Ways To Stimulate The Baby’s Sense Of Touch
An environment of textures and shapes is presented to your child. Stimulating the baby’s sense of touch will help him face the world around him, supported by a relationship that begins with pregnancy. Attachment, that bond between mother and child that lasts a lifetime, is gestated from conception. But in the first weeks of life, through touch, hugs and caresses, it grows stronger.
Ways to stimulate your baby’s sense of touch
Curiosity is a stage that the baby must go through. Stimulating the baby’s sense of touch is one way to contribute to its proper development and growth.
Caresses, massages and communication with the baby
Each touch forges an indestructible relationship that begins from the womb and that allows the baby to feel loved. In addition, it increases your defenses and develops your digestive system. Stimulating your baby’s sense of touch will help your baby communicate his needs, interact with other people, and explore his environment by experiencing sensations such as cold, hot, soft, or hard.
Practicing skin-to-skin contact when hugging, feeding, bathing or reassuring him even helps to improve the baby’s oxygenation. Massaging it with your hands, with a cotton ball or a feather, will stimulate your sense of touch. Going from the forehead to the nape, the back and the soles of the feet, while speaking, singing or smiling, will strengthen it.
It is good to leaf through books with different textures, to run your little hands over smooth or rough, cold or warm surfaces. Talking to him about each sensation with words or gestures that make him laugh helps his integral development as a person. Depending on how the baby perceives the contact with his skin, he will experience tenderness, joy or fear. Hugs, caresses and games thus increase their security in life.
The stimulation of the baby’s touch finds in balls, cubes or stuffed animals a great help in achieving its goals. The clothes are also, because it provides different sensations depending on the material with which it has been made. In the first months of life, encouraging the baby to touch his face, hair, mouth or ears through games is a source of stimulation and joy.
The skin and the mouth of the little one
The baby’s skin is delicate. The mouth, cheeks, hands, soles of the feet, and abdomen are particularly sensitive. Taking advantage of them in skin-to-skin contact with their parents is essential for their development. He will be comforted and respond with expressions of affection.
The mouth allows you to know and explore. With it he will try to identify textures and discover sensations. It also helps you find the nipple when breastfeeding.
When the newborn opens his hands, he will squeeze the finger that touches his palm. It will also respond to tickling and caresses when you pick it up. As he grows, he will begin to reach, lift, and hold objects. Your mouth, however, will continue to be the best way to discover and feel different textures.
The relationship with the world around you
Splashing in the water or using toys with sounds will be part of the revelations that will be presented in your journey through life. When a baby begins to crawl or crawl, a period of greater exploration through touch begins. Little by little his dexterity will make him prefer his hands, rather than his mouth, to discover and play.
Gentle stroking and patting on the back are actions that the baby enjoys through touch. They help reduce crying, improve sleep, and make breastfeeding easier. A perfect mechanism to stimulate it is to hold it, rock it and carry it in your arms.
The sense of touch can be used to stimulate the baby in different ways. Playing with sand, mud and water in your hands will help you broaden your horizons. Then he will try to pass the objects from one hand to another. Plasticine is another ideal ally to increase your skills.
feeding
Solid foods will be another way of learning. Taking food and playing with it is one way you will have to experiment, now with your tongue. The little disaster will be rewarded with everything that feeling will bring. It’s about opening each window to a new stage in your life.
The baby’s sense of touch is the first to develop, just a few weeks after conception. This will be one of the best allies of the baby in the unforgettable and enriching experience of growing up.