.
Your child reacts to your voice—and to music too
Hearing develops around 16 weeks. By 23 weeks, babies recognize familiar voices, especially their mother’s, and respond to melodious or classical music.
🩷 At the end of the second trimester, your baby can hear you in utero.
He also reacts to light
By week 28, your baby can perceive bright light through the uterine wall. Pointing a light at your belly may trigger a reaction and create a special bonding moment.
🩷 During the third trimester, your baby can detect bright spots through your belly.
Those little fetal hiccups
From the second trimester, you may feel your baby hiccup. This is due to diaphragm maturation or swallowing amniotic fluid and is a sign of normal development.
🩷 Your baby can already have hiccups before birth.
He tastes what you eat
Around 13 weeks, the amniotic fluid reflects flavors from your diet, letting your baby experience tastes in utero. This may influence postnatal food preferences.
🩷 Taste doesn’t wait. Baby can sense it at the end of the first trimester.
Your baby’s breathing in the womb
In the third trimester, babies practice breathing movements by inhaling and exhaling amniotic fluid. This strengthens lungs and muscles for life outside the womb.
🩷 Baby “breathes” amniotic fluid, preparing for real breathing after birth.
He makes grimaces
Between 21 and 24 weeks, babies practice facial expressions, which helps develop muscles for later life.
🩷 A fetus develops control of facial muscles early on.
What if your baby cried in utero?
Around 28 weeks, babies can show silent signs of crying: open mouth, trembling chin, and irregular breathing, as observed in studies.
🩷 Your child already mimics crying in the womb.
He explores with hands and feet
From the middle of the second trimester, babies begin actively exploring their environment in the womb, touching their face, umbilical cord, and uterine walls.
🩷 Baby voluntarily explores your belly before birth.
Every movement and reaction in the womb prepares your baby for life outside. These developments, captured during ultrasounds or felt by parents, create unique and precious memories. For more information:
- Fetal sensory development: medical article by Dr. Marie-Claude Busnel
- Prenatal Psychology and Fetal Behaviour
- Brain Research Foundation
