It goes without saying that as adults, we go through positive and negative emotions every single day of our lives. These emotions, particularly the negative ones, need to be managed well or they end up overwhelming our lives and leave us feeling frustrated and helpless.
We might think that babies are not capable of showing emotions, but in reality, they feel just as much as we adults do. It’s important to be aware of your little one’s emotional development. As they grow older, they’ll need to learn how to express and manage their feelings, and parents play a crucial role in helping them do this.
Firstly, what kind of emotional needs can a baby possibly have?
Plenty! For instance, infants need one-to-one time with their parents, for it gives them a sense of closeness and bonding that helps them build a healthy sense of security as they undergo massive changes in their growth and development during the first few years of their lives.
Understandably, many modern parents work during the day and may not have much time for this kind of closeness, but they’ll have to ensure that their baby’s caregivers take on the role of giving due attention to the little one to make up for their absence.
This is far more important than worrying about the child getting too ‘attached’ to the caregiver.
When a baby is in distress
Babies do get distressed for various reasons. It could be because they’re hungry, wet, tired, or even uncomfortable. As they have no other means of communication other than wailing out loud, it’s important that parents tend to them immediately. It’s essential that babies realize that they care for and that such issues will be tended to. Babies need this sense of security, for that’s how they’ll learn to trust the people who care for them. As parents or caregivers, soothing a distressed baby swiftly will facilitate this trust and avoid unnecessary emotional breakdowns.
This fact will hopefully put to rest the old notion that it’s not wise to quickly pick up and soothe a crying baby, or that the baby will grow up too demanding of he or she is immediately tended to.
Every baby is different
A baby’s’ emotions are partially based on temperament and this may differ from baby to baby. Some babies, for example, are more active and some are less active; some are easy to soothe when they’re distressed and others are more difficult to soothe. This individual temperament is the reason why we notice how some babies don’t mind being passed from one set of arms to another, while others show signs of anxiety and prefer to be safe in mummy or daddy’s arms only. Be sensitive to your baby’s temperament when responding to his or her reactions to possible discomforts or anxiousness.
Face-to-face
Babies love gentle, face-to-face communication! A baby who is enjoying some face-to-face interaction with an adult has achieved an important developmental milestone that contributes to healthy emotional growth. So, whenever your baby is cooing and ‘chatting’ with you, make an effort to entertain the little one by smiling back and responding in a gentle, soothing voice.
Avoiding over-stimulation
It is very possible for babies to feel overwhelmed due to overstimulation. For some young babies, even eye contact can be too much for them, especially when they’re tired. So, watch for signs that your baby has had too much stimulation and needs a break. A common signal is when you’re playing with your baby, and he or she looks away. It’s a sign to back away a little and give baby some room to rest.
Attentive and sensitive caregivers
If your partner and you are working, your baby is probably left with a caregiver for quite a few hours each day. It’s important that said caregiver is the kind of person who has the time and desire to be attentive to your baby’s needs. As this may not be the norm for most babysitters, especially if it’s not a relative, you’ll have to make it known that you’d like her to have some one-on-one time with your baby.
