Bonding with a newborn baby isn’t always instantaneous or natural. New parents, especially new mothers, can feel confused and disappointed when they don’t immediately bond with their babies. There are many factors that can get in the way of a strong bond: a difficult pregnancy and/or birth, hormonal changes, exhaustion, lack of support and resources, and unrealistic expectations. Many new parents expect that forming a connection with their baby will be simple, but like any relationship, it can take time to grow, and it requires nurturing.
What does it mean to bond with your baby and why is it important? Bonding with a baby means that you are forming a secure connection between you and your baby. It creates love and trust and allows you to get to know your baby’s cues. It also gives your baby the opportunity to learn about you, your family, and the world around them. A baby who has a secure bond with a primary parent or caregiver is given the opportunity to develop and express a full range of emotions, form close relationships, and safely explore their environment.
Creating a bond with a baby doesn’t require any fancy or expensive toys or gadgets. Often, all you need is yourself and the things around you. Here are some ideas of how to bond with your baby:
Learn about your baby’s cues by cuddling them, holding them, and rocking them. See what helps them when they are upset and what makes them smile. While all babies have basic needs that need to be met, each one is an individual and will respond differently. Over time, you will learn their cues and be able to differentiate between hunger cries, sleep cries, attention cries, etc.
Talk to your baby. You don’t have to talk about anything in particular—a baby can be comforted just by hearing and recognizing your voice.
When you are feeding your baby—either breastfeeding or bottle feeding, look into your baby’s eyes (if they’re awake)!
Practice “skin-to-skin”—after or before bath, hold your baby’s body to your chest.
Walk around your home, pointing out objects, pictures, photographs, and rooms. Open the windows and point out what’s outside.
Play peek-a-boo! You will often get a response from slightly older babies!
Make funny faces and expressions. See if your baby will try to mimic them.
Narrate what you are doing. For example, as you are changing your baby into pajamas, say “and now we will put on your pajamas so that are you comfortable when you go to sleep”. This helps establish a routine. Over time, the baby will learn to associate pajamas with sleep.
Explore different textures. You do not need to get any new toys or objects for this. See how your baby reacts to touching water, blankets of different textures, cold spoons, sand, grass. Get creative with this—you can find different textures wherever you go.
All Blogs are written by Professionals in the fields of Nutrition, Human Development and Diabetes.