Bonding with your newborn baby

From the first moment you lock eyes with your newborn baby, you will want to bond with her and show her that you've never loved anything or anyone as much as you love her. You'll want to shower her constantly with affection. But bonding with a newborn baby isn't always so easy for every parent.

Bonding with your baby can be work, and there's no exact time frame for every parent and newborn. But taking the time to learn ways to bond with your newborn will help both parents feel connected and promote healthy development for your baby. It also helps a lot when you are doing the newborn session.

Bonding with your baby strengthens the connection between parent and child. It allows your newborn baby to feel secure and helps her understand that you are the one she can rely on for all her needs, including love and comfort.

Ways to Bond With Your Baby

1. Breastfeeding. In addition to providing the nutrition your little one needs, breastfeeding allows him to be close to you, to feel and smell your skin. Keep eye contact during feedings as well.
2. Respond to distress. Your baby will cry a lot during the first months of her life - it's her only way of communicating. Holding her and reassuring her as quickly as possible when she's upset helps build trust.
3. Be silly. Talk to, play with, and make silly faces at your baby. Giving him attention and playing with him encourages smiles and laughter and help with bonding.
4. Hold your baby on your left side. This will allow your newborn to hear your heartbeat.
5. Learn to swaddle. For most babies, a good swaddle means good sleep. Teach yourself the best newborn swaddle techniques to make your baby feel secure and safe.
6. Do what he likes. Once you've learned what activities make your baby happy, try to do them as regularly as possible.

Many experts agree that one of the best and easiest ways to bond with your baby is through skin-to-skin contact. Skin-to-skin contact is when you place your baby on your chest with the skin touching. Use a blanket to keep your baby warm during skin-to-skin contact.

Try to introduce skin-to-skin contact as soon as possible after delivery. During skin-to-skin contact, hormones like oxytocin and endorphins get released, which helps create the emotional bond between parent and child. This can also lessen the possibility of postnatal depression.

Also, skin-to-skin contact isn't something that only moms can do! Dads release the same hormones and can easily bond with their little ones during skin-to-skin contact as well.