Other studies, like those done by Dr. George Engle in Rochester, New York, show that if interaction with an infant is limited during feeding, he or she will not digest food properly. But, when a child is held, and talked to and played with while feeding, nutrients will be better absorbed by the body. The most convincing argument about the need for human contact by babies began in 1997 at the St. Christopher Hospital for Children in Philadelphia. The program places the new mother and her baby in a quiet area with low lights and a blanket which helps keep them warm. Infants in the Kangaroo Care program not only slept longer and deeper but they also maintained their body temperature, moved onto oral feeding sooner, gained weight faster, came off ventilators sooner and left the hospital earlier than other pre-mature infants.
Touch is also something that fathers can provide.
So go ahead and encourage a little human contact. It may help get the new family off to an emotionally healthy start. Fits newborns to children weighing up to 30 lb. Comes with a removable weather protector that converts to a shoulder sling to cradle the little one. Also has padded shoulder and back harnesses with wide adjustable straps for comfort.