Bonding: Creating a Close Relationship with Your Adopted Baby
After a seemingly endless wait, you are presented with your new baby. While you’ve been preparing yourself for sometime, for your baby, it’s all a big surprise. Building the parent/child relationship begins on day one. To encourage bonding with your baby, we have compiled a few things to consider.
- Spend time together. As much as possible in fact. Not only that, but limiting visitors will help baby identify you as the primary caregiver.
- Encourage eye contact so you and your baby become comfortable with each other. Feeding time is ideal for close contact.
- Remember that your baby cannot be held too much. Holding or touching your baby shows your warmth, love and gentleness. Some families have had success with baby massage or carrying the baby around in a sling to increase contact.
- Realize and accept that all babies develop at their own rate. Be realistic and have patience.
- Talk to your baby-or sing. Any type of verbal communication will help form a bond while also helping language skills to develop.
- Be sure to include dad in all bonding activities. The security a family group provides is important to a baby, so be sure the whole family is there.
- Remember that while your new baby came into your family through adoption channels, not every issue you face will be an adoption issue. In fact, adopted babies will, for the most part, act just as a biological baby would.