There are tons of tips on feeding babies and another ton on how to help them sleep better, as well as various 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.
Nobody disputes that eating and sleeping are basic needs of babies, but the same is not the case with arms, and yet they are also . It is essential for the development of the little ones, both in the short and long term, to feel the contact, the warmth and the security that the arms of mom and dad give them, from birth.
It is not a whim, it is a necessity
There are still those who continue to believe that by holding them too much in their arms babies “get used to” as if it were something bad, and as if children had to grow up, for their own good, away from the protection provided by the human warmth of their main caregivers. .
It’s absurd, right? Nobody imagines a female dog away from her cubs or a mother bear away from her cubs. It is the natural instinct. Mothers provide not only food for their young, 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 young had, in addition to the need for food, a universal need for contact , which led him decisively in the construction of the Attachment Theory.
It is no coincidence that babies fall asleep in your arms, and that when you leave them in the crib they wake up. Because in arms they feel calm and safe , knowing that there they are safe (or rather feeling, -because they are still capable of reasoning it- they simply feel it).
In addition to protection, and that they feel safe around us, parenting contributes to creating a strong bond between parents and children from birth and that continues throughout 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 dependency, but quite the opposite: knowing that your baby needs your arms is the most beautiful dependency.
The benefits of arms change genetics
There are still more arguments for choosing parenting. Evidence backed by scientific studies has shown that the close and comforting touch that young babies receive doesn’t just keep them warm, comfortable and loved.
A study published in 2017 on the effects of attachment parenting, that is, physical contact, touching and hugging them, assures that it affects babies at a 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, DNA samples were taken from the children to analyze a biochemical modification called DNA methylation.
It is an 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 their expression.
The researchers found differences in DNA methylation between “high contact” and “low contact” children at five specific DNA sites, two of which were within genes: one related to the immune system and one related to the metabolic system.
There is no doubt that human contact is beneficial for people (both children and adults need it), but this is the first study to show that it could even be changing the epigenetics of human babies .
Photos | iStockphoto
In Babies and more | Letter from a mother who no longer has a baby in her arms, for mothers who still have one
