The case against parents picking up their infant each time they fuss or cry has to do with the belief that doing so teaches them early on that whenever they need something, their parents will give it to them.
As a result, many believe that these babies will grow up spoiled.
New research, however, says that ignoring your baby when they’re crying is actually detrimental to their development.
“Snuggles matter,” says a WSBT report.
Conducted by Notre Dame Psychologist Darcia Narvaez, the study looked into more than 600 adults. The results found that those who had been cuddled when they were young grew up well-adjusted.
They also suffered less anxiety and in general had better mental health.
“Much research has already been done on the effects of how cuddling helps preemies, and now that researchers are seeing benefits all the way up to adulthood, it just goes to show what the Beatles knew all along—all you need is love,” said a WQAD report.
Not only that, showing affection to infants is critical because it lays the groundwork for a stronger relationship between a parent and child.
“The first four to six months of life for babies , that is one of the most important times for babies to develop that special bonding with their parents and their primary caregivers,” says Pediatrician Dr. Armeet Singh from the Unitypoint Clinic in Bettendorf.
“Now those are the times where definitely we encourage families that at any point of time they are crying, they are looking for somebody to help them out we need to respond to that.”
Dr. Narvaez also said that her research can finally confirm that picking up babies when they cry won’t spoil them.
In fact, by ignoring them when they cry will only ruin their development.
The research’s lead author says: ”What parents do in those early months and years are really affecting the way the brain is going to grow the rest of their lives, so lots of holding, touching and rocking, that is what babies expect.
“They grow better that way. And keep them calm, because all sorts of systems are establishing the way they are going to work.
“If you let them cry a lot, those systems are going to be easily triggered into stress. We can see that in adult hood, that people that are not cared for well, tend to be more stress reactive and they have a hard time self calming.”
READ: Colic in baby: What is colic and how can you help your baby?
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