Mom, can your baby tell when you’re stressed?

Your baby may not be able to communicate their thoughts verbally, but can they can still sense when mommy is feeling stressed out?

The answer is yes, according to Huff Post Parents and this study that says, for infants, stress may be caught, not taught.

Lead researcher Sara Waters, postdoctoral scholar at the University of California, San Francisco said this, “Our research shows that infants ‘catch’ and embody the physiological residue of their mothers’ stressful experiences.” Your bodily responses, the sounds you make, your heartbeat–even your odor– are all factors that tell your baby mommy needs a time out to inhale and exhale. Nobody wants their baby to feel their negative emotion but mother and child are so tied to one another, it happens naturally.

When my youngest daughter was born, I had the worst habit of raising my voice when she was sleeping on my chest, breastfeeding or I was wearing her in the sling. She would be peacefully existing and whenever I had to yell or raise my voice to get the attention of her siblings, I would startle her so terribly and her whole body would tense up and she’d cry. I felt terrible. Then again, I also had five other kids under the age of eight to tend to. Raising my voice was just a way I survived, I guess. Still, I wonder if this has anything to do with her penchant for being a drama queen. icon smile Mom, can your baby tell when youre stressed?

Unfortunately, we all don’t have the option of living perfectly serene lives. I wish I could say I was chilling in a hammock everyday when my children were newborns, stress-free and blissed out but this was clearly not the case. I think our babies are going to feel some negative emotion from us at some point because it’s life. I supposed the take away from this would be to try our best to manage our stress, for our own health and as an example to our children.

As a mother, our well-being is important to our entire family, especially our babies who so clearly feel all of our emotions.

How useful was this post?

Click on a star to rate it!

Average rating 0 / 5. Vote count: 0

No votes so far! Be the first to rate this post.

5 thoughts on “Mom, can your baby tell when you’re stressed?”

  1. I truly believe the bond that a child has with his/her mother is so incredible that it allows children to feel and sense what we are feeling. My son, now 21 months, has proved it to me over and over again. Whenever I fell sad, tired or mad he acts the same way and I feel so horrible because I know it has to do with my own feelings.

  2. We found out that my father in law was dying of cancer when I was 7 1/2 months pregnant. He passed away when my baby was 2 weeks and 2 days old. Starting just a few days before my father in law passed away, my baby became so fussy. It lasted for at least a week so I’m certain that he picked up on how stressed I was (plus I was stress eating!)

  3. Yes, I believe that my baby feels when I am stresses or having any form of negativity, she looks at me and listens intently when I speak out my ill feelings, she even touches my face when I cry while holding her, as if telling me that she is with me all the way….

  4. There is nothing imposible for God,Miracle can still happen if u have faith and believe that God can do it for u.she can still be strong after d surgry and nurse her baby,God can still do it again and again. May God’s mercy and favour speak for this family and grant them their heart desire. AMEN

  5. When my daughter was 4 days old and my nipples were bleeding and I could not bear to nurse her one more time that day I sent my husband out to get formula. The baby screamed the whole time he was gone and I was pacing and trying to soothe her. Finally the door opened, my husband stepped inside, and she stopped crying completely and immediately. It was clearly a reaction to me being incredibly relieved to see him, and it was shocking how much she could sense it.

Leave a Comment