Once your baby arrives, almost all your time goes into taking care of them and showering them with your love and affection. Sometimes, this bonding doesn’t come naturally and parents feel unhappy that they are unable to connect with their little one.
It is alright, even experts claim that the emotional bonds don’t develop completely until your baby is around four months old. It may seem to be a gradual process, but there are many ways through which you can strengthen your bond with your bub.
1. Bond With The Bump
Your little one is right there with you, closest to you than they could ever be. Connect with your baby before they arrive into the world—massage your belly, feel them kick and move, talk and sing to your baby—they can hear you and can recognize your voice after birth.
Since they can’t feel it, father-to-be find it difficult to connect with the unborn baby. Involve them when you talk to your baby, decide their names and ask him how he would spend time with the baby when they arrive. Such an interaction can bring you closer to the reality that you both are soon going to become parents.
2. Keep Your Baby Closer
A few weeks or months after birth is the time when your baby needs you the most—they seek your care and attention. Make them feel secure and comfortable by keeping them close. Swaddle them and keep them close to your body.
In the initial weeks, the baby hasn’t yet figured out that you are their provider—keeping them close for a kiss, cuddle or a quick snuggle will make them feel secure and help you develop an emotional bond with your bub.
3. Breastfeeding Equals Bonding
Breastfeeding is a great way to create a strong bond with your baby. While they get familiar with your smell and touch, you can sing to them, gently stroke their head, talk to them and snuggle with them.
4. Massage Your Baby Often
Touch is important for your baby—they need to be held and touched with love and care. Massage is one way your baby can receive all the benefits of having a skin-to-skin contact. It helps them soothe and sleep better.
Massaging has a positive effect on their mental and physical well-being. So why wait for it? Have a routine bedtime massage session for your baby, use oils and moisturizer—it will make them less fussy and help them sleep better.
5. Choose To Co-Sleep
Co-sleeping or taking naps together is another way to bond with your little one—it also makes it easier for the mothers to breastfeed at night. You can either make your baby sleep next to you or place them in a cot adjacent to your bed. Whenever your baby needs you, you can always comfort them with the touch of your hands.
6. Have A Bath Time
Get in the tub filled with warm water and hold your little one over your legs or abdomen. Share a bath time with your baby—rub them with baby soap and gently wash their head with baby shampoo. Not only does it allow you to have a good time together, it also offers an abundance of skin-to-skin contact with your baby.
Make sure they are old enough to enjoy the experience. Also, have your partner hold and clean them afterward.
7. Develop Ways To Interact With Them
Sing a lullaby to your baby, read them a storybook that has lots of pictures, hum a tune to put them to sleep, play games with them—try to find ways to spend quality time with them. Make it a routine and your child will be happy and delighted to see you do all these activities.
Watch them throw a toothless smile at you, It is the most adorable thing a baby does and the most valuable thing a parent gets to experience.
It is okay to not feel a connection with your newborn in the first go. Over time, you will gradually develop a bond with your baby. Realizing that they are a part of you, time will come when you will find them irresistible.
