Tips to help a working parent bond with baby

Therapist Aimee Wheeler, PsyD, shares advice for working parents on how to bond with your newborn baby despite your busy schedule and not being able to spend as much time with your baby
Tips For Working Parents To Help Bond With Your Baby
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Tips to help a working parent bond with baby

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There are many things you can do to help your partner bond with the baby, despite his or her busy schedule. The first think to remember is that your partner is going to have a different relationship with your baby. It's natural for your baby to feel more bonded or secure with the parent that they are spending the most amount of time with. The first thing to do is to let go of it a little bit and understand that your partner will establish a relationship with your baby, it just may be a little slower. The second thing is to just encourage them to spend time together. If they are not together a lot during the day, I strongly recommend a co-sleeping arrangement. A little bit of skin to skin contact will help facilitate that bonding. Baby wearing or carrying baby in a sling will also help with that skin to skin facility and closeness, being able to pick up on each other's communication. The other thing to do is just stay out of their way. They are going to make mistakes. Let them find their way back to each other. If you are consistently undermining or demeaning, your baby is going to get the sense that something is not right here. They are going to think that they are safer in your care than in your partners care. So you definitely want to make sure it's more of a bridge, giving guidance, rather than just telling him what to do.

Therapist Aimee Wheeler, PsyD, shares advice for working parents on how to bond with your newborn baby despite your busy schedule and not being able to spend as much time with your baby

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Aimee Wheeler, PsyD

Therapist

When her son was born, Aimee found herself in uncharted waters. She knew she wanted to be a different type of parent than her parents had been. After years of self-exploration, she felt she had healed a lot of her childhood emotional wounds and that she could be a good mother but she didn't really know how to parent differently. She went to Mommy and Me classes, breastfeeding groups, you name it, searching to fill a void she initially could not identify. They were all helpful but not what she felt she was longing for. She realized she was looking for a safe place to really talk about the challenges she was facing every day. Unfortunately, it seemed that none of the forums she found as a new mother were able to provide that. She vowed then to create such a place for parents, and the idea for Parenting Discovery Center was born.

Her educational background in psychology had nurtured her tremendous curiosity about the impact and importance of infant attachment. Her research in this area had equipped her with a conscious sieve to help evaluate the overwhelming amount of parenting advice available. What she found was that at a time of total vulnerability, parents are often taught parenting techniques that cause them to unwittingly undermine this important and essential bond. 

The Center provides a safe and supportive environment for exploring the emotions and challenges faced by new parents. They are also here to help peoople understand the importance of attachment and help parents build a conscious bond with their baby based upon their individual family's values and lifestyle. 

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