Breastfeeding our child is one of the most extraordinary and wonderful experiences that we mothers can live. It is a moment of absolute intimacy that connects us with our baby in a unique way, and leads us to lavish beautiful tokens of love on each other.
Do you know that one of the most powerful gestures that our baby dedicates to us to express his love and gratitude to us while we breastfeed him is to put his little hand in our mouth? Do you know what lies behind this universal attitude that makes mothers instantly melt with love?
What the baby tells us when he puts his hand in our mouth while we feed him
“I love you” or “I love you” are two magic words with a powerful meaning. So much so, that we reserve them exclusively for the most special people for us; those people who are everything in our life and whom we love with all our soul.
And there is no greater, purer and more special love than the one we parents feel towards our children, and of course, the one they feel for us and express to us every day with their small gestures.
Although our baby cannot speak yet, he is able to express his love to us with gestures full of tenderness and affection , such as a look that is fixed in our eyes, a disinterested smile or a little hand that is raised towards us in search of contact.
And it is that for the baby, his mother’s breast is much more than food ; it is his favorite place in the world, his refuge, his consolation and his peace. For mothers, feeling our baby skin to skin, feeding from our breast is also a unique experience that connects us with our child in a special way.
And in this situation of strong intimacy , one of the most powerful signs of love that the baby can offer us arises: when he raises his little hand and caresses our face , or puts his little fingers in our mouth. Through this universal gesture, the baby not only explores the face of his mother, plays, relates to her and interacts, but above all he is expressing his love and gratitude.
What should the mother do to correspond to this gesture of her baby?
It is very important that the mother corresponds to this signal by making eye contact with her baby, smiling at her while breastfeeding, talking to her, caressing her or kissing her little hand. The sum of all these details will help the baby to forge a healthy construction of self-concept, self-esteem and security.
We should never ignore our baby’s gesture or move his hand away from our face. If she scratches us or teases us with her little fingernails, we can just wrap her hand in ours and kiss her, while we talk to her and smile.
Of course, these kinds of gestures of mutual love are not unique to breastfeeding. Whatever the way of feeding the baby, we can establish verbal and non-verbal communication with him that makes him feel loved and invites him to reciprocate.
