Does a 4-month-old infant feel the absence of a parent?
A child gets to know its parents in the womb, hears its mother's heartbeat, hears the voice of its mother and father, and reacts to touch. It has been proven that the mother's voice soothes the newborn. The child also recognizes the parents by the smell, distinguishes between the smell of the mother and a strange woman. A baby around 4 months behaves differently when he sees the face of his mother, father and an unknown face. At the sight of relatives, he smiles, and at the sight of unknown faces, he may express dissatisfaction, cry. Developmental psychology says that up to the 6th month of life, babies still feel part of their mother, so a lack of it can be felt.
Children know the way they speak, the way they touch their parents, and this calms them down. This closeness with the parents is essential for the proper development and building the child's sense of security. But this does not mean that parents cannot, should not entrust their child with care to other adults when they need to go out, they need time for themselves, they are sick, etc. It is important for such young children that it is a responsible, trusted and committed person. , caring. We do not know if the child misses its mother. Was his anxiety in his mother's absence a longing. But we know that if the care she will receive in lieu of the absent mother is constant (one or two people), caring and focused on the needs of the infant, then it should develop properly.
In the first months of life, the mother plays the main role in the child's life, the attachment behavior of mothers and fathers usually differs, fathers spend more time playing with the child, mothers on caring activities, this does not mean that their emotional ties with the child they are weaker. At the age of seven or eight months, a child begins to notice attachment, the bond with the mother is stronger; more often, when he is frightened, he will turn to the mother than to the father. The strength of the attachment to the father is proportional to the time spent by the father with the child. If the mother takes care of the child during the father's absence, has the help of relatives, the child should not be separated.
Remember that our expert's answer is informative and will not replace a visit to the doctor.
Dominika Ambroziewicz-WnukPsychologist, personal development trainer.
For 20 years she has been working with teenagers, young adults and their carers. He supports people who experience difficultiesschool, relational, adolescence disorders and teenage parents www.centrum-busola.pl
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