This is cliche, I know, but it bears repeating: The best thing you can do for your infant is to love on them.
Smother them in hugs and kisses, and then hold them until your arm falls asleep.
And then do it all again – every day.
I will even add that: The best thing you can do for your toddler is to love on them.
And who knows, maybe teenagers too? I don’t know – but one day I’m gonna try.
Study after study has outlined a baby’s profound need for affection. In fact, they don’t just need affection, they thrive, physically and emotionally, as a result of the physical care of their primary caregivers. As studies have also shown, babies who are not given this kind of affection are stunted in their development. Both the emotional lives and the future ability to caretake themselves is profoundly affected by the amount of nurturing given these infants.
-Melissa Trevathan and Sissy Goff, Raising Girls
