The Baby’s Gaze Explores The World While We Breastfeed It
Breastfeeding is not just about feeding a baby to ensure that it grows healthily. It also means creating a bond through the baby’s gaze and yours. With this act full of love, we promote an exchange of smells, caresses and feelings that offer him another type of food, affection, and open a window to the world.
We have talked about breastfeeding, but we do not exclude the bottle. Contact occurs anyway because, while we hold him in our arms, we whisper sweet words to him and our eyes meet. Believe it or not, there are few “scenarios”, as powerful as the arms of the parents, which allow a correct maturation of the child.
In this regard, many studies confirm that the baby’s communicative process begins thanks to this interaction with the mother while she is taking milk. His brain begins to integrate sounds, gestures, tones of voice and words to gradually acquire language skills.
It is a process in which the feeling of pleasure and well-being is essential. The infant who receives breast milk feels satisfied and serene and, therefore, is more receptive to learning and the surrounding environment. This physical and emotional sensation accelerates the maturation of many neuronal structures, so that in the future it can look us in the eye.
Below we explain what this process consists of.
The look of the baby in your arms
As we often hear, there are few things as beautiful as a mother breastfeeding her baby. However, this phase has many other aspects that escape us and of which we are not fully aware.
A sophisticated biological mechanism
We already know that pregnancy is a hormonal chaos, during which vital processes are activated for the creation of the bond with the baby. Oxytocin, for example, is stimulated when the baby starts sucking the breast in search of food. This hormone works in conjunction with the brain to promote milk production and strengthen the emotional bond.
There is a curious detail to consider. During the first two months of life, the baby’s gaze has a very limited field of vision. The child can only distinguish nearby objects, up to just over 50 cm away. This has a very simple reason: the only things he needs to focus on are the breasts or the bottle. During the first weeks of life it orientates itself on the basis of a single sense: the sense of smell. So don’t worry if he doesn’t look up at you in this period, the time has not come yet.
At four months he looks for you with his eyes
Of course, every child has their own times. However , babies begin to develop convergence and visual accommodation around 4 months. They are two essential processes that will allow them to focus on what attracts them the most: mom.
We can’t forget those long moments we share with them while breastfeeding. That intimacy, those sweet words and caresses will make their field of vision increase day by day to finally be able to see us. It is in this period that they begin to play with our hair, with our clothes …
Each baby develops habits of his own while taking milk. There are the quieter ones and the more agitated ones, but these behaviors change and mature from week to week.
The newborn’s gaze to discover the world
This data is very important. When the baby starts looking you in the eye, talk to him. Non-verbal language is important, but in those seconds when your gazes meet you need to stimulate his emotions even more.
The way you talk to him will bring a smile to his lips. Later a syllable will come out, then a laugh, a gesture of curiosity or provocation to make you interact with him even more. A child’s eyes are like doors that we must know how to open. Beyond these doors there is a world to be stimulated day by day, through a single magical thread: love.
Beyond what many say, the first few months of a baby’s life are not based solely on the need for care and food. The baby is discovering life. Thus, every gesture and every caress count, every word lights up his mind, every look guides him to look out into the world.
