Bonding with your baby is natural thing to do for most parents. Most babies bond readily soon after birth. For some parents, it can take time to bond and for others, it can be an instant feeling of love from the first contact.

3 ways to bond with your baby

• Kissing – Gently kissing and stroking your baby often is a show of affection and love towards your baby that greatly promotes bonding.

• Skin to skin contact – Babies love to be held and cuddled. Having direct skin contact is soothing and reassuring for your baby as he absorbs your warmth and smell as well as hears your heartbeat.

• Talking – Talking or doing ‘baby-talk’ like cooing is important. When your baby is older, he will respond by cooing and make baby sounds.

The importance of bonding

Having a loving relationship with an adult is critical for the baby’s social brain growth. The orbitofrontal cortex is the social part of the brain that needs to be developed during the critical early years, i.e. up to 3 years old. Your baby needs a loving relationship during this period to help his social brain to grow. If the baby does not have this, there is very little chance for this part of the brain to develop adequately or fully recover from the effect.

photo credit: maessive

Your baby will benefit from being loved, cuddled or held closely and it does not matter whether it is the mom, dad or even the nanny who does it. Apart from breastfeeding, the dad can do just about everything the mother is doing including holding, cuddling and bonding with the baby. Let your baby spend time with other caregivers as well like the grandparents, older siblings or caregivers as there is no limit to the number of people he can bond with.