After strenuous hours of labour, don’t expect your child to immediately start showing signs that he loves you. The truth is your little one already fell in love with you when you first rubbed your belly and sang songs to him.
He can recognise your voice and the rhythm of your heartbeat, and the moment he turns towards you or wiggles to the sound of your voice can actually be considered the first visible sign that he loves you.
As you get to know your baby and care for him, the parent-child bond between you gradually grows, and he begins to show his affection in different ways.
Here are a few signs to look out for:
Smiles
A million-dollar full-on smile on your little one’s face sure can make your heart flutter with joy. After all those sleepless hours, that one little smile from him can affirm you that you’ve made a great choice — i.e. to be his mum.
When he starts to feel that emotional bond with you and when he knows he can count on you to meet his needs, he starts to make eye contact and gives you a big bright smile — his way of telling you that he recognizes you as the most important person in his life and loves you no matter what.
Demands
After about 3 months, when your baby is comfortable with the outside world, he will automatically begin to demand more. He knows you will tend to give in to all his demands, so he will cry and insist that you pick him up or tend to his needs and wants. Though babies don’t know how to express what they feel, they know what they want and will get it from you somehow.
Take this as a good sign though, the logic being when your little one feels comfortable with you, he demands more from you. This is his way of informing you that he trusts, adores and loves you.
Tantrums
You might hear from the babysitter that your little one is well-behaved when you are not around but when you are physically present, you see that he fusses about for silly things.
This might seem depressing but the truth is that he saves his best tantrums for you because it’s one of the ways he expresses his love for you. He trusts you the most and wants to be his own self with you while he knows he needs to be at his best behaviour with the sitter. He also knows that you love him the most, and feels cozy and comfortable when you are around.
Babbles
After your baby learns how to give toothless smiles, he will begin babbling and cooing. You will be surprised when he starts interrupting the conversations that you have with your friends with his “aah’s” and “ooh’s”. He uses his babbles to seek attention or engage with you and, if you notice carefully, he might even reply with sounds when you respond to him.
He interacts verbally with you and develops his speaking skills by copying your words or listening to you. This is one way he shows his love towards you. He feels secure with you and knows he can try new things with you around.
Kisses and Bites
Babies are enthusiastic learners when it comes to physical affection and they are overjoyed to practice it on Mum and Dad.
The affection can be as small as a peck on your cheek or a wild big bite that involves some licking, which will certainly leave some wet patches on your face — a very cute way of saying “I love you” indeed!
How does your baby show you that he /she loves you? Do any of the signs above apply to your little one? Let us know by leaving a comment.