What Is The Role Of Fathers In Early Emotional Development?
Fathers play a very important role in their infants' emotional development. Fathers physically and emotionally care for their babies in ways that infants welcome and enjoy. The interaction between a father and his baby creates a loving bond that promotes healthy, stable emotional development.
Without a doubt, fathers are physically different from mothers. Compared to Mom, Dad is typically larger, has a deeper voice, rougher skin and whiskers, a different smell and his own ways of holding and caring for his baby. Infants usually notice these differences and will often behave one way with Dad and another way with Mom. In a similar way, Dads and their babies behave one way when Mom is around and another way when they are alone. It is truly remarkable that these differences in your baby's behavior actually match the unique caregiving style of each parent.
When fathers play with their babies, they tend to be physically intense - Dad seems to be the one who pushes the stroller fastest, gives "horsey rides" and makes the biggest splashes in the bathtub. Infants usually respond to Dad's attention with obvious enjoyment, an emotional behavior that strengthens the bond between them. Because this kind of play is rewarding to both Dad and baby, many fathers say that their favorite part of being a parent is actively playing with their children.
But there is much more to the emotional interaction between fathers and their babies than playing and tumbling. Fathers have a remarkable sensitivity and awareness of their infants' emotional and physical needs.
In fact, researchers discovered that fathers respond just like mothers to infant emotional expressions such as crying or smiling and fathers can tell when their baby needs to be burped, comforted or has had enough to eat. Just like a mother, a blindfolded father can identify his infant simply by touching his baby's hand. And when they speak to their babies, fathers instinctively use a higher pitched, more musical voice that their babies seem to prefer.
The result of these remarkable interactions is a strong attachment between a father and his baby - an attachment that provides a solid foundation as his baby grows emotionally, socially and physically. This attachment is often most obvious in the way a father and his baby play and in the way they respond to each other's emotional expressions. Doctors actually measured attachment between infants and their fathers and mothers and found that Dads and babies were firmly connected.
They noted that babies cried when separated from their fathers and became happy when they were reunited. Separation was also difficult for fathers, who worried just as much as mothers about leaving their baby in the care of someone else. Such strong feelings are a sign of the deep emotional bond between fathers and their babies.
All infants throughout the world need sensitive, loving care to develop into healthy, secure and emotionally stable children - in many ways fathers are an essential part of the warm, nurturing care that babies enjoy.
發表於 
返回列表
