There are tons of advice on feeding babies and another ton on how to help them sleep better, as well as several theories about why they wake up so many times during the night, to which there is no more explanation than to say that it is an evolutionary process And the only remedy is patience.
No one disputes that eating and sleeping are basic needs of babies, but with the arms the same does not happen, and yet they are also. It is essential for the development of small, both short and long term, feel contact, heat and safety that give him, from birth, the arms of mom and dad.
It is not a whim, it is a necessity
There are still those who still believe that by taking them too much in their arms, babies "get used to it" as if it were something bad, and as if children had to grow, for their own good, far from the protection provided by the human warmth of their main caregivers .
It's absurd, right? No one imagines a dog far from her puppies or a mother dares far from her cubs. It is the natural instinct. Mothers not only provide their young with food, but also protection, warmth, affection and containment.
The American psychologist Harry Harlow (1905-1981) did an experiment with monkeys in the 1960s and discovered that the offspring had, in addition to the need for food, a universal need for contact, which led him decisively in the construction of the Theory of Attachment.
"A child who knows that his attachment figure is accessible and sensitive to their demands gives them a strong and penetrating sense of security, and feeds them to value and continue the relationship" (John Bowlby).It is no accident that babies fall asleep in their arms, and that when you leave them in the crib they wake up. Why in arms they feel calm and safe, knowing that they are safe there (or rather feeling, because they are still able to reason it, they just feel it).
In addition to protection, and close to us they feel safe, parenting contributes to create a strong bond between parents and children since birth and that continues over the years.
Human babies need our arms, but also for us as parents it is a precious experience to provide them and not see it as a negative dependence, but quite the opposite: knowing that your baby needs your arms is the most beautiful dependence.
In Babies and more, does parenting end up when our children stop being babies?The benefits of the arms change the genetics
There are still more arguments to choose parenting. The evidence supported by scientific studies has shown that the close and comforting contact that young babies receive not only keeps them warm, comfortable and loved.
A study published in 2017 on the effects of parenting with attachment, that is, physical contact, touching and hugging them, ensures that affects babies at the molecular level and that these positive effects can last for years.
Scientists from the University of British Columbia in Canada, recorded for five weeks after birth the behavior of 94 parents with their babies, as well as the behavior of the babies (sleeping, crying, the time they were awake, etc ...).
Four and a half years later, children's DNA samples were taken to analyze a biochemical modification called DNA methylation.
In Babies and more Carrying your baby in your arms is better for him than you can imagine and science confirms itIs a epigenetic mechanism in which some parts of the chromosome are marked with small molecules of carbon and hydrogen, which often change the function of genes and affect your expression.
The researchers found differences in DNA methylation between children with "high contact" and children with "under contact" at five specific DNA sites, two of which were within the genes: one related to the immune system and one related to the metabolic system
There is no doubt that the human contact is beneficial for people (both children and adults need it), but this is the first study that shows that even could be changing the epigenetics of human babies.
Photos | iStockphoto
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