It’s never too early to start forming a wholesome and beautiful relationship with your baby, and prenatal bonding is the way to begin. This vibrant two-way connection offers profound benefits for your baby’s development. It can be a delightful and whimsical journey that shapes your little one’s early world before they’ve even opened their eyes. Here are five prenatal bonding tips to start creating a most special lifelong relationship with your child.
- It’s more than just your voice. Did you know that your baby may start hearing sounds from as early as 18 weeks? Other research shows that your child could even recognise your voice at 25 weeks. As you talk out loud to your growing belly, they can hear you and start acclimating to your voice. At that stage, babies also tune into the songs you sing, music playing in the background, and even the lullabies you might hum to them.
- Bonding also includes the nutrition that your baby experiences in the womb. The womb contains amniotic fluid, which carries faint traces of scents and aromas from the foods you eat. This means that your baby’s first “meal” is flavoured with your cravings. If you loved bananas or blueberries while pregnant, don’t be surprised if your baby arrives into the world with a budding palate for the same foods.
- How you feel can be felt by your baby. From a study, “As a foetus grows, it’s constantly getting messages from its mother. It’s not just hearing her heartbeat and whatever music she might play to her belly; it also gets chemical signals through the placenta.” In this study, researchers found, “What mattered to the babies was if the environment was consistent before and after birth. That is, the babies who did best were those who either had mothers who were healthy both before and after birth, and those whose mothers were depressed before birth and stayed depressed afterward. What slowed the babies’ development were changing conditions; a mother who went from depressed before birth to healthy after or healthy before birth to depressed after.”
- When you feel those butterfly kicks, take a moment to touch your stomach, and whisper a hello to your baby. That’s their way of communicating. Some researchers believe kicks and nudges are a way for babies to respond to your movements or sounds.
- Keep a baby bonding journal. Write down all the special moments of this incredible journey, and you can even share the journal with your child when they’re older.
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