Bonding is the intense attachment that develops between parents and their baby. It makes parents want to shower their baby with love and affection and to protect and nourish their little one. Bonding gets parents up in the middle of the night to feed their hungry baby and makes them attentive to the baby's wide range of cries.
Bonding is a process, not something that takes place within minutes and not something that has to be limited to happening within a certain time period after birth. For many parents, bonding is a byproduct of everyday care giving. You may not even know it's happening until you observe your baby's first smile and suddenly realize that you're filled with love and joy.
The Ways Babies Bond
1. Touch becomes an early language as babies respond to skin-to-skin contact. It's soothing for both you and your baby while promoting your baby's healthy growth and development. (read more here)
2. Eye-to-eye contact provides meaningful communication at close range.
3. Babies can follow moving objects with their eyes.
4. Your baby tries — early on — to imitate your facial expressions and gestures.
5. Babies prefer human voices and enjoy vocalizing in their first efforts at communication.
Babies often enjoy just listening to your conversations, as well as your descriptions of their activities and environments.
Early bonding activities that both mom and dad can experience together include:
1. participating together in labor and delivery
2. feeding (breast or bottle); sometimes dad forms a special bond with baby when handling a middle-of-the-night feeding and diaper change
3. reading or singing to baby
4. sharing a bath with baby
5. mirroring baby's movements
6. mimicking baby's cooing and other vocalizations — the first efforts at communication
7. using a front baby carrier during routine activities
8. letting baby feel the different textures of dad's face
Source: (read more here)
