How Can You Tell If Your Baby Is Intelligent? (10 Signs To Look Out For)
We all want to believe that our babies are brilliant intellectual prodigies.
And, in fact, a particularly “gifted” baby may indeed show some early signals that may indeed suggest that.
Read on to find out how can you tell if your baby is a born genius.
How Can You Tell If Your Baby Is Intelligent?
As could be expected, a baby’s intelligence is partially inherited from parents and partially developed during early life through different experiences. But measuring your baby’s intelligence is a rather tricky task. However, you can assess your little one’s potential by observing their behaviour. Because there are a few subtle clues to look out for during early infancy that may indicate that your baby is a little genius. They include extreme curiosity, focus, and alertness; exceptional problem solving and communicating skills; great memory; sharp senses; preference to play solo or with older kids; craving stimulation, and fewer sleep needs.
The Origin Of Intelligence
First of all, let’s clear the subject of the source of intelligence.
So, where does human intelligence come from?
Well, there are basically two sources:
- Intelligence is genetically inherited from both parents
- Intelligence is developed throughout the life through different experiences
However, these two sources are interconnected.
In other words, even if babies have great potential because of highly intelligent parents – if they aren’t stimulated and nurtured during their early years – they will not benefit from their inheritance.
Because neglect is the biggest obstacle to a healthy upbringing for babies.
Moreover, studies show that genetic intelligence accounts for 50% of a baby’s intelligence. By puberty, this number can be as high as 75%.
And whilst you have no influence on genetics, you have an important role to play if you want to see your baby thrive later.
So, you must build upon the foundations set by the genes by fostering your little one’s cognitive development.
Thankfully, most parents are naturally hardwired to do so – without even thinking about it.
Because all the attention you give to your baby, the quality time you spend, all the reading, singing, talking, playing – boosts your baby’s development. Which helps build their intelligence.
How Do You Even Measure Intelligence In Babies?
Well, that is certainly not an easy task in babies. There are no definite quantifiers of a baby’s intellect.
Obviously, they are too little to perform an IQ test. The results of such tests are not accurate and are likely to change if performed too early. So, it is worth waiting until your child turns 5 before any formal evaluation on IQ.
Some people believe that if a baby reaches a milestone faster than their peers, it may indicate a high intellect.
Well, in that case, how can you explain that Albert Einstein, an unquestionable genius, didn’t learn to speak sentences until he was 5? A skill that most babies master around 2 years of age?
So, this criterion is quite subjective, especially since we all know that every baby’s development is different.
How about the head size?
Many believe that if the head is bigger, then the brain is also larger, which means the IQ is higher.
But this is only partially true. Because larger heads tend to house bigger brains, regardless of the variable such as bone thickness and muscular tissue.
But this doesn’t mean that the babies with bigger brains score higher on IQ tests!
And based on scientific evidence, the correlation between intelligence and brain size is very weak.
So, when doctors measure head circumference in newborn babies, it isn’t to assess their potential genius. But to determine if your baby is developing well, simple as that.
So, What Are The Signs Indicating Your Baby Is Highly Intelligent?
Well, even though it is hard to measure the intelligence in babies, some indicators may lead to the conclusion that your baby is a true brainiac.
1. Extreme Curiosity
Research has proved that babies who exhibit extreme curiosity seem more intelligent.
The first signs of curiosity can unravel when a baby watches magic tricks. Intelligent babies seem to be captivated and mesmerized by, for example, a floating toy. They will look for a long while at these intriguing objects, whilst other babies will just take a glance and quickly lose interest.
2. Great Focus
Another characteristic of an intellectual baby is the ability to focus intently on a task for a long period without being distracted.
A good example is the ability to make and maintain direct eye contact with parents from early days. Or once they discover their hands and feet – they eagerly inspect and play with them.
3. Thriving On Being Alone Or With the Company of Older Kids
Babies with high IQ often prefer to play alone and focus on specific activity than play with their peers. They will also be happy in the company of older kids, who can provide more advanced emotional stimulation.
This characteristic may be hard to identify because babies tend to play solo in the early days. And they won’t learn to interact with other babies before they turn 2.
4. Enjoy Solving Problems And Intellectual Challenges
Even though every baby develops problem-solving skills, a clever baby will display these skills much earlier than her peers.
Moreover, they will likely find new and often unusual and imaginative ways to solve the problem.
The best way to test her problem-solving abilities is to set a little challenge. So, hide away your little one’s favourite toy or treat and observe her response to this.
You will be able to see how your baby is reaching the target with a lot of fun!
5. Great Communicator
Gifted babies are also remarkable communicators.
They begin making noises, cooing, gurgling, and mimicking from a very young age. Furthermore, they can point at whatever you are asking and follow verbal instructions very early too! They are drawn to books and storytime and begin to form words and sentences way before the average speaking age.
6. Require Less Sleep Than Peers
For parents of little geniuses, the bad news is that smart babies require less sleep than expected. And still function without being tired and cranky.
This is because intelligent babies have high energy levels and find it hard to relax and switch off their non-stop working brains. In addition, all milestones are met ahead of schedule!
7. Extreme Alertness
Babies with high IQ show an extreme level of alertness very early on. They are capable of paying attention to everything and everyone. They seem to always look and listen and literally absorb the environment around them.
8. Seeking Constant Stimulation
Intelligent babies require lots of external stimuli to engage their minds and satisfy their mental needs. Therefore, they will thrive in an environment that gives them plenty of different activities. They appreciate different ways to play and learn so that they can experience new things and practice what they are learning.
9. Hypersensitivity
One of the unusual characteristics of a highly intellectual baby is that their senses are much more sensitive. Especially the taste and smell, sound, or texture. They may react strongly to them as well. For example, they may hate to walk on the sand with bare feet. Or get sick with the smell of some food. Or even shut their ears at the sound of a barking dog or racing car.
10. Great Memory
And finally, they have a sharp memory and very high memory capacity. Gifted babies can literally remember every piece of information from an early age. This includes places they visited, their daily routine, names, and faces of people.
For more information, see the below video.
Signs of Intelligence in Babies – How to recognize high IQ in a baby
Final Few Lines
For us parents, our babies are the most unique, clever, and talented human beings on Earth.
And that is true – every baby is special and in its own unique way.
But if your baby is truly blessed with unusual intelligence, you will surely spot the subtle hints during early infancy.
Because unusually clever babies are great communicators, very curious and alert, and able to focus for a long while, they seek constant stimulation and intellectual challenges. They also enjoy playing by themselves or with older kids, have a great memory, are highly sensitive, and require less sleep than their peers.
