Providing self-soothing skills
Thumb-sucking, rocking, and carrying a blanket or stuffed animal
are ways that babies and toddlers soothe themselves. Adding mas-
sage to your baby’s experience provides another self-soothing skill.
The ability to calm himself down and deal with his emotions will
help your child well into adulthood. Self-soothing skills help children
become more resilient: Your child will be better able to handle and
recover from stressful situations.
Massage helps your baby calm himself down by teaching him what
it feels like to relax. The more frequently your baby experiences
relaxation in his body, the easier it becomes for him to bring his
body back into a relaxed state on his own.
Simply holding your baby teaches him valuable self-soothing skills.
The more frequently your baby experiences feeling safe and secure,
the easier it is for him to create these feelings for himself as he gets
older.Bonding in a hospital bed
Chances are that your experience with delivering a baby in a hospital will be much
different than the experience your mother had. For example, most hospitals today
are sensitive to the effects of lighting and noise on newborns. In many labor and
delivery rooms, you find soft lighting and nurses speaking quietly. The reason for
this is we want to welcome babies into the world with warmth and sensitivity.
Emerging into this world can be shocking and sometimes even traumatic, and harsh
lights and loud voices certainly don’t help.
Another significant change is that most hospitals and birthing centers now encour-
age bonding through touch right away. Rather than a newborn being taken imme-
diately to the hospital nursery, in many cases the baby is placed on the mother’s
chest just after birth. Also, new parents are encouraged to share a room with their
newborn. Keeping your baby at your side during the hospital stay, rather than in the
nursery (which is sometimes located on a separate floor!), promotes bonding by
giving you more opportunities to touch and hold your baby.