Mothers stress emotional security and relationships, and fathers stress competition and risk taking. Mothers express more concern for the child's immediate well-being, while fathers are typically more active and arousing in their nurturing activities, fostering certain physical skills and emphasizing autonomy and independence. In light of all we know about child development, mothers as a general rule should be the primary caretakers of infants during at least the first year to eighteen months of life. The practice of breast-feeding, a unique mother attribute, has enormous physical and psychological advantages for the infant. The exchange of the infant's breathing with the mother's, during breast feeding, allows the mother's body to build and exchange antibodies for the infant, through her breast milk.
Mothers are inherently more sensitive to the needs of the non-verbal infant.
At birthing time, mother's have already developed a relationship with their babies in utero that is unlike anything that is available to fathers. Even with older children, the mother's role is not interchangeable with that of fathers, nor should it be. Mother's discipline varies more from time to time, involves more bargaining, and is adjusted to the child's mood and context. It is seemingly based on a more intuitive understanding of the child's needs and emotions of the moment. Based on this distinction, of course, mothers are often accused of being too soft, while fathers are accused of being too arbitrary and rigid.