Do babies have feelings?

Question

Don't take this question the wrong way. I know they do feel and stuff but do they feel sophisticated emotions like anguish and greed? Thanks.

Answer 1

I am the mother of three kids under five. I've had experience with babies and although they express a lot of emotion at times I personally do not think their brains are capable of that thinking until their develop more along the lines of eight months and over. Their brains develop more in the first three years of life than they ever will. They do get grabby with siblings which is normal and get upset if you take their bottle away and they feel they're not done. They let you know. Use your instinct. They usually are right especially in a parent.

Answer 2

just basic emotions like hunger and thirst
They are not that complicated at first. Words usually are associated with the other emotions and they are just basic needs they have if they are hungry they have an emotion if they are content then they are content. Even older babies don't have the complexety to understand greed etc until they can comprede their own feelings a little more.
BTW your question was a good one

Answer 3

Depends on what you mean by "baby". My son is 17 months old and I still call him a baby. He definitely feels anger and jealousy and fear. I think when babies are first born they feel the basic instinctual feelings like pain and hunger and as they get older and experience the world they develop other more complex feelings. But the truth is, we have no way of knowing if they feel a certain way unless they express themselves like hitting or crying etc. We can only assume.

My first instinct was to slam you for asking that question until I read the "Don't take this question..." part.

Answer 4

Babies do have feelings like happy and angry, and are very perceptive to other peoples feelings. But not sophisticated feelings like greed. I don't think they've had enough experience in life to even understand that type of concept. Everything is theres, they don't know to horde things and be greedy. But, unfortunately, it'll come in time...

Good question!

Answer 5

I don't think greed is an emotion but rather a vice which babies are not really capable of. However, they do feel the basic emotions.

Answer 6

We are all born with natural human traits like anguish, selfishness and, greed. God calls it the "natural man". They will develop as a child gets older. Tiny babies are too young to display these traits but, we all have them.

Answer 7

Yes, babies have feelings but nothing as complex as something like greed. Their feeling have more to do with their needs at the baby stage of development.

Answer 8

I don't know... I guess they do have greed but it's not called greed with babies. It's called something like wanting more food because they're hungry and stuff.

Answer 9

probably not greed because they don't know money or stuff like that. but they can get angry or depressed. especially if a dog dies an a family. i have a lot of patients coming to me that say their baby seems sick or doesn't talk, doesnt' smile and i simply say has something he cares about is taken away from him or if something died. usually they say yes. so yeah they can feel a lot of things. also, when i was getting my degree, i figured out that babies actually have thoughts like what to do or where to go.

Answer 10

As far as I understand it, no. They have true emotions, but complex feelings and motivations (like jealousy) develop later, around 2 years.