Signs that your baby has higher IQ than others

Children's mental abilities can be recognized very early

For every mum or dad, their child is not only the most beautiful and lovable but also the smartest. While every baby is indeed special, not all of them will grow up to be geniuses.

However, in exceptional cases, incredible as it may seem, signs of a child's intelligence can be seen from a very young age.

Parents who notice early signs of their children's abilities should know how to properly encourage their child's development at home, but little ones under the age of 2 cannot be adequately assessed by an IQ test, so to recognise a baby with a particularly high intelligence you will need to pay attention to their behaviour.

Highly gifted babies are distinguished not only by alertness or exceptional responsiveness but also by traits such as a lower need for sleep or an exceptional sensitivity to smells and tastes^[1].

High intelligence is indicated by a need for contact and recognition of relatives

Babies who need close physical contact and attention are likely to have above-average intelligence. This is due to the fact that children who receive a lot of care may develop faster.

Infants up to three months of age rely almost exclusively on the bond with their mother. During this period, they are not interested in the outside world, but the foundations are then laid for their development.

After about three months, the world seems to open up for babies, and they notice people and things around them. This is when it becomes apparent which of them are exceptionally interested in the events around them. Such children are thought to be endowed with extraordinary intelligence^[2].

When a baby is able to make direct eye contact with its parents or others around it, this is seen as a sign of early development. After all, babies are born into a world that they immediately try to understand, but can be difficult to navigate with their underdeveloped senses.

So if your newborn can look directly into your eyes, this is already remarkable and a possible sign of a high intelligence quotient. Even more remarkable is if the baby's eyes also follow other people or events in his environment.

In addition, gifted babies are renowned for being able to concentrate for long periods of time at a very early age, usually up to six months. For example, you may see a five-month-old playing with wooden blocks and not being distracted or a five-month-old who can listen quietly while you read him a book^[3].

Infants with high IQ may express more need for solitude

Another characteristic of infants with high IQ is a lower need for sleep. Highly intelligent toddlers sleep little, or rather not at the rhythm their parents would like them to, and it is difficult to get them used to a day-night routine so that as they grow up, they may sleep well during the day and be restless at night.

This may be because a key feature of potential giftedness in babies is the need for mental stimulation. Gifted babies are often restless, difficult to put to sleep, and start crying, which may be a sign that they are not being given constant stimulation.

On the other hand, it is interesting to note that the most gifted babies are prone to loneliness; they often prefer to be left alone, and as they grow up, you will notice that even when playing, this child prefers to be alone.

Later on, such children may prefer the company of older children to that of their peers, who will be able to offer slightly more advanced emotional and intellectual stimulation^[4].

Infants with high intelligence are sensitive to smells

Research shows that there is a link between a child's birth weight and their intelligence. Researchers have found that a higher birth weight means a slightly higher intelligence quotient.

Unexpectedly, there is also a link between sensitivity to certain smells and tastes and a higher intelligence quotient.

It is thought that the senses of people with high IQs, including the very youngest, are over-stimulated. So if your little one is simply repelled by certain smells or tastes or, on the contrary, is very tempted and interested in them, this may also be a sign that your child is highly intelligent.

And of course, a happy baby is often said to be healthy. In fact, early signs of happiness and positivity may indicate that the baby is very intelligent. If your baby seems very well-adjusted and is just happy all day long, it could be that his intelligence quotient is very high.

Babys' mental abilities are adversely affected by the pandemic

A US study shows that babies born during the coronavirus pandemic have significantly poorer verbal, motor, and general cognitive abilities compared to those born before.

According to the analysis, which has yet to be peer-reviewed, in the decade prior to the pandemic, the average IQ score on standardized tests for children aged 3 months to 3 years hovered around 100 points, but for children born during the pandemic, this figure dropped to 78 points.

The study involved 672 children from Rhode Island, USA. Of these, 188 were born after July 2020, 308 were born before January 2019, and 176 were born between January 2019 and March 2020. The children included in the study were born full-term, had no developmental disabilities, and were predominantly Caucasian.

The researchers found that babies born during the pandemic may have suffered from limited stimulation in the home at that time and less contact with the outside world, which is why they scored staggeringly low on developmental assessment tests.

The researchers also found that children from lower socio-economic backgrounds performed worse on the tests. Given that these data come from a relatively affluent part of the US, where welfare and unemployment benefits are generous, there are fears that the situation may be even worse in poorer parts of the country and the world.