Bonding With Your Baby

Many people mistakenly believe that babies do little more than eat, sleep, soil themselves and cry. Contrary to popular belief, however, babies are not mental equivalents of blank slates.

In fact, they know a lot more about the world around them than you might think, which is why it is so important for you as a new parent to bond with your baby right from the start. Though babies learn to recognize faces at a very early age, they find it difficult to focus on the world around them for the first two months or so of their lives.

Nonetheless, there are still many ways you can bond with your infant including singing and talking to her or looking into her eyes. Babies love eye contact, and your baby wants nothing more in life than to see your face.

As time passes, there are many other ways you can form a bond with your baby including reciting nursery rhymes, reading simple books to her out loud, or taking her on outings to the park for a walk. The recitation of nursery rhymes helps her acquire language skills, recognize emotions and appreciate tonality.

Reading to your baby while she’s alert and awake, especially from books with brightly-colored pictures and sparkly embellishments, will help keep her focused for just a bit longer. Taking her out in her stroller will calm her when she’s cranky, and will get her out in the fresh air.

Plus, she’ll get a lot more sensory input from things like singing birds or the smell of freshly cut grass. Finally, there may be times when you’re a little tired and cranky yourself. You won’t always feel like entertaining your baby photo contest. This is where having a good selection of baby toys can come in very handy.