You have spent nine months carrying your baby and once the baby is born, you will spend the rest of your life building a relationship with your child. Babies know the sound of their parents’ voices from around nineteen weeks in utero, so when your baby comes into the world, it can turn to look at you when you speak very early on. You will want to bond with your baby from the moment they are born and there are many ways that this can be achieved. Babies are born helpless, needing a lot of care and love to help them to develop into well-adjusted children and amazing adults into the future.
Breastfeed Your Baby
Skin-to-skin contact between you and your baby is incredibly important. Holding your baby against your bare skin immediately from birth is when the bond begins. It also helps to trigger hormones that promote lactation. Newborns who spend more time in direct skin-to-skin contact tend to breastfeed spontaneously. Babies can be calmed and comforted at any time with that same skin-to-skin contact and it can also assist with increasing milk production.
Skin-to-skin contact can benefit a baby with the regulation of breathing and heartbeat and will help to keep your baby at the right body temperature. If a mother is unable to hold the baby right after it is born, the partner is often encouraged to take over the skin-to-skin contact until the mother is ready. When the baby is held close to the mother’s skin it can help to soothe her and the baby at the same time. During this close contact, Oxytocin is released which helps you to feel closer and more loving towards your baby. Oxytocin also helps to stimulate the breasts to produce milk. Breastfeeding creates an intimate bond between mother and child and while the mother is breastfeeding, beta-endorphins are released which give her feelings of calmness and pleasure.
Massage the Baby
Babies love to be held and touched and giving your baby a massage can be an extremely enjoyable experience. It only takes about 10 or 15 minutes to complete the entire process. The baby should be quiet and alert and you should feel relaxed. Massaging the baby can be during bathtime or after a diaper change. The room should be warm and quiet so that you can both relax. Don’t forget to take off rings and bracelets and use baby oil. Remove all of the baby’s clothing save and except for the diaper. Lay the baby face-up on a blanket or a soft towel and put a pillow under the head to support it. Rub the oil in your hands to warm it and then hold the baby’s hands and rub the palms with your thumbs.
Once the baby is relaxed and focused on you, you can use many different techniques to massage the baby. Gently move your fingers in circles and hold the baby’s arms and legs, rub the belly gently and talk softly to the baby while you do the massage. This massage routine can be a very enjoyable experience for both you and your baby while bringing you closer to one another.
Build on Your Relationship with Your Partner
When a baby comes into the picture it can be difficult on your relationship because you have to spend so much time caring for the baby that you don’t have much energy left over for one another. Each partner in the relationship has had an identity shift and it is going to be difficult for each of you. A little understanding of your partner can go a long way.
Try to set aside time to speak to each other at some point once the baby is asleep. You are both going to be exhausted so try not to complain or be angry with one another. Something that may seem like a big deal right now may not mean anything once you have a chance to check in with your partner. Talk to one another effectively but don’t express only anger or frustration in a manner that will cause your partner to become defensive. If you tell your partner that they don’t help you instead of saying that you would appreciate them doing a certain thing to help out, this will get more positive results and it will help you all to bond together as a family unit.
As a family unit, you all must connect and that means that each of you must develop a bond with the baby while keeping an intimate bond with one another. The father of your child should have every opportunity to spend time with the baby from the moment that the baby is born. It has been scientifically proven that the father’s interaction with the baby during the first few months of life can have a positive impact on the baby’s cognitive development. Try to do things together as a family unit, where possible, including activities such as playing with the baby and activities including going out for walks and swimming.
Babies are born into this world as a blank canvas. They need a lot of love and attention and when we give them what they need through nurturing and caring for them, we help babies to have the best start possible. This also helps the family unit to have a tight intimate bond that will only grow stronger as time passes. Spending time with your baby from the moment they are born helps them to learn about you as the parents and the world around them. Being a new parent can be challenging but it is one of the most rewarding jobs in the world. There are moments when every parent feels like they can’t go on, and there are moments that can’t be replaced with anything else that brings satisfaction and pride to the parents. Start bonding with your baby from the moment of birth and you will have a lifelong bond that cannot be broken.