11/11/2019
When we hug our babies, those cuddles have a lasting effect for many years to come on a molecular level. A study published in the journal of Development and Psychopathology has discovered that cuddling your baby actually changes their genes.
Researchers asked the parents of nearly 100 five-week-old infants to record their baby’s behaviour, including when they fed, slept, cried and were physically consoled, with a diary made of all body contact provided while caregiving. The children were then swabbed four-and-a-half years later to have their DNA examined.
Results revealed that the children who had been more deprived of cuddles and being held, and who had been more distressed as babies, had cellular molecular profiles that were underdeveloped. The less a child was hugged in infanthood, the lower than expected their epigenetic age was found to be, showing less favourable developmental progress for the child. This suggests that hugging your baby helps them to be healthy and grow faster.
This research complements previous studies that have shown that babies who receive physical touch show stronger brain response; that physically touching babies releases oxytocin that in turn pushes production of growth hormones such as insulin growth factor-I (IGF-1) and nerve growth factor (NGF); that hugs make babies stronger by lowering plasma levels of thyroid hormones and cortisol; and that hugs help with emotional regulation, reducing temper tantrums, reducing stress and increasing resilience in children.
This more recent study adds to the body of evidence on securely attached children, showing that early postnatal physical contact such as hugging, holding and snuggling has lasting associations with child biology. You may be doing much more than comforting your baby when you cuddle them; you may be helping set them up for healthier gene development many years into the future, and potentially for their whole lives.
Every hug counts.
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/development-and-psychopathology/article/epigenetic-correlates-of-neonatal-contact-in-humans/9BD9799A7C6E0859B93E092EA0727A4B