I am not one of those mothers who became a
baby whisperer the moment baby popped out. My general cluelessness was one
reason and I reckon the other reason is because some family members descended
on us and butted into our (hubby and my) baby bonding time.
It took me at least three months to understand
Thea’s cries and even longer to figure out how to comfort her. I remember
taking her to an osteo in the beginning and she cried there. I did not know
what to do, how to reassure her. I just wanted to run away with Thea because I
didn’t want the osteo to realize that I had no idea how to comfort my baby. The
osteo picked her up and cradled her to himself (his hand was the size of her
body) and gentle rocked and bounced her saying, “there, there. Its ok.” I was
very (almost pathetically) grateful when he handed a calm baby back to me.
I took a long time to gain my confidence
with Thea. I began to understand why she cried, whether she wanted milk, was
tired or wanted to be held. I learnt to shrug off other people’s advice that a
crying baby is a hungry baby. I accepted that she could cry in public for any
reason and instead of feeling self conscious about a crying baby, I felt
powerful knowing my touch was an instant balm for her.
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