Creating A Love Bubble For You And Your Baby
To say being born is an overwhelming experience is somewhat of an understatement!
Imagine leaving a perfectly designed, bespoke, warm and cosy space, with food on tap, the most soothing sounds in the world, where you are rocked and massaged all day long to come into a limitless, open space where nothing seems familiar.
This is the experience of many babies and as parents and carers arguably our primary job is to make sure that a baby’s entrance and introduction to the world is a peaceful, loving and relaxing one. Birth can also be an incredibly overwhelming experience for mothers too. Nothing can really prepare you for the emotional rollercoaster of feelings, emotions and hormones that take hold in the first three months after birth.
Life can seem different, harder, louder and confusing for parents and babies. The amount of information on parenting grows by the day and can detract from “real” feelings or instincts. By conforming to “vanilla” flavoured parenting and the latest top trend, there is a danger that real connection and intuition is lost, ignored or dismissed.
In many cultures, a mother and baby has a “nesting period” of 40 days to rest, recover and be nurtured and celebrated. This recovery period is sadly missing in many western homes where new mothers are in Tesco doing the shopping, looking after other children, doing the school run or even working within days or weeks of birth. It is so important to have a nurture period after birth to allow mother and baby to adjust, connect and just “be”. With so much emphasis on doing things, the concept of tuning in is often missed.
What is needed is time and yes, I know that it seems that there is not that much of it in today’s hectic world, but there are 24 hours in the day and nothing can replace the incredible power of spending time and connecting with another human being. Whether the experience is “good” or “bad” is irrelevant. It’s the commitment to getting to know each other, understanding each other and communicating your feelings towards each other which I feel is vital to infant and mother health.
The Love Bubble
That’s where a Love Bubble comes in! A Love Bubble enables you to tune into your baby. To make the time for each other. The elements of a Love Bubble facilitate the creation of a loving bond between you and your baby and communicates love. Oxytocin, the love hormone, has powerful effects on the body and mind and is designed to be present in large quantities during birth, via contractions, and when breastfeeding but these aren’t the only ways to get an oxytocin shot. The elements of a Love Bubble will help you to create oxytocin and feel chemically attracted to your baby as well as having the opportunity to spend quality time together.
What you need for your Love Bubble.
The good news is, mother nature has already gifted you with exactly what you need to communicate love to your baby. She is very clever in that way. Falling in love with your baby is pretty much the same process as falling in love with anyone. There are key components that need to be present to set the process alight.
1 Eye Contact-looking into your baby’s eyes helps with recognition and understanding of what you are trying to convey. It helps to boost positive communication. It’s hard to pick up on cues if you are not looking at your baby and vice versa.
2 Skin Contact-any kind is good, but especially massage as it stimulates the skin and helps to create oxytocin which encourages nurturing feelings towards your baby. Hugs and cuddles do the same.
3 Your Special Smell-Smell is often overlooked in importance but studies have shown it is key for babies to identify the smell of their mothers. Think about this with other mammals; cats can abandon kittens if they do not smell like their own scent.
4 Talk to your baby-you have a captive audience so use it! You can talk to your baby about anything and everything. As you do, your baby’s understanding of language will develop and he/she will begin to try to communicate back. Always repeat back what your baby says, even if it’s a little strange, as this is the start of your first conversations.
5 Love Hormones– as I mentioned take all opportunities to get the love hormones flowing by doing all of the above. Oxytocin is very powerful and is the hormone associated with long lasting relationships. You want as much of it around as possible. It’s also great for recovery after birth too as it helps to shrink the uterus back to its pre pregnancy size.
6 Peaceful environment– Fill your love bubble with all the things you love. If its big blankets, cotton sheets, cushions, lovely candles, wonderful music, perfect light and your favourite smells, just do it. It could also be a place outside in your favourite spot in nature. Create an atmosphere that you love for you and your baby and then let it all go.
So they say the best things in life are free and I would agree. A Love Bubble is a modern day way to get that important connection time and nurture yourself and your baby. Take back the expensive toys, contraptions for soothing and entertaining. Your Love Bubble offers the opportunity to really get to know yourself and your baby in your special space and in your unique way. Maybe think about creating a Love Bubble with the other special people in your life too. Human connection has been shown to bring the most joy and happiness in life. You have the opportunity to share this experience with your baby and value love, time and connection above all things. The rewards will be worth it in creating a happy and loving relationship.