Gentle touch

When babies don’t understand the full meaning of words and language, they are highly sensitive to other aspects of communication such as our facial expressions, the tone of our voice and even our touch. A baby can identify the difference between a gentle touch which is made with all the care, love and tenderness in our heart and a harsh touch which is a result of frustration, anger or suffering in our heart.

Remember all the times when you had that love and tenderness in your touch. Recall how your baby responded to that.

Remember all the times when you couldn’t help but have some anger in your heart when you touched or held your baby. Recall how your baby responded to that.

We as parents set the baseline for our children in the way we treat them. If we give them the experience of being held with warmth, tenderness, love and adoration, they will be able to believe and know that they are worthy of warmth, tenderness, love and adoration later when they grow up. They will be able to discern between love and aggression later when they grow up. They won’t confuse aggression for a form of love later when they grow up.

Activity:

Bring your attention to the deep love you have in your heart for your baby and hold them close, just sharing that experience of love with them.

Avoid holding or touching your baby when you are angry.

Massage your baby imagining that you are instilling all the warmth, tenderness and love you can into your baby so that they know it in their bones how all that love feels. (This helps with creating and strengthening brain circuits which operate unconsciously over our entire lifetime.)