• 8–10 right: Congratulations – you are definitetly
“baby smart”!

• 5–7 right: Your “baby smart” level is pretty high.
Keep learning to become a real expert.

• 2–4 right: Your “baby smart” skills could use
some improvement. bornlearning.org can help.

• 0–1 right: Your “baby smart” skills are just
beginning. Keep visiting the Born Learning
website at bornlearning.org to improve your
knowledge.

4) Routines help to lower your baby’s stress level.
Answer: True. Routines for every day activities like
bathing and feeding help to lower your baby’s stress
level by creating a predictable world for her. Routines
allow your baby to know that she can expect certain
events to happen and give her a sense of control
about her world. They also help her understand that
she can trust you to meet her needs.

5) Watching TV stimulates your child’s development
similar to your own talking.
Answer: False. The “talking” from a television does
not offer your baby the same benefits as the sound
of your voice since the TV cannot respond to your
baby’s attempts to interact with you – her smiles,
noises or touches. Whether you talk, sing or read, it
is the sound of your voice – not just any voice – that
will help your baby connect with you and feel the
love and affection that she needs to grow and
develop.

6) Babies who are content and comfortable are better
learners.
Answer: True. A baby’s ability to learn is influenced
by her emotional well being. By providing your child
with a lot of warm and affectionate experiences, you
help her to develop trust in her ability to learn about
her world and you encourage her to learn more. Also,
loving and enriching experiences teach her to feel
good about the world.

7) You should start talking to your baby as soon as
he begins to make sounds at you.
Answer: False. From the time your baby is born, well
before he can make sounds or form words, you
should talk, sing and even read to your baby as
much as possible. Sounds are the foundation for
speech and language. Also, hearing the sound of
your voice will help your baby learn about you and
connect with you. It does not matter that your baby
cannot understand what you say or answer you.
Every time you make a sound and he looks at you,
you have made an important emotional connection.

8 You can help a baby experiment with her senses by:
A. Looking into her eyes
B. Touching her
C. Carrying her
D. Swaddling her
E. All of the above
Answer: All of the above. Just by giving your baby
love and affection you provide her with enriching
experiences that go a long way in promoting her
development. For example, if you look at her closely
when you hold and feed her, you give her a chance
to practice focusing on your face. Touching,
swaddling or holding a child close help her feel
secure, comfortable and happy.

9) The care you provide your infant shapes the
person she will become.
Answer: True. The love and attention you share with
your baby from her first moments of life will lay the
groundwork for the type of adult she will be.
Warmth, love and affection encourage her to trust in
her ability to learn about the world around her, to
feel good about herself and her world and to seek to
learn more. From birth, a parent is a child’s link
between what she learns about the world and how
she feels about it. This process continues throughout
a child’s life, and can be endlessly improved upon
and enriched. It’s never too late to provide the love
and attention a child needs to help her develop into
her best possible self.

10) The care you provide your baby will effect the
development of his brain.
Answer: True. Just as a baby’s body depends on
parents for food to grow, his brain depends on
experiences to grow and develop. At birth, a baby’s
brain is pretty well formed. But the vital connections
between brain cells – in other words, the “wiring” of
the brain – are just getting organized. Stimulation
through different experiences helps the connections
to develop. Since most of your baby’s experiences
involve interaction with you, the care you provide
plays a critical role in forming the connections.

1) You can’t spoil an infant.
Answer: True. Unlike older children, infants are too
young to understand how to manipulate you with
their cries. Therefore, you don’t have to worry that
answering his cries will spoil him. An infant cries or
fusses to let you know that he needs your help to
meet his needs. Responding to your infant’s cries is
important not only because it makes him more
comfortable, but also because it teaches him that he
can rely on you to take care of him.
2) You can never over-stimulate your baby.
Answer: False. Over-stimulation can be as trying for a
baby as under-stimulation. Over-stimulation happens
when a baby grows bored of, or unhappy with, an
activity or toy. Generally, he will tell you that he is
over-stimulated by turning his head or crying. At this
point, you should stop the activity and move on to
one he likes. If he likes what he is doing, he will be
encouraged to learn.
3) Good ways to calm a baby include:
A. Changing
B. Singing
C. Feeding
D. Massaging
E. Swaddling
F. All of the above.
Answer: F. All of the above. Experiment with different
activities to determine which are most calming for
your baby. Comforting your baby may not always be
easy, so you probably will have to try several
methods until you figure out what works. Soothing
an upset baby is very important. When you answer
her cries, she learns that you understand her signals
and are going to take care of her needs.

Take this short quiz, based on the key points in the Begin With Love video,
to test your knowledge about some of the things you can do to enhance
your interactions with your infant. Don’t worry if you don’t get them all right.
You can always watch the Begin With Love video to learn more!

1) True or False: You can’t spoil an infant.
2) True or False: You can never over-stimulate your
baby.
3) Good ways to calm a baby include:
A. Changing
B. Singing
C. Feeding
D. Massaging
E. Swaddling
F. All of the above
4) True or False: Routines help to lower your baby’s
stress level.
5) True or False: Watching TV stimulates your child’s
development similar to your own talking.
6) True or False: Babies who are content and
comfortable are better learners.
7) True or False: You should start talking to
your baby as soon as he begins to make sounds.
8 You can help a baby experiment with her
senses by:
A. Looking into her eyes
B. Touching her
C. Carrying her
D. Swaddling her
E. All of the above
9) True or False: The care you provide your infant
shapes the person she will become.
10) True or False: The care you provide your baby will
effect the development of his brain.
Check your answers on the following pages.

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