As parents we want the very best for our children, for them to grow up to be (amongst other things) competent and confident learners and communicators. This might seem an age away from the little baby in your arms, but in fact babies actually start learning right from birth. To do this they need a couple of key things - positive experiences and a secure attachment to someone, so their brains connect in a good way. At birth, a baby’s nerve cells in their brain are present but they’re not connected up, only about 15% are. The other 85% have yet to happen - and they are modified by the sorts of experiences a baby has.

Top 10 tips

1. You can help your baby’s brain make new brain connections.

2. You can do this through providing positive experiences and a secure attachment to you.

3. An attachment relationship grows with all the little things the adult does for the baby.

4. The social interaction you have with your baby may affect the brain’s circuitry.

5. Attachment (the connection between you and your newborn) forms a template for their subsequent relationships.

6. Babies learn right from birth.

7. At birth, a baby’s nerve cells in their brain are present but they’re not connected up, only about 15% are.

8. The other 85% of brain connections post birth have yet to happen – and they are modified by the sorts of experiences a baby has.

9. Early life experiences shape the architecture of the brain – positive ones positively, negative ones, negatively.

10. Positive physical touch in the form of massage is great thing that a parent can do for a baby.