Introduction
Becoming a parent can be exciting and fun; however, it can be too demanding, notably if a mother lacks adequate knowledge of maneuvering through the primary care practices. As a new parent, one is bound to have several questions regarding the appropriate approaches for taking care of infants. This paper provides a guide for new parents; it focuses on three major parental subjects, including early sensory development, breastfeeding versus bottle feeding, and attachment.
Early Sensory Development
Vision
Babies can detect motion at birth; they can focus on devices placed at a distance of approximately eight inches. They are usually sensitive to bright light and have green and red color vision. Towards the second month’s cessation, infants can monitor smooth movement patterns and begin discriminating between colors. Furthermore, according to Gogate (2017), they can focus better on objects placed farther away during the third month. Infants also start developing depth perception during this period, which develops continually until age two or three. Various toy companies develop miniature replicas with geometric shapes and white and black colors for newborns and brightly-colored toys with specific patterns for children aged three months and above. Playthings encourage development since they promote the proper formation of the child’s neuronal pathways.
Hearing
By the gestation’s termination, a baby’s auditory system is usually fairly mature; their hearing sense continues to develop throughout the initial year following birth. Babies exhibit this sensation by turning their eyes or head toward a sound’s direction. According to Gogate (2017), neonates are more likely to react to higher than lower frequencies. Furthermore, longer duration and repetition increase babies’ hearing probability and response to a particular sound. Parents can enhance infant stimulation using musical toys with high-pitched tones and repetitive sounds.
Taste and smell
Taste buds become perceptible during the eighth gestation week – their taste sensation is usually formed by the fourteenth week. Infants typically express aversive and positive facial reactions to tests at birth (Gogate, 2017). Their sense of smell is manifested at birth; they start distinguishing and preferring their mother’s scent. It is crucial to monitor their response to textures, salty, bitter, sour, and sweet sensations to identify their dislikes and likes.
Touch
Infants, regardless of their age, have a well-established sense of touch. At birth, an infant’s sense of touch can be distinguished through their reflexes whenever they interact with various stimuli. An example is a rooting reaction, which occurs when a child turns its health reflexively towards the direction of its cheek’s touch (Gogate, 2017). It is crucial to comprehend the touch stimulation types preferred by an infant. For instance, babies who fall asleep upon being rocked and love cuddles may incline firm pressure against their parent’s body. Some prefer lying or playing in one spot, while others always explore by touching different textures and objects.
Attachment
Parents play an instrumental in their children’s lives, including attachment figures, caregivers, disciplinarians, playmates, and teachers. Infant-parent attachment types are classified into two primary categories: Organized (resistant, avoidant, and secure) and disorganized (insecure-disorganized) attachment forms. A baby’s attachment system can be actuated when their feelings of security and safety are threatened. Starting at approximately six months old, babies begin anticipating particular caregivers’ reactions to their stress and develop deportments correspondingly based on their day-to-day interactions.
Babies whose guardians respond to their stress through loving or sensitive approaches often feel secure and freely express their negative feelings. Children whose parents continually react to distress using ‘rejecting’ or insensitive strategies typically develop an organized approach to handling stress (Ruiz et al., 2018). They typically avoid their caregivers when stressed and reduce the expression of negative emotions in their parents’ presence. This strategy increases an infant’s probability of developing adjustment issues.
Newborns whose caregivers react to their distress using unpredictable or inconsistent ways also utilize the organized approach for resolving distress. They typically demonstrate negative sentiments to attract their inconsistently responsive parent’s attention. These children may exaggerate their expression of stress and anger. Wright and Eginton (2016) also distinguish this response approach as ‘insecure,’ arguing that it is linked to an elevated possibility of developing emotional and social maladjustment. A common pathway to an infant’s disorganized attachment involves babies’ exposure to specific distorted parenting types and unusual or ‘atypical’ caregiver deportments, including frightening or dissociated behavior.
Breast Feeding Versus Bottle Feeding
Breastfeeding
Nursing can be an outstanding encounter for both the infant and the mother; it provides a unique bonding experience cherished by most parents and ideal nourishment. Several health organizations recommend this approach as the best option for babies. For instance, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) endorses infants’ exclusive breastfeeding for the initial six months (Martin et al., 2016). The institution encourages parents to perform this activity until at least twelve months and above, depending on the mother’s willingness. Breastfeeding has multiple advantages:
- It helps fight infections as well as other medical conditions.
- It provides infants with essential nutrients and enhances digestion.
- It is convenient, affordable, and promotes the child’s likelihood of accepting solid foods.
- It allows skin-to-skin contact and is beneficial to mothers; it helps burn calories, shrink the uterus, and decrease the likelihood of diseases, including cardiovascular disorders, hypertension, breast cancer, and ovarian/uterus cancer.
New mothers’ common concerns, particularly during the initial period of conception, include discomfort, including latch-on pain, feeding time and frequency, and diet.
Formula/Bottle Feeding
Commercially prepared formulas for infants are a healthy option for breast milk. Furthermore, according to Appleton et al. (2018), they contain some nutrients and vitamins breastfed children need from supplements. Processed under sterile conditions, formulas try to duplicate mothers’ milk utilizing a complex synthesis of vitamins, fats, sugars, and proteins that are impossible to create at home. Some of the pros of bottle-feeding include flexibility and convenience. The primary challenges linked to this approach include the lack of antibodies, its incompatibility with breast milk’s complexity, its associated costs, and the likelihood of triggering constipation and gas production.
Conclusion
Infants often discover the world through the coordination between these senses. The attachment quality a baby establishes with a particular caregiver is significantly ascertained by their response to the child following the attachment system’s activation. Deciding the most appropriate method for feeding one’s infant will depend on the mother’s preference and other factors, including the parent’s underlying conditions. However, while weighing the cons and pros, it is recommended that guardians consult lactation experts and physicians.
References
Appleton, J., Laws, R., Russell, C. G., Fowler, C., Campbell, K. J., & Denney-Wilson, E. (2018). Infant formula feeding practices and the role of advice and support: An exploratory qualitative study. BMC Pediatrics, 18, 1–11. Web.
Gogate, L. (2017). Development of early multisensory perception and communication: From environmental and behavioral to neural signatures. Developmental Neuropsychology, 41(5-8), 269–272. Web.
Martin, C. R., Ling, P-R., & Blackburn, G. L. (2016). Review of infant feeding: Key features of breast milk and infant formula. Nutrients, 8(5), 1–11. Web.
Ruiz, N., Piskernik, B., Witting, A., Fuiko, R., & Ahnert, L. (2018). Parent-child attachment in children born preterm and at term: A multigroup analysis. PLoS ONE, 13(8), 1–14. Web.
Wright, B., & Edginton, E. (2016). Evidence-based parenting interventions to promote secure attachment: Findings from a systematic review and meta-analysis. Global Pediatric Health, 3, 1–14. Web.