"In marital love, touch is fundamental, thus it can be no surprise that the earliest touch experienced by a child affects all dimensions of his future life. Common sense and a knowledge of nature's ways (God's way of doing things), and in modern times, very explicit in research (see this week's findings below), show the immense beneficial effects of breastfeeding for both mother and child and the impact of her attachment to her child. But, now coming to the fore is the importance of father's 'behind the scenes' role in arranging greater ease for mother in her care of their newborn. The right sort of support from him adds immensely to the wellbeing of both mother and child.
It is not surprising, though likely not widely practiced, that the father's touch also has beneficial effects: fathers who had 15 mins of skin-to-skin contact with their newborns, daily for the first few days, became much more attached to them than fathers who did not hold them that way.
The father's interaction with his child during the first early years also has a significant impact on the child's brain development and cognitive development - the more interaction the greater the cognitive development. Better still, when the father is less controlling (e.g. when the father follows the child in play rather than trying to get the child to follow him) the child's cognitive development is even greater."
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