The best way for a new mother to establish a positive bond with her newborn at home is breastfeeding so you have the physical connection. Also, the mother releases a lot of endorphins, happy hormones, during breastfeeding so moms are generally happier when they breastfeed.
Skin to skin contact for both partners can be beautiful, carrying the baby around and really making sure that you get to know the baby. Don’t put a lot of pressure on yourself and look at your baby.
Hire some help like people who know what is normal in babies and how they react.
Get out of the house, socialize with other new moms. You can just kind of compare, like have a chat with people who also have a baby to see what did they notice and how do they do bonding? How does the baby react? It can be very helpful. Some moms feel like, „I don’t really have the bond,“ when in fact, the bond is happening.
That’s the bonding. It’s not doing much, it’s more connecting physically. I like baby massage. That can be really nice. The key is really resting with the baby, lots of staring at your little one and getting to know him and getting to know the feeding cues. Learning what baby likes and what she doesn’t like, that will take a few weeks. It usually takes about a month until you really feel like, „Okay, I’ve established a nice bond.“ That’s normal, so be patient.
