Mother-infant interaction; effects of sex of infant on feeding behaviour.
Mother--child interaction was studied on the 2nd and 4th days after delivery. Mothers with girls showed more distal contact behaviour such as talking, smiling, and 'en face' responses. They also displayed more skin-to-skin contact behaviour (patting, rubbing, kissing, and touching) toward girl babies. Mothers with boys, on the other hand, showed more types of behaviours directed to clothed parts of the infant such as patting and adjusting clothes. These findings were statistically significant only on the 2nd day after delivery. On day 4 differences between male and female infants both in the frequency and in the pattern of sucking were observed.
D001942:Breast Feeding; D002652:Child Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008425:Maternal Behavior; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D012737:Sex Factors; D013391:Sucking Behavior; D014110:Touch