JOHNSON’S® PRESENTS THE “SCIENCE OF SENSES” 

INSPIRE PARENTS ON HEALTHY BABY CARE PRACTICES & DEVELOPMENT

Baby Care Experts Highlight 

Benefits of Bath Time for Happy

Healthy Baby Development

Mumbai : JOHNSON’S® has been pioneering the science and setting global standards in baby skin care for more than 120 years globally, and is now paving the way in baby care by advancing research on the importance of multi-sensorial experiences in happy, healthy baby development.  In the first three years of life, every interaction with parents can help shape a baby’s developing brain. The everyday rituals, parents create, including bath time, become so much more powerful when multiple senses, like smell and touch, are stimulated. Pleasant smells, when paired with the loving interactions of a parent, can create lasting memories that children will remember for a lifetime. 

To create awareness and inspire parents on healthy and happy baby care rituals and talk about the benefits of bath time on the overall sensory development of babies, JOHNSON’S® today brought together Scott Beaudry, Bathologist and Director - Baby Care R&D Asia-Pacific, Johnson & Johnson Consumer, fragrance expert from the global fragrance leader Givadaun, S.R. Iyer, Senior Perfumer SAMEA (South Asia, Middle East and Africa) and a touch expert, DrJayakar Thomas, Senior Dermatologist and Professor of Dermatology, SreeBalaji Medical College (Chennai) in Mumbai. Joining the conversation and sharing her experiences as a mother was Tara Sharma, host of the TV show ‘The Tara Sharma Show’ aired on Star World.

According to Scott Beaudry, Bathologist and Director - Baby Care R&D, Asia-Pacific, Johnson & Johnson Consumer “Emerging and foundational science reveals multi-sensorial experiences are critical to helping shape a baby’s growing brain. With opportunities for touch, sight, smell and sound, the bath is a time for parents to nurture a baby. To delve deeper into the “Science of Senses” and baby bath time rituals, JOHNSON’S® commissioned a Global Bath Time Report, conducted online by Harris Poll surveying more than 3,500 parents of young children in India and six other countries around the world.  The study found that while 84% of parents globally say bath time is some of the best quality time they get with their child, many underestimate its power and impact this ritual has on cognitive development of babies. 

In India specifically, although the large majority of parents say that bath time can be so much more (90%), far fewer recognize its importance in cognitive development, with only 45% of parents saying bath time is extremely important to their child’s brain development. According to the study, Indian parents are more apt to recognize the importance of eating well-balanced meals (68% extremely important), talking to their child (63%), interacting with other children (54%) and playing with learning toys (52%) for their child’s brain development. 

The Power of Touch

To reaffirm the importance of touch for a baby, Dr. Jayakar Thomas, Senior Dermatologist and Professor of Dermatology, SreeBalaji Medical College (Chennai) stated, “One of the most important things to a baby’s happy development is the touch of a loving mom or caregiver.  A baby’s first emotional bonds are built from physical contact, or touch. This contact serves as the foundation for emotional and intellectual development later in life.”

Yet, according to the JOHNSON’S® Global Bath Time Report, only 23% of parents around the world say that massages are extremely important to their child’s brain development. In India however massaging a baby has been a common practice over the ages, and this is reflected in the study with 41% of parents in India stating that baby massages are extremely important to their child’s brain development.

The Science of Smell

Supporting the importance of multi-sensorial experiences for a baby, S.R Iyer, Senior Perfumer at Givadaun further added, “Smell contributes to a baby’s development by strengthening the emotional connection with mom and creating powerful positive memories that the baby can tap into later in life.”

Enjoyable and familiar scents have been proven to improve mood, calmness and alertness. In-fact studies have shown that babies bathed with a fragranced bath product displayed 30% more engagement cues with their parents after bath time and spent nearly 25% less time crying before sleep.

“Our legacy is that every JOHNSON’S® product is specially designed with baby in mind and meets our BEST FOR BABY™ standards, which is backed by the best science,” said Ganesh Bangalore, General Marketing Manager, Consumer Business, at Johnson & Johnson India. “Now we are taking our commitment one step further by showing the power of multi-sensorial experiences in daily rituals such as bath time.”

As globally JOHNSON’S® continues to build on its legacy, the company has earmarked millions of dollars over the next three years to advance this research and is working with external experts on studies to be published as early as this year. JOHNSON’S® new global campaign, SO MUCH MORE™, is about enhancing rituals, including bath time, to stimulate a baby’s senses and provide parents an opportunity to nurture a baby’s ability to learn, think, love and grow.

About the Survey

The JOHNSON’S® Global Bath Time Report was sponsored by JOHNSON’S® and conducted online by Harris Poll in November 2014 among 3,574 parents of 0-3 year olds aged 21 and older in Brazil, Canada, China, India, Philippines, UK and US (484+ per country and 501 in India). To access the full survey results, contact us. 

About JOHNSON'S®

For years, JOHNSON’S® has been committed to the happy and healthy development of all babies. Going beyond safe, mild and gentle products, the brand believes in enriching baby care rituals that unlock and release the full power of the senses. Nothing is more important to JOHNSON’S® than ensuring a stimulating start and a vibrant future for babies around the world and empowering families and health care professionals. Because JOHNSON’S® knows, when it comes to bringing up baby, more is more. As an expert on baby care, JOHNSON’S® has been advancing baby science and setting the standards in baby care. JOHNSON’S® offers baby and adult products in over 175 countries.