The nerves stimulate activity, such as heart rate, voice and speech, and promotes gastrointestinal activity and the release of food-absorbing hormones, according to medical research. There's a good bonding that goes on. It's good for you. The following questions and answers will help explain why touch is so essential to the development of children. Touch is the earliest of the five senses to develop.
Babies first develop it in the uterus.
That's why babies are quick to respond when being held and cuddled at birth and in the first year of life. Much of a baby's activity in the first weeks of life is reflexive and touch related. Or babies curl their toes when you stroke the soles of their feet. Handling a fussy baby in a soothing way while he or she is eating can make the baby more alert, responsive and easy to feed. As a result, the baby might eat more, gain more weight and grow.