Snuggles might combat anxiety

I have a huge cuddle monkey. She's always been that way. I've always indulged her need for affection, not only for her but also because I love snuggles too. The amount of time our children actually want us that closely is so brief. Why not soak it up. I'm a physical person (duh) and don't know what I'd do if I had a child who didn't need affection the way my girl does. Often times, I got advice that I should teach her to self soothe more often and not pick her up when she cried. The amount of advice out there about how to care for infants and 'teach' them how to sleep etc. etc. is overwhelming. It's like our mothering instincts get drowned out in the plethora of advice we are bombarded with. Family structure today doesn't allow for us to lean on extended family for sage advice the way mothers have in the past. At least that's the case for many women I know. I always gravitated to the Dr. Sears parenting website when I needed guidance that always left me feeling less anxious and more grounded.

I came across an article in the Globe and Mail, "Cuddle up, moms: new research shows it's good for baby".


Mothers: you can’t cuddle your babies too much.

New research published in the latest issue of the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health suggests the more affectionate mothers are with infants, the less likely their children will struggle with anxiety and other mental health issues as adults.

The study, completed by a team of researchers at Duke University in Durham, N.C., initially examined 482 people when they were eight months old.

During a series of developmental tests, psychologists observed how warm and affectionate mothers were with their babies and assigned each a rating on a five-point scale based on their interactions. Most mothers were rated as expressing “warm” affection towards their babies (84.9 per cent) while 8.9 per cent were “occasionally negative” and 1.5 per cent were rated as “extravagant” in the warmth they heaped on their little one.

Decades later, when the offspring were adults (average age of 34), they participated in a battery of mental health tests to determine how emotionally distressed they were.

Across the board, those who had been showered with the most amount of affection in infancy (rated “extravagant” or “caressing”) had the lowest levels of distress as adults.

I have seen numerous clients who suffer from anxiety disorder and have had to turn to medications to help them get through rough spots. I also personally know many many people, men, women, young, older who have turned to medical intervention to help them deal with distress in life. Who knows how many people would be relying on drug companies to help them through emotional distress if their parents just had indulged their need for physical affection more. Just a thought.