Bonding refers to the important relationship a parent has with their child. Parents often describe a feeling of love and warmth when they talk about the way they feel about their child.

Attachment refers to a child’s relationship with their parent, their need to be close to the parent so that they can feel safe and secure in the world – and so that as they get older they can begin to explore the world away from their parent.

Becoming a parent can be both exciting and daunting. The first few months of your child’s life is full of new experiences for both parents and their babies. Getting to know your baby can take time.

As your baby tries to communicate their needs and you try to understand by responding sensitively to their signals, trust between you develops and your baby becomes attached to you. You’re both learning and getting to know one another. Your baby will love to look at your face, feel your skin, taste you, cuddle with you, be gently rocked, moved around, talked to and held by you. Important experiences that help a baby to make brain connections are being spoken and sung to, touched, stroked, rocked, fed, cuddled, and comforted.

If you are doing all of these things with your baby, not only are you well on your way to developing a healthy relationship with them, you are also helping their brain to develop.