Most Common Maternal Behaviors That Affect Child Development

Your child might be influenced by caregivers, siblings, teachers, peers or other family members, but as his mother, you play a pivotal and unique role in his development. It might be hard to imagine what your long-term impact will be after a long day of nonstop disagreements. While you should not be too hard on yourself, there are some important behavioral choices that you can make to help your child̵7;s development.

  1. Displays of Affection

    • Hugging your child might feel completely natural to you, but such displays of affection are critical for his development. You have shown him affection since the day he was born. You spent hours rocking him as a newborn or rubbing his back as a fussy toddler. You cuddle up with your preschooler to read books each night or give your child a high-five when he scores his first goal in soccer. Maternal displays of affection improve your child̵7;s self-esteem and emotional development and likely produce long-term positive benefits to his mental health, as research published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health in 2010 reports.

    Nutrition

    • The way you feed your child is subject to much debate from day one. While formula-feeding is not detrimental to child development, breastfeeding provides benefits that cannot be reproduced. Breastfeeding provides him with nutritious and emotional benefits such as improved speech development, fewer allergies and better overall health, according to La Leche League. As he grows, the foods you choose to give him can negatively or positively impact his development. Although he might try to convince you that cookies for breakfast will make him love you more, he needs a nutritious diet to develop properly. You might buy him the occasional kid's meal at a fast-food restaurant, but feed him whole grains, lean proteins and healthy fruits and vegetables as often as possible.

    Problem Behaviors

    • Problem maternal behaviors detrimental to child development might begin early in pregnancy and continue as a child grows. Smoking during pregnancy can reduce blood and oxygen levels and interfere with the unborn child̵7;s nutrition. Maternal drug abuse is even more detrimental to unborn babies. Both drug and alcohol use during pregnancy increase a child̵7;s chance of cognitive development delays or social and emotional problems, a publication by the maternal substance abuse and child development project at Emory University published on the Georgia Court Appointed Special Advocates website reports. Children of mothers who abuse drugs or alcohol or smoke cigarettes might also learn that risky behavior is acceptable.

    Stay-at-Home or Work?

    • There is no right or wrong answer regarding your decision whether or not to work outside of the home. Your mental health, stability and overall happiness have more of an impact on your child̵7;s development than your decision to be a stay-at-home or working mom. While you might want to be home to witness your child̵7;s many developmental milestones, the monotony of caring for a small child day in and day out might make you more likely to be depressed, as Gallup researchers discovered in a survey conducted in early 2012. If you are depressed, you likely struggle with finding the energy levels to interact with your child in a healthy way, which might be detrimental to his development. However, stay-at-home mothers might have more time for one-on-one bonding and get to witness more developmental milestones than working moms.

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