Magic of touch
Baby skin is soft, smooth and irresistable – give in to the temptation and reap the many benefits of a mother’s touch, says Meg Faure, occupational therapist and co-author of the Baby Sense series of books
TOUCH IS A PRECIOUS WAY of communicating love to your baby. The moment you first held your little one you probably caressed his head and stroked his tiny fingers, such is the overwhelming instinct to connect through touch. But touch is not only a wonderful way to connect. Touch is absolutely vital for learning, development and even survival in the young baby.
A PRIMAL NEED
Many years ago, research by Harry Harlow, a pioneer in the field of touch research, showed just how essential touch is to the new baby: newborn monkeys were separated from their mother and raised by two artificial surrogate “mothers”, constructed of a wire mesh body with a rough representation of a face. The first “mom” delivered milk from a bottle. The other “mom” did not provide milk, but had a soft terrycloth towel covering her hard mesh body.
Amazingly, the baby monkeys spent their days hanging onto the tummy of the softer mother, only visiting the harder mom for occasional nutrition from the bottle, showing that their need for touch overrode their need for food.
TOUCH MATTERS
When it comes to the basic need for touch, our human babies are no different – touch is critical for growth and survival, as well as physical and emotional development.
Touch input is received from your baby’s skin, joints and organs and gives his brain information about temperature, pain, touch and pressure.
As this input is refined over time, it also tells your baby where he has been touched, how hard it was and even what he is touching. Touch gives us a sense of our bodies and tells us whether we are threatened or being comforted, so it has a
close link to our emotions.
Your baby’s sense of touch is one of his most advanced abilities at birth.
Although he can’t see you all that clearly (babies can only see about 25cm away from them at birth), he immediately feels your calming touch when you cuddle him. He also feels the change in temperature from the warm environs of the womb to the cold air of the delivery room. He’ll feel the painful prick of a needle, but it will be a while before his sense of touch is advanced enough for him to know exactly where he is being touched or pricked.
Babies who are not touched do not thrive. It’s been shown that orphans in institutions exhibit a failure to thrive if they are not lovingly held and touched, even though their nutritional needs are adequately and consistently met. We know that newborns who are massaged gain weight faster and sleep better than those who are not massaged.
MORE THAN A MAGIC TOUCH
Touch has an enormous role to play in learning, coordination and even intelligence. When you touch and caress your baby, his brain starts to form an internal map of his body, and a good understanding of body scheme is important for your baby to coordinate his movements (called motor planning). For example, your baby will reach for a ball hanging from a mobile because he knows where his hands are to direct them to reach for the ball. If he knows where his mouth is, he can pull the ball to his mouth to explore it further. Later these motor planning tasks become more and more complex, such as riding a bike or learning how to write efficiently. All of these things have their foundations in your loving caresses.
Without a strong body scheme, your baby does not learn how his body fits into the world. This is known as spatial awareness. As your baby learns about his body through touch, he develops a spatial outline of himself and eventually the world around him. For example, he learns that “I am this big and can fit under a chair this high”. This will stand him in good stead as a preschooler and when playing spatial games, such as puzzles and blocks. This is also necessary later on for an understanding of maths and science concepts. Simply put, touching your baby develops good body scheme, which is vital for exploring and learning, which contributes to your baby’s long-term intelligence.
EVEN MORE BENEFITS
Bonding develops in the first year of life and this forms the foundation for all of your baby’s relationships, even those he forms later in life. Part of forming a connection with your baby involves touch. Most parents find stroking their newborn’s soft hair or caressing his velvet skin irresistible. The same delight we get from these experiences is mirrored in most babies’ response to touch. Babies bond quickly with the person who touches and nurtures them. More than the loving touch that comes naturally to you when engaging with your baby – hugging, cuddling and snuggling with him – massaging him can go a long way to accessing the many benefits of touch and its effects on your baby’s wellbeing. However you choose to do it, it’s worth it to touch your baby in a loving and positive manner often.
THREE STROKES FOR BABY 1 MILKING
Alternately stroke both of your baby’s legs from his hip to his ankles, using two hands for each of your baby’s legs at a time. Repeat by moving one hand at a time back to his hips and then stroking firmly and slowly towards his ankle, in an action that mimics one that you would use to milk a cow. Always leave one hand in contact with his skin.
2 THE PADDLE WHEEL
Most little ones are calmed by this stroke. Place one hand just under your baby’s ribs and glide your hand towards his groin area. Before lifting your hand, place the other hand under his rib cage and repeat the movement – always maintaining contact with your baby’s skin with one hand. Continue alternating hands for a few repeats of this movement.
3 FINGER SQUEEZES
Very gently grasp the base of each of your baby’s finger (one finger at a time) and slide your fingers to the end of your baby’s finger, gently rolling and squeezing it. You can do this while singing a rhyme about fingers to your baby, such as This Little Piggy. Repeat until you have finished this stroke on all ten fingers. YB