Book 2, Question 17
Why Can't We Remember Being a Baby?
We can't remember being a baby because very young babies do not yet have long-term memory for the details of events, called childhood amnesia.
Can you remember being a baby? Most people cannot! That is because baby brains are still building the memory system. This is called childhood amnesia.
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Quick answers
Do babies remember anything?
Yes. Babies can recognize the voices they heard most while still in the womb.
Sources: BBC, Smithsonian Magazine
From the book
Page from A Million Whys Book 2
More fun facts
- Babies can recognize the voices they heard most while they were still in the womb.
- Remembering those voices helps babies learn to talk.
- Very young babies do not have long-term memory for the details of events yet.
- There are different kinds of memory, and babies use some of them from the day they are born.
- In one study, three-and-a-half-year-olds still showed signs of remembering people they had met only once, briefly, years before.
- So even though you cannot recall being a baby, your baby brain was making memories.
Sources: BBC, Smithsonian Magazine
Questions kids ask
Do babies remember anything?
Yes. Babies remember familiar voices from birth, even though they cannot yet remember the details of events.