Babies try to eat everything primarily because they are using their mouths as a key tool for sensory exploration and learning about the world around them. This is a fundamental part of early childhood development.
The Role of Oral Exploration
Between infancy and 24 months, it is quite common for children to put objects into their mouths. This isn't just random behavior; the mouth is a highly sensitive area, packed with nerve endings that provide rich sensory information. For babies, their mouths function similarly to how adults might use their hands or eyes to initially investigate something new.
Curiosity and Sensory Learning
As mentioned in developmental observations, just about everything is brand new and interesting to younger toddlers. They possess an innate curiosity that drives them to understand their surroundings. To satisfy this curiosity, they're using all five senses to learn about their surroundings. While they touch, see, hear, and smell, putting objects into their mouths allows them to gather unique information about texture, shape, temperature, and crucially, to explore the flavor. This oral exploration is a vital method for gathering data about an object's properties.
Why the Mouth is Important for Learning
The mouth offers a unique sensory experience that other senses alone cannot provide. Through oral exploration, babies learn about:
- Texture: Is it hard or soft, smooth or rough?
- Shape: Does it have edges, is it round?
- Size: Can it fit in their mouth?
- Temperature: Is it warm or cool?
- Taste/Flavor: Does it have any taste? (Even non-food items can sometimes yield a subtle sensation).
This comprehensive sensory input helps babies build cognitive maps of the objects they encounter daily.
Essentially, putting things in their mouth is a natural, developmentally appropriate stage where babies are actively engaging with their environment, driven by curiosity and the need to learn through all available sensory channels.
