What was the best thing you did to bond with your baby?

[NordicPrincess]

What things have you/do you do with your child or baby that have bonded you best?

it was bathing with my son up until age 4, now hes preferring to bath alone.

My daughter it was breastfeeding

any others?

can't remember

bonding took longer with #1, traumatic birth, low scores, SCBU for a fortnight, called him the baby not by his name for a long time

#2 not so hard

I spent a day in bed with h when she was just a few weeks old and realized she was getting grumpy in the day because i wasn't putting her down for enough naps. Not bonding per se, but it certainly made both of us happier and life easier!

breastfeeding, babywearing and cosleeping. She is a delightfully happy baby, confident and happy with other people so I refute the claims that all those 3 things make a baby "clingy". DD is very secure in her attachment to me

In bed with her, not h (though I'm sure DH would have loved a day in bed too!)

er? Yanbu?

Singing to him
Talking to him
Listening to him
REading stories to him
Baby Massage
Bathing together
Skin to skin time
Breastfeeding
Babywearing

co sleeping with my son made him so happy and content, but my totally bf and coslept daughter cannot be apart from me or she screams hysterically for hours.

Im wondering how to break that cycle

Co-sleeping, wearing him in a sling, just holding him, feeding him.

My ds3 was 8 week prem and after 4 days the nurse literally shoved him up my jumper we just sat with me letting big tears drip down my face for about half hour feeling his heart beating against my skin. With ds1 and ds2 we loved bathing together and baby massage.

Co-sleeping, definitely. Both DP and I felt that it hugely benefited bonding.

DP has 2 grown up daughters from a previous marriage, and he says that, looking back, he just can't believe that they slept in a nursery from the day they got home from the hospital - it seems totally unnatural to him now. We're expecting DC 2 and we're not even considering not co-sleeping.

Has this thread landed in the wrong section?

If not, YABU :)

co sleeping is my favourite and she is nearly 3. I love it.

Carrying little one around in a sling rather then strapping her into some overpriced, over complicated wheeled trolley thing.

Breastfeeding, co-sleeping and playing :)

co-sleeping or sitting on the sofa for hours, baby in my arms, just staring at them sleeping

so lovely

aww wornout thats sounds beautiful. I had similar with my daughter, they shoved her up my nighty as soon as she was born. I just lay looking down at her, her eyes were shut and she looked all squishy, and quite regal actually (still does) it was perfect.

No ginhag, i just put it here, couldnt incorporate an aibu into the title

Co-sleeping and sling.

Experience a bit like ArfurSleep. I found baby massage helped me bond.

BF for sure, lots of cuddles & eye contact, babywearing/co-sleeping, reading.

I got DP to do the bathing & baby massage right from the beginning and that def helped them to bond too.

BF, sling, lots of cuddles and co sleeping

this morning I woke up to DS who is now 5 snuggling into me and he said "i like sniffing you" I say "what do I smell of?" and he replies "cuddles"

theres a lot wrong with society that a few more cuddles could help fix

Lots of the things already mentioned, but once she was born there really is nothing like snuggling up in bed with your baby, it just feels so right

When I did it (and still do it now at 10 months) it's almost like a drug it feels so good

Awwww she's asleep at the min, I want a cuddle!

What a strange topic.

Bonding is not some mystical psychological awareness achieved only if you do "X", and crappy topics like this will make some "less confident" women question the feelings they have for their baby. :(

Parenting full stop is bonding.

Agree with Alpine. Surely parenting as a process is all about bonding? There was never one particular thing for me. Although it got much easier to bond with DD1 when she finally let me put her down at about 3 months old.

hows that alpine? I was asking what things women had done that made them feel close to their child, i had imagined i would get more responces like, cooking just me and her, or a long cuddle before bed with dp has the other children downstairs.

I was interested in the different ways we have all bonded with our children, this is not some do x y and z list.

Not everyone is out to make other women feel inferior about their bonds with their children. My topic in no way insinuates this, and if you feel like that it probebly has more to do with your insecurities than my topic.

i didnt say it was just one thing, but there are things that make you think aww, i feel really close t x when we do this, i really look forward to us doing it.

surely thats obvious?