Do small children remember ?

I have a whole bunch of memories, but I am not sure if they are true or not... one of which where I peed on the doctor right after birth, I was born two weeks late... I asked my mother if this happened, and to my astonishment, yes.

Also remember, my first birthday but they people's face are blurry... had a air plane cake with smarties, and one of those sparkly candles that don't go out when you blow them.

I don't know if these are fake or real memories...
 
Skydrops said:
I have a whole bunch of memories, but I am not sure if they are true or not... one of which where I peed on the doctor right after birth, I was born two weeks late... I asked my mother if this happened, and to my astonishment, yes.
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Prior to that do you remember seeing the light at the end of the tunnel?
 
I had a traumatic experience at 3, i was in a full lower body cast for 6 months and don't remember anything, i have photo's but i can't remember the pain or anything. All i do remember was that as i got older the cuts used to be sore but that was all.
 
interesting question.
I dont think its very likely the child will remember, but possibly the traumatic experience will be embedded and have an effect later on?
 
I distinctly remember our car breaking down and waiting for some friends to pick us up on the side of the highway. Apparently I was 6 months old at the time. They don't remember a whole lot but you never know.
 
For the first 1–2 years of life, brain structures such as the limbic system, which holds the hippocampus and the amygdala and is involved in memory storage, are not yet fully developed. Research has demonstrated that children can remember events from before the age of 3–4 years, but that these memories decline as children get older
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Childhood_amnesia

Personally, I have very few memories of being a child, up to the age of about 10 or 12. I remember music from that time though and a few memories here and there, but not much
 
Yes, you can remember bits and pieces. Some people more than others. Human memory is obviously malleable, so it would be hard to reliably say something is a memory from the time or due to getting details of the event at a later stage. That remains true even if you're an adult.

Trauma can probably have more lingering effects because it doesn't necessarily require memory of details to trigger the fear response.
 
I never get kids under the age of 3 anything for their birthday or christmas as they will never remember it anyway.
 
blunomore said:
Most people's earliest memories date back to about 3 years of age.

If something were to happen to a 1 or 2 year old, do they remember that? I am not referring to them learning things by repetition (obviously they remember that) but e.g. meeting someone once, or having a bad/traumatic experience.
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They will remember extreme events, be they good or bad.

I remember 2 things from age 2-3 very well.
The one almost caused me to lose a foot.
The other was the loss of my grandpa. He loved me dearly and spoilt me rotten. I even remember my dad getting a hiding coz my bum was still pink from a smack just before we left home to visit them...
 
The_Unnamed said:
I never get kids under the age of 3 anything for their birthday or christmas as they will never remember it anyway.
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This is the same reason why I would rather leave my kid with a family member when going on a holiday, while they are under 3 years old. Obviously depending on what the holiday is for, but if it is relaxation and tourism, baby can chill with grandma for a week or so while we unwind.
They just would not have a memory of it. I suppose it depends on whether you have a screamer or a good little baby as well. I just have this picture in my head of spending the entire week in Barbados, chasing a little rug rat around and stressing my balls off. Which is worth it if they are old enough to remember the holiday and location, but if they cant remember it, what is the point?
 
yes, i think they do remember. we took my grandchild to emmarentia dam before he could talk. men on horseback patrol there and the next time we went to the dam the child was about 4. as we drove in and he said "horse". i did some research and discovered that there's a university somewhere in USA (where else :-) where they're studying "pre??????? (can't remember the term) cognition".

apart from this i think children absorb much more than we imagine they do.
 
I remember being irritated with a woman who thought I was going to hit her with my hollow plastic baseball bat when I was 2 or 3
I also remember some babysitter putting me on a table and me wanting to climb down but it was too high for me to jump off I was 1 or 2 :(
 
The_Unnamed said:
I never get kids under the age of 3 anything for their birthday or christmas as they will never remember it anyway.
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That would be a silly attitude to take. They enjoy it in the moment which is all that matters. Most adults will remember very little prior to the age of about 10, and most won't even remember every present they get as adults.
 
It varies from person to person. I remember some things from my first year, more from my second, and almost everything from 3 and up. My sister, two years older, remembers very little from that time. Truth be told, she tends to want to forget, while I tend to hold onto events more than I should. To this day.
.
 
SoulTax said:
This is the same reason why I would rather leave my kid with a family member when going on a holiday, while they are under 3 years old. Obviously depending on what the holiday is for, but if it is relaxation and tourism, baby can chill with grandma for a week or so while we unwind.
They just would not have a memory of it. I suppose it depends on whether you have a screamer or a good little baby as well. I just have this picture in my head of spending the entire week in Barbados, chasing a little rug rat around and stressing my balls off. Which is worth it if they are old enough to remember the holiday and location, but if they cant remember it, what is the point?
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I feel the same.

We want to go back to India, but until our daughter is old enough to remember her first trip to India, I think it is not worth taking her.
 
My grandfather died when I was 2. Even though I have seen pictures of him, I don't have any memories of him when he was alive. We stayed in one house. My son went to live with his granny between age 2 and 4. By then he knew my car which was red. By the time he came back to live with me I had changed cars, same car but in black. He has no memory of the original car.
I don't think kids have long term memory at that age.
 
I remember sleeping in a bassinet next to my granny's bed when I was about 2, then very clearly directing my granny to my nursery school at 3 when my mom was in hospital with the birth of my sister...
 
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