When your baby is born, he'll be able to taste, touch, hear, smell, see, and touch. These senses will help him learn all about his surrounding world. But it might surprise you to learn that he will begin using his senses long before delivery.

Your baby's five senses begin developing early on. Taste buds appear at about eight weeks. So do receptors in the skin that are used to touch. Visual development begins by about four weeks. But, in the end, vision and hearing take the longest time to mature. You can look forward to those after your baby is born.

Knowing how your baby's senses develop will help you feel connected to your little one. It will give you a good sense of where your baby is as you progress together through these amazing 40 weeks.

Taste

Your baby's first taste buds will appear at about eight weeks, becoming more refined around your third trimester. And he'll develop many, many more over time. As your baby grows, he will have quite a variety of tastes to sample. In fact, he'll share pretty much everything you eat and drink.

It's probably no accident that babies develop a good sense of taste before birth. After all, it helps them recognize their mothers. Before your baby is born, the flavors in your diet are transmitted to him through your amniotic fluid. After he's born, he'll taste those same flavors in your breast milk and that familiarity will be comforting to him.

Hearing

About the time you begin to feel your baby move, he'll be starting to get to know your voice. He'll also be listening to your heartbeat and to the funny rumbling sounds in your stomach. By around 24 weeks, his hearing will be well established.

Smell

By about 28 weeks, your baby will be able to smell. And soon he'll become familiar with the aromas in your life. Everything from the garlic in your dinner to your favorite perfume.

Vision

There isn't much to see inside the womb. Just a faint orange glow in the last weeks before birth. Even so, your baby's vision will be developing rapidly. But sight is a very complex system. So it will take some time for his eyes to mature. In fact, his vision will continue developing for quite a while after he is born.

Touch

Between two and five months, your baby will start to sense touch. First, he'll become sensitive around his mouth. Then the sensitivity will spread quickly all over his body. He'll get to know the feel of the uterine wall. And he'll learn about the feel of his own body. Can't you just picture his tiny hands as they brush up against his face?