Congratulations on your new bundle of joy! If you’re wondering how to bond with your infant, there are plenty of ways to do so, including: making eye contact, breast or bottle-feeding, communicating, playing, and facilitating skin-to-skin contact. However, a major hurdle for new parents is the fact that their babies didn’t come into the world wearing a cute fruit or animal hat. So, here’s how to finally form a deep bond with your baby even though they’re absolutely nothing like your favorite Sonny Angel:
Understand that this is a real, human infant.
Before anything, you should come to terms with the fact that your baby is not made out of plastic and is not going to have a somewhat blank, somewhat happy expression all the time. Acknowledging this first can save you a lot of disappointment and frustration going forward. Your baby is actually a real-life human being, just like you, but smaller! They’re also very fragile and require the utmost care and attention — yes, even more than your Sonny Angel!
When putting your baby into a car seat, stroller, or high chair, imagine that you’re putting your Sonny Angel on a keychain, in your purse, or on top of your shelf.
Sure, the demands of parenting can get pretty boring, but that doesn’t mean you should avoid them because they’re not as fun as taking care of an inanimate doll. However, you still can invite more play into your parental duties by pretending you’re playing with your Sonny Angel whenever you take care of your infant. When you put your baby into their seat, that’s basically the same as connecting your Sonny Angel to your backpack! Remember that.
Carry your Sonny Angel at all times, especially when you’re with your baby.
If you simply cannot suspend your disbelief by pretending that your baby is a much bigger Sonny Angel, you can also carry your Sonny Angel around with you, especially when you’re with your real baby! After all, being a parent doesn’t mean you can’t still have your emotional support miniature figure with you at all times! Just try not to play favorites.
Get your baby a cute little hat.
If you’re still finding it extremely difficult to bond with your hat-less child, you could also get them a hat that looks like a zebra, strawberry, or whale! The possibilities are endless, and it’s almost better than having a Sonny Angel because you can actually pick the hat!
Have another baby.
As you may well know, a major part of the hype around Sonny Angels is that you can collect them. So, if you’re having trouble bonding with your baby, try having another one, or two, or five! Having more children could help ignite that love and care in you that only seems to come alive when you open another new Sonny Angel package. Here’s to hoping!
Struggling to form a bond with your newborn can be an overwhelmingly taxing ordeal. However, if this is simply because your baby is nothing like any of the Sonny Angels in your collection, then fret not! Follow these steps and you’ll be attached to your baby in no time — just remember not to use your baby as a paperweight or door stopper!
