Why children need a gentle touch
Touch as a sense of security
The gentle touch of the mother evokes the feeling of security that the baby experienced in her womb for 9 months. In the first months, babies are most vulnerable. They need care and a lot of love. The presence of the mother (if possible, if not, then the presence of the father or another adult) and her attention to needs create a feeling of safety and security in the baby.
Touch as a form of communication
Touch is one of the ways of communication. It can be gentle, but it can also be painful. We know it ourselves. Even children can read positive or negative emotions from the touch.
Parents try to provide babies and children with the best food, vitamins, toys, clothes to keep them healthy and happy. The touch is forgotten. Sometimes it is enough for children to draw with finger on their backs, or count their fingers, or tickle their nose.
Skin - sensory organ
The skin is a sensory organ. It contains a large number of cells that are sensitive to touch, heat, pain, pressure. It serves as a barrier and thus protects internal organs from adverse effects.
- Physical influences - pressure, shocks, abrasions, injuries, sunlight, cold, heat.
- Chemical influences - protects the body from harmful chemicals.
- Biological influences - protects against microorganisms, bacteria and viruses.
The skin also has a communication ability. We turn red or pale in some conversations. This shows our current mood.
Touch in everyday activities
Try to engage the loving touch in your daily activities with your baby. Stroking, gentle tickling, drawing on the body with various objects - hands, feathers, brush, toy.
When bathing and drying babies, oiling, massaging, waking up and sleeping. If you walk around the baby, just a gentle caress is enough, for larger ones it can be even a pat on the shoulder, or a hug just for no reason and out of love.
Baby skin is very soft and not fully developed after birth. Therefore, it is necessary to pay attention to the softness of the touches. At Japitex, we select fabrics for children's clothing that meet strict criteria and are suitable for babies from birth.
The importance of touch
Many studies point to the importance of parent-child contact.
In children who are marked by a lack of loving touch, researchers have even noticed higher levels of cortisol (a stress hormone) or an increased amount of hormones that regulate social behavior.
Lack of touch after birth also affects the functioning of the immune and digestive systems.
On the contrary, affection and recognition expressed by touch activate the part of the brain that is involved in influencing how we can manage our emotions, how we receive information, learn and make decisions.
Pleasant touches can reduce stress levels in children (but also in adults) and start producing the love hormone - oxytocin.
Touches that can work miracles
Remember the touches that have brought wonders.
- Mom's hand on the hot forehead of a sick child.
- Lying by a sick child and holding it in parent's arms.
- Stroking the abrasion and blowing the wound.
- Holding children’s hand or sticking up for a child in a difficult time.
- Hugging in moments of happiness and in moments when children are not self-assured.
It is scientifically proven that with sufficient skin-to-skin contact, the child handles physical pain differently - it can handle the pain better.
