Communicate with your baby

In its broadest sense, communication is the exchange of signals or messages between two conscious beings. Even plants communicate, several species emit a chemical into the air when attacked by pests. The chemical causes other plants of the same species to change the flavor of their leaves so that they are not destroyed either.

Animals, birds, insects, fish communicate by a variety of means, body language, facial expression, sound, smell, basically the same ways that humans communicate.

Therefore, it follows that every movement we make, every sound is sending a message to other living beings around us.

You can probably tell just by looking at how people are feeling. You may often come across a woman on the street or in the supermarket who seems sad. You feel uncomfortable with some people because they seem to be angry all the time.

Has anyone ever asked you what happens to you as soon as they see you?

Of course they have, and you’ve done the same: we’re experts at reading other people’s little communication cues.

Your baby is too.

Your baby will pick up on and react to your mood.

If you feel anxious or stressed, you will be more tense with your baby, he will notice the difference in your touch, he will notice any change in the tone of your voice. He will reflect what you are feeling.

Be aware that you are constantly communicating, be self-aware, try to manage your feelings about your baby.

Remember the first needs of the baby:

Food
Heat
Safety
·Love

Food and warmth are delivered in a way that makes the baby feel safe and loved OR in a way that makes the baby feel unloved.

Regardless of what happens in your life, your priority is to make sure you give your child the best possible start in life. If you are feeling down, sad or in any other way that makes you feel less loving towards your child, seek professional help, you may just be exhausted but you may be suffering from postpartum depression, for both of you’s sakes, if you don’t. If she doesn’t feel the way she thinks she should feel, get help.

It doesn’t take much for a baby to feel loved and secure. It’s in the way you talk to him, touch him, hug him AND it’s in the way you talk to the other people around you, especially the other parents of the baby. Just because you’re not talking to your baby doesn’t mean he’s not listening.

You put out what you put in: Babies learn from their environment.

eye contact

Probably one of the first things she did was look into her baby’s eyes. A baby may not be able to see clearly for a few weeks after birth, but he is aware of your face, your eyes, and how close he is to you. As his eyes mature, he will first recognize his mom, then his dad, and once he recognizes these faces, he won’t want to go with anyone else and may make a big fuss when he passes it on to someone else. .

You are communicating that you do not recognize this person and therefore do not feel safe. He wants to be with the people he knows and trusts.

Soon his eyes will follow you around the room, looking for you and you to make sure everything is as it should be.

There is a special joy in looking into the eyes of a baby and seeing there the complete trust and love they have for you.

Soon eye contact and voice will be coordinated, as soon as your baby sees you he will make some kind of noise and of course you will be talking to him as much as you can.

copy cat

The baby is looking at faces, he is looking into his parents’ eyes, they are looking back and talking to him softly and quietly, he makes a lot of baby noises, his parents copy his noises and maybe what he does with his face and hands. He soon learns that they will do what he does, and he will try to do what they do.

Observing, listening and copying, this is how babies learn. Make sure you’re doing the kinds of things you want your baby to copy!

New parents are always very happy to know that their child is just like them, not only in appearance but also in manners. The looks they are born with, the gestures they absorb from interactions with the people closest to them.

talking

How do children learn to speak?

Not just learning words. Babies must first learn that communication occurs between people, primarily between the baby and her mother. Usually when a mother is feeding her baby, she will look at the child and talk softly, smile and hug the baby. This baby learns that it is good to be with the mother, she provides food, warmth and comfort, but she is also giving the child something else, she is talking to her baby, she is communicating with her child. In return, the baby will follow her with his eyes, smile, and make voice sounds in response to the sounds the mother makes.

Most parents will pick up on the baby’s responses and encourage them. Occasionally, however, there are babies born to mothers who, for whatever reason, perhaps due to illness or even as a result of drug abuse, do not respond to their child’s attempts to communicate and understand the world into which they were born. .

Evidence of early childhood deprivation was all too obvious in children discovered in Romanian orphanages in the 1980s. These children had been abandoned by parents unable to care for them, taken into state care and simply kept on metal cots. and fed. There was no love, no hugs, no talk, no toys, no stimulation. All of these children initially appeared to have some form of severe learning disability, when in reality what they suffered from was a severe lack of any kind of intellectual or emotional stimulation so necessary for normal human development. Some of these children responded to the intervention of aid workers and foster families who went to the country to try to help, but some will be emotionally distraught for the rest of their lives.

It would be easy to say that this would only happen to children in extreme circumstances. NOT SO, experience in a variety of settings in the UK and New Zealand over the last thirty years has shown that there are children in families from all walks of life who suffer from inadequate upbringing.

Many of our children these days are left in the hands of inexperienced caregivers, or people who provide the bare minimum to meet the legal requirements for a good monthly salary. Many children these days are born to young single mothers, who have no support and little idea of ​​what a baby needs. In this age of working women and increased travel, we have all but lost extended family in many parts of this country. This means that there is not the wealth of experience available to young mothers to help them care for their babies. Gone are the grandmothers who were there to help with time and advice. They are busy pursuing their own careers, or they may be living on the other side of the country.

Official services are there to support and advise young families, but as with most other professional services, there is a shortage of midwives and health visitors. In any case, a visit once a week or a fortnight is not really helpful, at best it allows the authorities to ensure that the child is not abused or neglected.

Earlier it was said that you get what you put in, this applies to both society and the individual. If we as a society do not value nurturing and supporting the youngest and most vulnerable members of our society, we can expect to foot the bill later when they drop out of school, beat up other people’s grandmothers, get high on drugs etc.

If you have not been loved and valued then you will not be able to love and value, it was not put in so it is not there to come out.

Protection and security

Young babies quickly realize that when they cry, the mother will come to see them, she can pick up the child, just soothe the child in the crib and talk to him, the baby feels comforted and safe.

If the mother or other adult doesn’t come when the baby cries, the baby starts to feel lost, insecure, so he cries a little louder, still no one comes, this baby is getting scared now, he can’t put things into words, but his emotions or feelings are as strong as those of any other person. This baby is already screaming, he is alone and scared. He can happen one of three things,

the mother may appear suddenly, she is worried and worried, she had not really heard the baby cry, she calms him down, hugs him, she can offer him food, he will surely talk to him and calm him down.

The mother may appear yelling about the noise the baby is making, she may pick him up, she may check that there is nothing wrong, she may yell at the child to shut up, the baby may even be hit or shaken to make the noise stop. She then puts herself back on her cot and closes the door.

· No one comes to see the baby, so he cries himself exhausted, falls asleep alone and doesn’t understand why no one came when he cried.

Which baby has had the best experience?

What baby is going to trust that its mother will come when called?

What baby will develop a feeling of security?

The above example does not imply that if a baby is allowed to cry itself to sleep, it will be damaged for life. Rather, young babies need to be cared for so that they develop a sense of security. If the baby is crying and the mother is sure there is no problem, then all it takes is a little reassurance, a quick visit, a pat on the back for a minute or two, just to let the baby know you are still around.

Each action communicates its own particular message to your baby. Learn by example, be careful with the example you give.