If you’re a new parent you may be wondering how to connect with your little one, never fear we’re here with 4 ways to bond with your baby!
Skin-to-skin contact
Skin-to-skin contact with your baby can be done by both parents and helps to calm both you and baby. It also helps to regulate their heart rate and breathing, helping them adapt to life outside the womb.
Breastfeeding your child
If you can, breastfeeding your baby is a great way to bond and spend some quality time with them. Any breast milk you can give them has the perfect nutrients from you to them (even the tiniest amount of colostrum at birth) and feeding on demand ensures your milk supply will continue. If you’ve chosen to feed your baby with a bottle, paced feeding is a good way to mimic how a baby takes milk from the breast and creates a special bond between caregiver and child.
Tucking them into bed
Following a bedtime routine is another way to bond with your child; having a nightly routine of a bath, story and cuddles in bed allows you to spend quality time with your little one and allows them to tell you their thoughts and feelings (especially as they grow older), plus sharing a bedtime story can create a love of reading.
15 minutes of uninterrupted play a day
Spending 15 minutes a day playing with your child is a fantastic way to create a special relationship with your little one. Uninterrupted play means no phones and no distractions (as much as you can), letting your child lead the way. Playing with your child can increase communication skills, their understanding of the world around them, problem solving and their imagination. It can start right from being newborn too; when they are in an active state they will start to maintain eye contact and babble at you!
