A mother’s love naturally makes her kiss her baby to show her love. No mother is asked to kiss her baby and mothers usually cannot get their hands off their little one. Studies say that kissing is a way to build the emotional bond between the mother and the child. But, apart from showing your love, kissing also has other long-term benefits on your little one. Read the three long-term benefits of kissing your baby.
1. Kissing Your Baby Builds Your Baby’s Immunity
You take the pathogens that might be on your baby’s skin when you kiss your newborn. These pathogens reach your lymphoid organs where the B cells are present in your tonsils. The breastfeeding mother uses these B cells to produce antibodies against the pathogens. These B cells are then passed on to your baby to fight the pathogens present on your baby’s body. So, kissing is a great way to help build and increase and strengthen your baby’s immune system.
2. Kissing Your Baby Could Improve His/Her IQ Levels
If your baby is crying, do not ever ignore it. Some people may advise you to let your baby cry for a while as this might help your baby grow emotionally independent. Mothers should never leave their baby crying as it can harm your baby in many ways.
But studies in the past and recent times have proven it otherwise. A research by Harlow in the 1950’s and a more recent study by Kim Bard at the University of Portsmouth in England experimented with chimps. They deprived chimps of attachment and the results showed that those chimps who are deprived of attachment were intellectually inferior to those chimps who received mother’s love.
Another study was done at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, brain images revealed that a mother’s love influences a baby’s brain morphologically. Hippocampus is a part of the brain which is associated with stress responses. Studies show that the size of the hippocampus in children who are nurtured well is 10% larger than in the children who weren’t nurtured well.
Your newborn’s brain is not hard-wired and is very flexible. Your baby’s brain can be molded by various inputs and also based on the environment in which your baby is surviving or growing. Here is a list of things that benefit your baby from your motherly love.
- Touching your baby often to show your love or to respond to your baby’s signals help your baby’s brain mature. Touching your baby often also reduces the stress your baby feels too.
- Kissing your baby or touching your baby makes your baby feel secure and helps to develop your baby’s brain in many aspects.
- Your baby develops a good stress response to your love and touches.
- When you touch your baby often, you are helping your baby hold more information in his/her prefrontal cortex. It also helps your baby learn to have a restraint over impulses and adjust and build social relationships.
- Kissing helps to build a positive feeling and vibe around your little one.
- Expressing love and kissing your baby builds your baby’s neuronal connections and make your baby smart as a result.
3. Your Baby Learns To Be Empathetic
Expressing your love by touching, cuddling, and kissing your child can help build your little one’s unique personality. Studies have shown that touching can develop not only the physical but your baby’s emotional health too. Most babies who are nurtured are sensitive to others needs and tend to interact well with other children. Additionally, these babies also accomplished more academically as compared to those kids who didn’t receive the same kind of care from their mothers. These benefits were long-term and extended to adulthood too.
So, every time you kiss your baby, remember that you are unconsciously doing good for your baby and benefitting him/her on a long-term. so go on and fill your baby’s face with kisses as often as possible.
