Hands-on dads make for cleverer babies (and girls benefits just as much)

Researchers have found that dads who are more involved in playtime during the initial first months help improve their baby's cognitive skills later on in life.

As part of the study, playtime with mum and dad was recorded at three months of age and once more at two years of age during a toddler-parent book-reading session. The 128 dads taking part were analysed and documented by different researchers throughout the second phase than those examining the first. It was found that a father who is more engaged while taking part in his baby's playtime throughout the early months of the newborn's life results in greater cognitive skills emerging later at 24 months. Lead researcher Paul Ramchandani, from Imperial College London said,

“Even as early as three months, these interactions by dad can positively predict cognitive development almost two years later, so there's something probably quite meaningful for later development, and that really hasn't been shown much before.”

Factors such as income and age were accounted for and the tests showed that babies whose fathers are more positive in their overall outlook are also more likely to perform better in the cognitive tests. Furthermore, the study busted the old myth that boys are in need of more playtime with dad. Interaction proved to be just as much a benefit to girls as the positive correlation between active engagement and better assessment results was true for both genders. Sharing positive emotions was also shown to be crucial as engaging with calm and sensitive fathers during reading-time helped increase attention span, problem solving abilities, speech and social skills. Although the study is beneficial to understanding more about development and developmental research it wasn't without it's limitations. Parents taking part were all drawn from relatively educated backgrounds while video footage taken was somewhat short and therefore not all activities and playtime would have been documented. Professor Ramchandani added,

“For those fathers who are more engaged it may be that there is a lot more positive stuff going on in their lives generally. That might be the reason for the link, but we can't be sure of that. All we can say is that there is a signal here, and it seems to be an important one. “The clear message for new fathers here is to get stuck in and play with your baby. Even when they're really young playing and interacting with them can have a positive effect.”

Although there are a huge number of aspects that are critical for infant development, this area in particular has been relatively unexplored. But what we now know is dads can't interact with their babas enough. Good for dada—good for baba.