FETAL DEVOLOPMENT IN PREGNANCY WEEK 39
Your rocket-baby may have already launched, but for those of you still waiting for the signal, it's just a matter of time before this entire situation gets rollin'!
You're all ready to have your sweet little bun's first birthday party, but are you prepared for just how noisy they're going to be?
Crying isCommunication
Just so we're clear: the mother-infant bond is completely instinctual for your newborn, as their inability to speak, voluntarily move, much less feed themselves, renders them fully dependent on you for survival.
Because newborns are completely unable to protect or fend for themselves, their brains are hard-wired to only feel safe and secure when they're with mama - whether breastfeeding or simply taking in the world.
In other words: it is natural and normal for your infant to become anxious and cry until you pick them up and comfort them.
Certain "experts" recommend sleep training (which requires you ignore your mothering instinct and let your baby cry at night) and leaving baby to cry if they'd been fed and diapered.
These techniques are supposed to "foster independence" and prevent "spoiling" by "teaching" your infant that crying does not = mommy comforting them.
In reality, ignoring your infant's cries actually increases their general stress and anxiety levels and potentially predisposes them to emotional issues/disorders in the future.
In laymen's terms, sleep-training breaks your infant's heart over and over again until they give up trying to communicate with you.
Not to mention the fact that sleep-training will mess with your supply as night-feedings are a normal and healthy part of the infant meal-plan.
If those doctors analyzed the simple reasons why an infant cries, rather than trying to train the exquisitely sensitive newborn brain using forced neglect, they'd quickly understand that infant crying is a basic form of communication which reflects emotional distress in addition to the cries of discomfort from hunger pangs or a wet diaper.
"Waaah!" can easily mean, "I'm scared because I'm not with Mommy and I don't understand what that bright flashing loud noise is!" when left alone with a noisy TV.
INFANTS CAN'T MANIPULATE YOU (OR ANYONE)
Despite the disturbing statements of certain supposed experts, infants cannot cry to "manipulate" others, as they lack explicit knowledge of the world - which requires language.
Without language, all infants are incapable of higher-level brain processes that require an understanding of what a mind is, much less precisely how your mind works in variance from theirs.
No matter how clever you think your infant is, they cannot comprehend what you want, much less the fact you want to sleep through the night or not be interrupted while on the phone.
Infants cry for several simple reasons, which any attentive mother can immediately recognize. Crying communicates that your infant is unhappy, scared, tense, frustrated, hungry, or uncomfortable and/or in pain.
Without language, an infant can only cry in order to let you know what negative feelings they're experiencing.
Take home-message: your infant's cries are always meaningful and should be attended to, if only by picking them up to let them know mama's here.
Even after your toddler learns to speak, whenever they're sick, hurting, frustrated, or otherwise being challenged beyond their developmental capacity, reverting to their first form of communication - crying, will be the normal response and nothing to penalize them for.
In the meantime, your tiny new infant will need very little beyond the strength and warmth of their mother's arms holding them... and of course, your life-giving immunity-boosting breast milk.
