Excited to talk to your little one when she comes out? No need to wait until she’s born to do so. Learn how to bond with baby in the womb here.
What can you read in this article?
- What do babies do in the womb all day?
- Talking to baby in womb during pregnancy
- How to bond with baby in womb? Here are some things you can try.
When we’re pregnant, we start thinking of the life we’ll lead with our lives with our little one. We get so worked up thinking of all the things we can do together when she’s already out. You’re excited to dress her up in cute outfits, feed her solid food, show her the blue sky and take her to the zoo.
But why wait until she’s out of your tummy to start a relationship with your baby? Did you know that you can already bond with your baby while she’s still in your womb?
At around 18 weeks of pregnancy, your unborn baby will start being able to hear sounds in your body like your heartbeat. At four months, she can already feel it when you stroke or gently touch your tummy. And by seven months, they can hear some sounds outside your body, such as your voice.
By the time your pregnancy is on full-term, your baby’s hearing will almost be the same as an adults. So it’s really just like you’re talking to another person in the same room! So all your efforts to bond with your baby will not go unnoticed by her.
What do babies do in the womb all day?
If you’ve been feeling your baby move inside your tummy, you might be wondering what she’s doing in your womb all day. Does she only sleep? What else is there to do inside anyway?
But actually, the fetus inside your tummy has a lot more in common with a newborn than you think. They sleep (almost 90 percent of the time), they listen to sound and even have their own thoughts and memories separate from yours. Amazing, right?
At around 16 weeks in utero, your child can even use her hands to touch her face or suck her thumb. They also start “walking,” which is the piiter-patter you feel in your tummy.
Are they bored inside the womb? Not really! Some ultrasounds showed that the baby moves and excitedly jumps up and down when his mother laughs.
Some studies have also revealed that a baby can feel and remember its mother’s emotional state. So you’re probably more connected to your baby than you think.
How to bond with baby in the womb?
Michelle Leclaire O’Neill, Ph.D., and author of Meditations for Pregnancy: 36 Weekly Practices for Bonding with Your Unborn Baby is quite the expert when it comes to pregnancy. She’s recently been endorsing the importance and significance of bonding with your baby during your pregnancy.
“Bonding with your baby during pregnancy is important for your relationship and will help you get ready for parenthood,” she claims.“One of the best reasons to connect in utero is that it helps mothers discover feelings they didn’t even know they had.”
Developing a relationship with your baby while you’re pregnant can do wonders for the baby, and can even have benefits on you as well!
If you’re curious as to how you can spend quality time with your baby while pregnant, these are simple tips to do it.
You’ve probably heard a lot about listening to music with your baby while pregnant. Some researchers say that the studies supporting intellectual benefits are inconclusive at best.
While that may be true, O’Neill believes that even if it won’t make your baby smarter, there are benefits to be had through bonding. Listening to music with your baby can soothe and relax them.
“Any kind of calming music works,” she claims, “but baroque, like Bach or Handel, might be best, since its heartbeat-like tempo is especially soothing,” said O’Neill.
A lot of prenatal prenatal yoga and meditation tends to be more “mommy-centric” as it focuses on relaxing Mom. What you may not realize is that the uninterrupted time you dedicate to this activity actually offers you a good amount of peaceful, tranquil bonding time with your baby!
“Sometimes a pregnant mother is so busy that the only time she has to relax is at the end of a yoga class,” O‘Neill suggests.
Surely since you’ve been pregnant, you (and about a hundred other people) have placed hands on your tummy. Whether it’s to feel the baby, or to see how far along you are, you’ve more than likely had hands on your abdomen during pregnancy.
O’Neill suggests that lightly massaging the belly or rubbing the tummy can help you to relax and even has a positive effect on the baby.
“It calms their whole body down, and the baby too,” she states.
Okay, so maybe “conversation” might be the wrong term considering your baby won’t be able to talk back to you. However, O’Neill believes that even if your baby “won’t understand the meaning of the words yet, but the rhythm and the tone of your voice will be comforting regardless.”
Try narrating what you’re doing to your baby in a sweet, calming voice, or even asking him/her questions. Even just telling them sweet pleasantries, or singing to them will help build a strong relationship with your baby. It may seem strange to talk to your baby bump, but it’s a great way to bond.
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While the first four suggestions are surefire ways to bond with your baby, here are other tips that can strengthen your bond with the tiny human being in your womb.
As long as you have your doctor’s go signal, dancing is a good way to stay fit during pregnancy. And as a bonus, it’s a great way to bond with your baby too.
Gentle movement releases endorphins, the happy hormones. And when a mom feels good, the baby feels good too. Try swaying your hips and moving your legs the next time you listen to music and feel how your baby reacts. Just stay away from complicated dance moves for now.
Because your baby’s sense of hearing is one of the first ones developed, it can benefit from the sound of your voice, whether you’re singing, talking or reading. It’s never too early to introduce the love of books to your baby.
The sound of your voice will calm them. So add reading a book out loud to the baby every night to your routine. Try reading the Bible or poems about a mother’s love
Soon, your newborn will be the center of attention at family time, so why not acclimate him to the sounds and voices of his dad and siblings while he’s still in the womb?
By encouraging family members to talk to your baby bump, they’ll bond faster and your baby will be more at home with these familiar voices as well.
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Start a Pregnancy Journal
As mentioned earlier, your baby remember your emotions while in utero. So why not start writing in a pregnancy journal and read your entries out loud to your little one?
It’s a way to de-stress and to get your thoughts together about your whole pregnancy journey. And when this chapter is over, you and your child will enjoy re-reading your entries together.
If you want to feel closer to your baby, you can also track his growth, his movement and even his kicks. So download a pregnancy app like theAsianparent app where you can learn more about your baby’s development in the womb.
Additional information by Camille Eusebio
Source:
American Pregnancy Association, Parents
