Dr. Caron B. Goode
The bonding period for you and your baby begins long before birth. As your baby grows and develops within you, the special relationship between you and your child is already beginning to form. This special relationship, full of intense emotion, a deep sense of connection and a strong attachment is what drives a mother to feed her baby in the middle of the night or comfort her when she’s crying. This same bond waters the roots of trust and open communication with your baby and teaches him or her that she is loved, valued and respected.
While some new moms may feel instantly attached to their babies immediately following their birth, other moms need a bit more time to adjust to their new role and physically, emotionally and hormonally recover from their birthing experience.
Wherever you are on your bonding journey, it’s important to know that bonding is a process and not an end result. Each day you respond to your baby’s needs, gaze into her eyes, or shower her with your love and affection, your bond is growing deeper, wider and more intense.
As you learn to interact with your baby, use these 20 tips that can you grow your bond with your baby.
Bonding with Your Baby
1) Bond through Breastfeeding
Breastfeeding promotes closeness between a mother and baby. When you breastfeed your baby you’re guaranteed to hold your baby close 8 to 18 times per day. If you’re able, consider breastfeeding your baby.
2) Bond through Touch
Your baby will respond to the warmth of your touch. Skin to skin contact will also help your baby feel secure, stay warm and promote bonding. Lay your baby against your chest and cover your baby with a lightweight blanket.
3) Bond through Eye Contact
Your baby will gaze into your eyes for hours. Your newborn will typically see you best when your face is about one foot away from her body. When feeding your baby, make faces, smile and look into your baby’s eyes to promote bonding.
4) Bond through Sounds
Your baby loves your voice. Sing and talk to your baby often. Your voice is a familiar sound to your baby and your baby will feel comforted by hearing you sing or speak. Your baby will also be soothed if you lay him on your chest with his head near your heart. The familiar sound of your heartbeat will relax your baby.More on 20 Tips for Bonding with Your Baby
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by Jennifer Shakeel
All babies cry, but two out of every ten babies will be affected by colic. Colic is an inconsolable crying in an otherwise healthy baby that has bouts of fussiness and irritability. While the condition is completely harmless to the baby, it can make parents want to pull their hair out or start crying themselves.
Colic usually happens in the first few weeks of life of the baby and can last until they are four months old. The crying is often intense and absolutely furious and it can last for hours or days. This is crying that doesn’t stop with feeding, burping, rocking or anything. If your baby has colic it will be worse in the afternoon or evening then it is in the morning.
What you need to know is that your baby is not in pain, though he or she looks like they are in pain. Their belly does not hurt; though it will feel tight understand that is because they are screaming. Think about when you are crying, or stressed your stomach feels tight, and you have problems eating, sleeping and going to the bathroom. It isn’t any different for baby.
The main problem with the condition is the stress and anxiety it creates at home, especially if it's your first child. You may find being unable to comfort your new baby stressful, as well as finding it difficult to cope with the constant crying, so it's important for you to have support and to take a break if things get on top of you.
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As a parent, it is important to learn the baby language milestones that your child will experience as they grow. The milestones that you will be introduced to in this guide have been established based on numerous tests conducted on a large number of babies. It is important that you remember that each child develops speech at their own rate. While many children will experience these milestones as expected by medical professionals, not all children will learn at the same pace. However, it is a good idea to at least be aware of the most common milestones so that you know what is to come and will know when to seek assistance. Here, you will be introduced to several baby language milestones.
Speech Development: Birth to Three Months
Communication is more than just talking. It also includes the ability to hear and understand the things that are being said. From the time that a child is born to three months of age, there are many baby language milestones that are experienced. It is quite common for a baby to make noises that display that they are experiencing pleasure. The sounds may include "cooing", for example. In addition to this, the child will cry when they need their needs met. Many children will learn to recognize the voices of those around them during this early stage of life. In some cases, smiling is even observed on a child. When the baby hears noises, they may suck their pacifiers or bottles more quickly or more slowly. In addition to this, they may even become startled at certain noises.
Four to Six Months of Age
When a baby reaches four to six months of age, you will notice that they start to move their eyes when they hear a sound. They will actually make an attempt to look toward the sound. You may also hear them make sounds as if they are babbling. Many parents notice that their children will respond to changes that occur with the voice – such as tone changes. When a child this age experiences emotions such as pleasure, and even annoyance, they will begin to verbally express it. When music is played or when the television is on, many babies will respond to the sounds. It is at this stage of life that many children will pay attention to noises that are emitted from the toys that they play with.More on Baby Language Milestones and Speech Development
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What is Baby Sign Language?
Baby Sign Language is a collection of signs to assist parents/carers and educators, in facilitating early communication with their pre-verbal babies. It is also a wonderful tool used to help motivate children with their learning of literacy and mathematics. Baby Sign Language is exposing your child to gestures or the vocabulary of a second language, such as ASL.
Baby Sign Language is easy to use with no prior signing knowledge or experience. You are probably already exposing your child to some proper signs, without even realizing it.
Why should I sign to my baby?More on Baby Sign Language In Your Home
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by Jennifer Shakeel
Recently my family went on a much needed vacation. We were lucky and were able to get away for ten wonderful days. For some this would’ve been long enough, for me… I could still be sitting on the beach. Anyway, the vacation inspired this article. We just had a baby in December, and this was her very first vacation… filled with tons of strange people and strange places. Our biggest concern was how she would handle this. Overall she did wonderful, bless her little soul, and I am going to share with you ways to help your baby adjust to new environments, whether on vacation or not.
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Change is something that very few people handle well… I am not sure why than we expect babies to handle change so well. However, we also know that the only way to learn is by trying new things. With a baby each and every day is a new thing, they will find, see or hear something new that they didn’t experience the day before all on their own. But you can help to encourage your baby to try new things, even when they are hesitant.
The younger the baby the easier it is, I believe anyway, to get them to try something new. Now, I have to stress how important it is that you pay attention to the way that your baby handles the new thing he or she is trying. If they don’t like it then don’t force them to continue the experience, pick them up and cuddle them and get them comfortable. For example, the first time we gave our new baby a bath in the bathtub… we used one of those big floating sponge like rafts. It was suppose to tell us if the water was to hot… and give the baby cushion to lie on. Ok, we are not first time parents… but it has been awhile, so it was like we were starting all over. Our daughter hated it. She screamed the whole time. I could not bathe her fast enough. We figured it was the first bath, she wasn’t used to it, so the next day I tried again. Nope, even more screaming… then it dawned on me… it was the sponge like thing. So I took the raft out and laid her in the water and propped her up on my arm. She loved it! She is a definite water baby.
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