Is it normal to have memories from when you were a baby?

Question

I'm talking about REALLY young, like perhaps 3 or 4 months old or younger than a year old...?

Answer 1

It generally doesn't happen. At that stage, the brain is rarely developed enough to store long-lasting memories. That doesn't mean it's impossible. For someone to have memories of that age, they would have had to have developed much faster than normal. I would also add that they would have likely been of above average intelligence during childhood.

Answer 2

There has been research on memories from as young as 3 or 4 months old, even earlier than that tracing back to babies in the womb. There isn't much empirical evidence though to say that it is actually true, but repressed memories from childhood could come to surface at an older age. The most seen cases are that of traumatic childhood experiences that come in the form of memories that the person doesn't seem to understand. The mind works however in waves, whereby every 10 years or so the memories from the previous 10 years seem harder to remember. For instance if you are 30 you can probably remember as far back as maybe 18 or 19 where the memories are less vivid than the previous 5 years. Memories can also come up due to retrieval cues made by a person, which sometimes could not be all that true, for instance if your mother was to tell you that at the age of 4 months you started to walk then maybe you can say "hey i remember that", when you really don't.

So basically, memories from as far back as 3 or 4 months old the memories could be conjured up by a person as there isnt much proof to say that it is true or not. But then again if a large number of people claim to have recalled memories from as far back as 3 or 4 months or even earlier, then in some sense of the word we can say that these memories could in fact be true. Like I said there has been some research done on it, but not enough to prove it.

Answer 3

I think so. I do have some early memories of sitting in a tub in a very shallow amount of water, being washed up. the memory does correspond to a time when my parents and I were on a trip. I do remember the surroundings quite wll. This had happened, I believe before 1.

Answer 4

I think that it could be possible, when I first changed my sons diaper I had a memory ,(I think) of how I liked baby powder when I was getting my diaper changed, no one ever told me I liked it or anything but as I was changing my son's diaper I had like a flash back or something. I also remember laying on a bed for a long time crying.
I have no idea how old I was when this happened but I had to be under a year old

Answer 5

Absolutely normal!! Many a times, memories remains in the unconscious mind and then they come back at a later stage.

Sometimes, the memories you are talking of are not real, but just an imagination of what we hear from our elders that we used to do this and that and so on... Then one starts thinking that it is in their own memory, but in real, it is a memory supported by other events.

Answer 6

For me it is obvious.

I can recall a situation from my baby bed when I was practising to stay on my feet first time and looked myself in a mirror beneath my bed. I also had a strong feeling of loneliness because my mother hasn't visited my room for a relatively long time and I could sleep anymore.

This situation was very emotional one, so I have recorded it in my mind.

My father remembers a situation when visitors came to meet his family. He would like to discuss with them but was still unable to speak. I really do not know if this memory is a fact or a fiction - my father likes to tell fanny stories....

Answer 7

well, i don't know about that young, but i've had many memories from when i was 1-2 or so. i guess we aren't really old enough at that time to understand anything, so we aren't old enough to remember. by the way, it isn't till you're like 3 months anyway, that you even know your mom still exists when she leaves the room. :p hope this kinda helps...

Answer 8

I have memeories from about 3 years old - not many but 1 or 2 only.

Answer 9

no ,
because the mind of a child is still developing and can not retain nothing but natural instincts such as sucking blinking. the part of the brain that memory is located is not developed. You may have what you think is a memory but it is planted there because of power of sugestion maybe some thing you parents have told you several times and imagened that you remeber because you can place yourself there doing what ever it is that you thank you remeber

Answer 10

It might be normal. Babies' brains do remember things (otherwise they would be unable to recognize their own mamas) but they remember things differently at that age because they do not yet speak and so their brains don't process things using words like adults' brains do. Babies remember visually or they remember sounds, sensations, things like that.

A while back, my mother was describing how she painted the wall in the nursery herself with animals and things and this was where we lived until I was 2. I didn't remember that wall from her description, but when I saw a picture of it I did remember it.