Page 3 - teachYourChildToRead

Birth to one year

Communication through massage

Bonding, the intense emotion parents feel towards their baby within
the first couple of days after birth is an essential process for both baby
and parent. It provides a sense of security for babies while developing
parental nurturing and protective behaviour. Feeling safe and loved is
the base babies need to learn and develop skills freely and easily.

After birth, babies lose the security and reassurance that the womb
provided. Physical touch through baby massage contributes to a general
feeling of being safe and nurtured. For generations, in cultures around
the world, parents have massaged their babies. Physical touch, love and
affection nourish baby’s self-esteem and provides an environment for
healthy growth and development. Babies respond to touch, it lowers
their stress and anxiety levels.

TIP: In the early weeks of a baby’s life, communicate using
touch, skin-to-skin contact and through massaging. Massage
time should be a relaxing experience for both of you.

“Massage is one of the interventions to promote active mother-infant
interaction, and may thus encourage building up the emotional tie between
the mother and her infant⁴”

Promote language development by talking

Language skills are essential for literacy development and are learnt
right from the very beginning of a child’s life. Communication begins even
before birth as infants receive information in the womb in preparation
for the world they are about to enter. Prenatal language learning begins