BABIES too young to talk still know how to be good mates, make jokes and take care of each other, new research has revealed.

In a unique study offering a baby's eye view of the world, Australian experts strapped cameras to the heads of children less than 18 months old to capture the secret lives of infants.

The research, designed to find out how well young children cope in daycare, shows babies use sophisticated techniques to make friends, attract attention, manage group situations and even make each other laugh.

The tiny cameras were attached to the side of the heads of the babies with a soft headband or hat, and worn for about 15 minutes at a time.

Charles Sturt University researcher Jennifer Sumsion said the footage showed the babies "were much more capable at a young age than we had anticipated", which "should reassure parents with children in childcare".

The research so far has been conducted on babies aged six to 18 months in two childcare centres and nine family day care homes.

Dr Sumsion said the babies "interact with each other through making eye contact, subtle gestures, reaching out, and even using humour".

"A child less than 12 months old handed a toy to another child then snatched it back at the last minute, and they repeated this several times in a playful manner before he handed the toy over," she said.

"And the footage also showed a new child about the same age starting childcare and others kept coming up and trying to touch her and reassure her, then realised that she was frightened as a result.

"And so the other children found a piece of material to cover and help shelter the new child - which worked well in comforting her."

The study, funded by the Australian Research Council, is supported by Family Day Care Australia and KU Children's Services.

Family Day Care Australia chief executive Carla Northam said the research would help educators to better understand the infants in their care.Shaye Harwood cares full-time for infants aged up to two at Midson Road Childcare Centre and said people didn't realise how intelligent and socially aware babies were.

"When the babies have things in common they parallel play or sit together in the same space and interact by looking at each other and sharing toys," she said.

"They could be playing with something and when they notice their friends next to them, they acknowledge that they're there by sharing a toy. That's saying, 'it's ok you're near me'."

"What we find is a lot of the 12-month-olds are quite nurturing when it comes to the younger babies."

Originally published as Study says babies look out for their mates