Building a strong bond between parent and baby

It is important for both parents to get to experience the joy of having a close bond with their baby. Sometimes when mother's are the soul food source for baby, dad's can feel left out. While breastfeeding is an amazing bonding experience for mother's, there are many other ways both parents can build a healthy bond with their baby. Just remember, every baby is different and some babies prefer different types of bonding with different parents.

Rocking/Magic Baby Hold

My first son was a complete angel the first six months of his life. He never cried, would let anyone rock him, and loved to be in his baby k'tan. It was quite blissful really. I would rock him all the time. Others would too. He loved it and he was always so hot natured his warmth would give anyone rocking him a warm fuzzy feeling inside :) Then I had my second child and he cried the first six months of his life. One of the only things that would calm him down was the magic baby hold found in The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding. You can see an excerpt of the book and how to do the hold here. He liked it best when my husband held him in this hold, and I firmly believe this is one of the things that built their bond the most. It was so sweet to watch him drool in the comfort on his arms.

Baby Massage

There are plenty of great resources out there on how to give a baby massage. Or you can do like us and just follow your little one's cues on what they do and don't like. Cole wasn't crazy about baby massage. Maybe it's because we didn't use essential oils with Cole or he just wasn't crazy about that form of touch, I don't know. But, Collin on the other hand loved it. He would really relax when we massaged him with Young Living's lavender oil. We usually mixed it with a carrier oil like coconut oil, olive oil, or whatever we had around so we could massage his whole body with just a couple drops of lavender oil.

Changing Diapers

I don't think anyone, including baby, "enjoys" the diaper changing process. It can be a great bonding time though. You can look your baby in the eyes, talk, sing, and comfort them if they are cranky. Give them a little toy or blanket to hold on to. Really enjoy the time together. 

Baby Wearing

I LOVE baby wearing! Cole and Collin both love being worn and we have definitely got our money's worth out of our carriers. My husband has lower back problems and since baby wearing takes the stress off his back he almost always wears Collin if he is carrying him for more than a few minutes. A baby carrier is on my list of definite NEEDS I suggest to every new mother. They take up less space than a stroller and are much easier to carry your baby around in than a car seat carrier. Baby and parent get to enjoy closeness while the parent can enjoy that blissful smell of their baby and the baby can rock to the sound of their parents heartbeat. It's a wonderful bonding experience. I am going to be so sad when my boys are too big to be worn any more. 

Bath Time

I never could figure out those little newborn bath tubs. I don't know if it was just the one I had or what but it was slippery, awkward, and I was terrified I was going to drop my baby. We always just took a bath with them until they were big enough to sit up in the tub by themselves. Who doesn't love relaxing in the bath tub? Add a few drops of Young Living essential oils and a sweet baby on your chest and it's even more amazing! This is probably one of my top three favorite ways to bond with my boys. 

Of course there are many other ways to build a healthy bond with your baby. These are just the ones that have worked well for our family and the first ones I suggest to others. Leave a comment and tell me your favorite way that you bond with your babies!