Learning Baby’s Signals – How Touch Helps You Understand What Baby Needs
Understanding Baby’s Signals Takes Time
In the early weeks and months, Baby communicates in ways that are subtle and easy to miss. Crying is only one signal. Long before that, Baby uses body movement, facial expression, muscle tone, and changes in breathing to share how they are feeling. Many parents expect these signals to be obvious, but the reality of early parenting is that learning Baby’s cues is a process that unfolds over time.
Touch plays an important role in this learning process. When parents regularly use gentle, intentional touch, they naturally spend more time observing Baby’s body and responses. This repeated, attentive interaction helps parents begin to recognize patterns in Baby’s behavior and emotional state (1). Over time, touch becomes a way not just to soothe Baby, but to better understand what Baby is communicating in each moment.
Touch Creates a Two-Way Conversation
Touch is not something done to Baby, it is an interaction with Baby. When a parent places their hands on Baby with attention and care, Baby responds. That response might be a softening of the body, a change in breathing, a turn of the head, or a moment of steady eye contact.
Research on parent–infant interaction shows that these moment-to-moment responses form a two-way communication system, where Baby’s signals guide what happens next (2). Through repeated experiences of touch, parents begin to recognize these responses more easily and trust what they are noticing.
This back-and-forth is how touch supports communication. It helps parents what Baby needs, and when Baby needs it.
Why Touch Helps Parents Feel More Confident
Many parents worry about misreading Baby’s cues, especially in the early months. That uncertainty is common, and it does not mean a parent is doing anything wrong. Gentle, intentional touch often helps slow these moments down. When parents place their hands on Baby with care and attention, they naturally pause, notice, and tune in.
Over time, parents begin to recognize small changes in Baby’s body and behavior during touch and respond with greater ease. This growing awareness supports caregiver confidence and strengthens the parent–Baby relationship (2). Confidence develops through familiarity and practice, and over time responding to Baby’s cues comes naturally.
Touch Supports Emotional Regulation
Touch also helps support how Baby manages emotions and body responses. Gentle, predictable touch can help Baby feel safe and settled, which supports early emotional regulation (3). When Baby feels supported in this way, their signals often feel easier for parents to notice and understand.
This does not mean touch will always calm Baby right away. Sometimes touch helps parents recognize that Baby is tired, overstimulated, or simply needing a pause. Learning to notice these moments is part of understanding Baby’s unique language and responding with patience, care, and trust.
Learning Signals Through Infant Massage
Infant massage offers parents a structured way to use touch while paying close attention to Baby’s responses. The slow pace and repeated strokes create space to notice how Baby reacts to different sensations, rhythms, and levels of pressure.
Research suggests that infant massage supports moments of co-regulation, helping Baby and parent adjust together during both connection and stress (3). These shared experiences often make it easier for parents to recognize Baby’s cues in everyday routines beyond massage time.
Touch Builds Understanding Over Time
Understanding Baby’s signals does not happen overnight. It develops through everyday moments of connection. Touch supports this process by inviting parents to slow down, observe, and respond with intention. Over time, touch becomes a familiar and reassuring way for parents to stay connected to what Baby is communicating.
Bringing This Learning into Everyday Life
The Best Beginnings Infant Massage and Movement Program was created to help parents build this understanding with clarity and confidence. Through guided infant massage techniques and gentle movement experiences, parents learn how to use intentional touch while paying attention to Baby’s responses. The program supports parents in learning Baby’s signals in a calm, structured, and practical way, so touch becomes a meaningful part of daily care, connection, and communication.
References
(1) Montirosso, R., & McGlone, F. (2020). The body comes first: Embodied reparation and the co-regulation of infant affect. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 113, 77–87.
(2) Feldman, R. (2012). Parent–infant synchrony: A biobehavioral model of mutual influences in the formation of affiliative bonds. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 77(2), 42–51.
(3) Markova, G., & Siposova, B. (2019). The role of oxytocin in early mother–infant interactions: Variations in maternal affect attunement. Infant Behavior and Development, 55, 58–68.