Many mothers unconsciously learn that carrying babies to the left calms them, a simple and enigmatic fact at the same time. The initial creation of humans is much more complex than in other species, as humans are one of the most fragile animals at birth and it takes a long time to be independent.
In men, the mother plays a much more active role in caring for her child during the first months of her life; sometimes, for example, the baby cannot properly breastfeed milk and the mother has to help.
- Some studies conducted in the United States and reviewed by Desmond Morris in his book The Naked Monkey claim that bringing babies to the left calms them down.
- We know that 80% of mothers use them on this side without this being deliberately proposed.
- Why is this happening?.
“A baby is something you have in you for nine months, in your arms for three years and in your heart until the day of your death. ” – Mary Mason-
Studies in the United States initially concluded that mothers nest their children on the left side and tend to support them in that part of their bodies to keep their right hands free. Most mothers are right-handed, which is why it was thought that the motivation behind this behavior did not go far beyond that.
However, tests and tests were performed on left-handed mothers to verify that they were carrying their babies on the right side, in the end it was observed that 78% of left-handed mothers also carry their children on the left side their bodies, which allowed them to rule out the possibility of practical reasons for doing so.
It was later found that it was not a simple automatic gesture of mothers, but provoked a reaction in babies, as babies have been shown to calm down earlier when taken from the left side and the study came to some very interesting conclusions.
With the advancement of the studies a hypothesis has been formulated that seems very plausible, everything indicates that when the baby is in the womb of his mother, he constantly feels a feeling deeply rooted in him, which has to do with the sound of the heartbeat of the mother.
In the womb, which is your known world, this sound is part of the natural framework of life. When the baby is born, he or she encounters a very different world that requires countless accommodations. For him, stimulation can be surprising and unpleasant: there is no other place in the world more peaceful and welcoming than the mother’s womb.
While some of the sensations of the outside world may remind you of the uterus where you come from, none refers to this lost paradise as much as the mother’s heartbeat. When mothers carry their children on the left side, they hear the same sound again, which is familiar to them and makes them safer. That’s why babies calm down in this position.
Morris’s experiments support the hypothesis that carrying babies on the left side reassures them.
At a hospital day care center, the babies were divided into two groups of 9 participants each; one remained silent, while the other listened to the recording of a human heartbeat at a rate of 72 beats per minute.
In the silent infant group, about 60% remained agitated; in the other group, only 38% were concerned; in addition, the latter group had a greater weight gain over time.
Another similar experiment found that children who heard the heartbeat slept faster than those who did not.
Some theorists suggest that these sensations are so primary that our tendency comes to place feelings in the heart, not in the head.
In addition, it has been proven that music that includes “syncopated sounds”, or similar to those of a heart, also tends to calm us down in adulthood. There are sensations that are born with us and seem to stay with us forever.