There are lots of misconceptions about memory development in babies and young children.  You may have heard the myth that a child’s early memories don’t really matter because they won’t be able to recall them later in life.  In actuality, memories are formed in infancy.  In the first year of life, a baby has implicit memories.  Implicit memories are non verbal; it is something that you know, but is hard to articulate with words.  For example, have you ever tried to explain exactly how you ride a bike - the rotation of your ankle, how much pressure you apply to the ball of your foot, and how your center of gravity shifts?  It’s tough to put into words because you just know. How you ride a bike is a memory stored implicitly (without a specific story to recall in your mind).  Your child won’t ever be able to recall a memory from when they are 8 months old, but how they are treated by loved ones impacts their brain development and their expectations of the world around them through implicit memories.  When you respond to your child with warmth and predictability, your child remembers (see Intuitive Parenting guide).  Implicit memories, no matter the age they are created, are stored without our conscious awareness that they are being stored in our brain.  Likewise, the memories are retrieved and impact us without any conscious awareness (see Swimming in your Subconscious guide) (Siegel & Hartzell, 2013).

Explicit memories are verbal; this includes remembering general facts and stories about what has happened to you or others.  Unlike implicit memories, we are aware when we are storing an explicit memory (e.g., using flashcards to memorize vocabulary words), and we are aware when we are retrieving an explicit memory (e.g., writing the definition of the vocabulary word on the quiz).  Explicit memories develop after the first year of life.  At about one-and-a-half years old, children have semantic memories, which includes general facts and knowledge.  Around two years old, children develop autobiographical memories, which are recollections of personal stories (what people usually think of when they think about “memory”).  By three years old, children have more long-term memories.  And by 5 years, children are able to connect facts and emotions in stored memories (Ray, 2016; Siegel & Bryson, 2011).

Often children learn to walk before they have explicit memories, which develop around 1.5 - 2 years.  They learn one of the most fundamental ways to move their body and internalize it so much that they don’t have to actively think about how to walk.  Just like children know how to walk without consciously thinking about it, children also have an understanding of their sense of identity and how the world works based on how their parents interacted with them in the early years.  All of your hard work is worth it!  If you are reading this and feeling a sense of wonder or regret at how the early years went, know that this construct is malleable.  Reach out to one of our experts, or a mental health provider, for support. (see Intuitive Parenting guide).

As a newborn, your baby is primarily understanding your voice’s volume and tone.  Toward the end of their first year of life, your baby is understanding more and more.  Receptive language is your baby comprehending what you say.  Receptive language develops first.  Your baby understands what “pacifier” is long before she can ever come close to saying that word.  Expressive language, or your child’s ability to say words, develops after receptive language.  It starts out slow, with a word or two, and then explodes into two-to-three word sentences around age 2.  Parents can support the development of language by narrating what you are doing and reading books to your child (American Academy of Pediatrics’ Healthy Children website).