How Can You Emotionally Stimulate Your Baby From Birth?

When they are born, babies need us to take care of them, give them safety, food, protection, but also our love and affection. We all know how important it is that we take care of our baby, not only physically but emotionally as well. That is why we are going to look at how we can emotionally stimulate the baby from birth.

Both the cognitive and emotional development of the baby evolves little by little, although this does not mean that the child is born without the ability to feel emotions. Over time, we learn to identify, name, and manage these emotions.

Do you want to know how to emotionally stimulate your baby from birth? It is important that we do not forget to stimulate the emotional development of our children.

What is the social and emotional development of a baby in the first months?

Babies show signs of their social and emotional development from their first months of life. Let’s see how it evolves during these months.

From 0 to 3 months

During these months , they begin to become more expressive, both with their faces and bodies; they are already more communicative and parents enjoy those gestures that make them so special.

After three months, they begin to imitate the smile they see in others and this smile becomes more and more sociable. They use it as a form of communication. This is different from the first month of life, when the smile is just a reflection to give way to the real social smile.

From 4 to 7 months

Babies begin to respond to the emotions of others, especially with their primary caregivers. They love to play, especially with bright colors and sounds. In these first months, play is their way of learning.

Social and emotional aspects are present and connected from birth. We, as parents, are responsible for helping them both learn and develop.

Tips to emotionally stimulate your baby from birth

Given the importance of emotional and social development in humans, it is essential that parents provide the necessary stimulation from birth for the proper development of these skills. Let’s see how to emotionally stimulate the baby from birth.

When the little one smiles, smile back

When they are born, babies usually smile, especially when they are sleeping; this smile is a reflex that will give way to social and voluntary smiles. From this moment on, they begin to show their emotions; they indicate that they feel comfortable, happy and safe.

Around 3 months, they begin to imitate smiles when they see them on other faces. This is their way of communicating with the person in front of them. So it’s important that we respond with a smile when a little one smiles at us.

In this way they will associate that our smile is a response to theirs and in this way the foundation is laid for further communication.

Always talk to your baby

Although such a young baby will not understand the meaning of our words when we talk to them because they have not yet developed a language, it is important that we talk to them and respond to their babbling.

Plus, even if it looks like this chatter isn’t intentional, if we respond by talking to them, they’ll feel heard. This will then develop their confidence and self-esteem.

To emotionally stimulate the baby from birth, respect their rhythms and preferences

Every child has their own rhythms and preferences. So we can’t impose how they should react or express their emotions. As your baby develops, you will become aware of how he likes to be spoken to, held, or stroked…

As parents, we are the ones who spend the most time with them, so we are the ones who know them best and can tell from their gestures and expressions how they feel and whether or not they like something.

Touch, look, laugh

Humans communicate not only through language but also through gestures, behavior, etc. In these first months of the baby’s life, our gestures become really important when it comes to communicating with our little ones.

We have to consider three basic aspects: touch, look and smile. With these three things we give our child safety, attention and love. Touch becomes a fundamental tool with babies, as we express our affection and love, and we teach him that through these caresses we share our emotions.

The importance of emotionally stimulating babies from birth

We have already seen how to emotionally stimulate babies from birth. So smile at your little ones when they smile. In this way you offer them your company. Comfort them when they cry and they will feel protected, safe and cared for. And caress and touch them, because touch is the first communication we have with our babies at a young age.

Although it may be difficult to understand, parenting and emotional stimulation should start from day one. Let’s show our love, care and affection. This is how we teach them the value of respect.