In Uganda, babies are carried in a sling next to the mother’s breast daily. No diapers were used and, since the infants were always clean, Jean Mckellar, an American mother who observed newborn Ugandan babies, asked the mothers how they managed bowel and bladder movement. “We just go to the bushes,” answer the mothers. However, how, Jean asked, do you know when a tiny infant need to go to the bushes? The astonished mother replied: “But how do you know when you have to go to the bushes?” (par 1). In Guatemala, mothers also carry their new infants in that manner…. Colin Turnbull, in the book The Forest People, tells how the mothers anticipates the infant’s needs and responds before the infant gives any detectable signs of being in need. And in that statement lies the heart of the issue of bonding” (par 2), wrote Joseph Chilton Pearce, author of “Bonding of Mother & Child vs. Attachment” and Magical Child.
The bonding between mother and child occur in the prenatal time of the baby’s life. According to Pearce, “Bonding begins between mother and infant in utero. By birth, these bonds are well established, but they must then be confirmed and reestablished after delivery, to integrate the new psyche into its new surrounding…” (par 12). Doing this is the first step in putting your child on the road to a healthy child development. According to Development Psychologist Anthony DeCasper, “learning and memory occurs in the womb” also (qtd. in Pekkanen 24). Consequently, it makes sense that bonding would start in the womb too. Pearce further asserts that, “All bonding must be established before it is needed and confirmed at the time of need” (par 12); which has now proven to be a critical part of proper child development.
It is very important that a child bond with parents. This will help a child to build trust in his adult life. According to Dr. Alice Sterling Honig, author of “20 ways to Boost Your Baby’s Brain Power,” you should “Build trust by being attentive and focused. Babies who are securely attached to you emotionally will be able to invest more life energy in the pleasure of exploration, learning, and discovery” (46). In addition, a child need to bond with parents because this is how a child “develops that the world is a safe place to be, that people are reliable and loving (Erikson). This is why bonding is so important during infancy. For the child also learn to “trust his or her own [growing] body and biological urges that goes with it” (Erickson). An infant need to bond with both parents because the more people the child bond with the more trusting and secure that child feel when growing up. It also, build confident and independency in the child during his or her development years.
Contrary to what government officially would like us to believe, giving your baby a bottle instead of your breast does not stop bonding between mother and child. According to MD Larissa Hirsch “… mothers who are unable to breastfeed or who decide not to, infant formula is a good alternative…. if you feed your baby with a commercially prepared formula, be assured that your baby’s nutritional needs will be met. And you’ll still bond with your baby just fine” (par 4). It is not what you feed your baby, but rather how you feed your baby. Holding your baby close, touching and caressing him or her is what forms the bond between child and mother. This in turn secures the new found bond that the mother and child have developed during pregnancy and after birth. In addition, how you interact with your child during feeding bath and diaper chance may also help him or her to further develop a trusting and confident personality. According to Mary M Alward, author of “The Importance of Bonding with your Child,” “Bonding develops through interaction. Breastfeeding, or [bottle feeding], reading to your child or any activity where you spend one-on-one quality time with your child turns into a bonding experience….” (par 12).
