The feeling of bonding with your baby is incredible… ?VIDEO

When experts talk about attachment, they mean the strong attachment you develop with your child. This feeling makes you want to shower him with love and tenderness or throw yourself under a speeding truck to protect him. Do not worry. Bonding often takes time. As long as you take care of your child’s basic needs and hug him regularly, he won’t suffer if you don’t feel a strong connection with him at first sight. Some fathers feel attached to their baby in the first few minutes or days after birth, but it may take a little longer – this is completely normal. After all, a brand new little man has just landed on your lap!

You may also be helping your partner recover from the birth and have probably not slept for more than a couple of hours in a row. Take it easy and know that soon this connection will develop. In the past, researchers have considered it important to spend a lot of time with a newborn during the first few days in order to bond immediately. But now we know that a connection can develop over time. Parents who separate from their child shortly after birth for medical reasons or adopt their children later in life also develop close, loving relationships.

“There is so much discussion about newborn attachment that parents often feel guilty if they don’t immediately feel some incredible attachment to their newborn,” says Edward Christoffersen, a child psychologist in Kansas City, Missouri. “But bonding is really an individual experience, and it’s just as reasonable to expect bonding to develop over a period of time as it does instantly.”