When you offer a warm and loving response to your baby’s needs, you are laying the building blocks for their future health and happiness.
Each time you talk to them, sing to them, look into their eyes, respond to sadness with warmth, love and reassurance you are meeting their needs.
Other moments that help a baby make healthy brain connections include being touched, stroked, rocked, fed, cuddled and comforted.
This is an important time not just for their physical development, but also for learning about their emotions and how your baby interacts with others.
A baby's brain has 100 billion brain cells at birth, but not many connections (these are known as synapses) between them. These connections are wired up by love, affection and closeness.
Responsive feeding is giving your baby a feed when they show you signs they’re hungry and stopping when they show you they’re full. This makes your baby feel safe and cared for, supporting a close and loving bond between you and helping their brain to grow.
Why is bonding with my baby important?
Your relationship with your baby is the way that you feel close and connected to them. For some parents and carers, this may happen in pregnancy or soon after birth. For others, it can take some time for a bond to grow. This is OK and every parent or carer will bond at their own pace.
Building a secure relationship with your baby helps them develop into happy and healthy children. It also helps them manage their emotions, develop confidence, and learn new things. It will make them more resilient in later life too, helping them be more able to cope with life's ups and downs.
Why am I finding it hard to bond with my baby?
Sometimes it might feel hard to bond with your baby. There are lots of reasons, including:
- having had difficult experiences earlier in your life
- difficulties with conception or pregnancy
- miscarriage or baby loss
- mental health difficulties
- experiencing stress, such as financial or relationship difficulties
It’s not unusual for parents and carers to struggle, and there is help available if you need it.
If you are concerned that the bond with your baby isn't developing, talk to your midwife, health visitor or doctor.
You can also find support at your local family hub.
It's important for you to have the support you need so you can feel safe and secure with your baby.
One of our Senior Public Health Assistants, Charlotte Crayford, shares the importance of keeping your baby active, communicating with your baby and baby brain development in this video.
Babies learn to communicate through eye contact, facial expressions and sounds before using words. The first word your baby will learn to recognise is their own name. Hold your baby close to you when you are talking to them, so they can see your face.
We would expect that between six to eight weeks your baby will begin to smile and coo. They will love listening to your voice. This video from the baby's point of view, shows how they learn to talk, listen and communicate with you.
Physical activity and freedom to move are also essential for your baby's brain to grow as it should. One of our Health Visitors Gemma Sibley, shares the importance of spending time communicating with your baby and how this helps their brain to develop in this video.
In the first six months your baby will learn to hold their head up. In their first year your baby is likely to learn how to:
- roll from front to back
- sit firstly with support and then unaided
- get into the crawling position
- become more mobile including rolling, shuffling or crawling
- pull themselves up to stand and then as they become steadier and more confident begin walking.
Your baby will also develop fine motor skills such as holding a toy in their hand. As they get older you will see them passing the toy from hand to hand. You might see your baby begin to show a pincer grip when they are feeding themselves things like peas or sweetcorn. You might see your baby begin to poke or point at objects.
At about nine months your baby will begin to pull themselves into a sitting position and sit unsupported. They'll also be able to lean forward to pick up objects in front of them. Your baby may also begin to pull themselves up to stand from the sitting position, this may only be for a few moments.
Visual and eye development are also taking place during this time. Watching you move around the room, moving a toy from side to side will all help your baby's eyes develop. Babies and young children don't need screen time as this can impact on their eye development.
Children develop at different rates so try not to compare your child to other children. Babies born prematurely may reach milestones at a later stage. If you have any concerns about your baby's development you can contact your local health visitor for advice and support.
Useful resources
- Families in Kent and Medway can access a free online antenatal course called 'Understanding your baby.' This is for everyone around a new baby, supporting you and the new arrival from birth to 12 months. This course gives you information about your baby's brain development and your baby's physical and emotional development. It shows how important your relationship is for the baby's development. Use the access code Invicta to register for your free account. This 'Brain Builders' video explains how experiences in the first years of our lives affect how our brains form.
- Better Health: Start for Life - NHS tips to help your baby with their communication development.
- Born to Move app - encouraging play and interaction to help the learning and development of your baby's brain at this early stage, building the foundations for a healthy, confident child.
Page last reviewed: 01/05/2025, next review due: 01/01/2028
