Why Are Hugs Important For Children?
People are social beings at their best, because they need constant interactions with others to experience sensations, moods and experiences together. In this sense, hugs for children are essential.
The little ones begin to build their personality from childhood. When they are hugged, they feel emotions related to well-being that increase their self-esteem.
They notice that they are important to someone and they show constant support. They feel the confidence to also express themselves openly. This is how contact and closeness are ways to follow so that they are free from fear.
Importance of hugs for children
Children are born defenseless and their parents are those beings who have to mold them and fill them with security to face the world. All this is achieved through skin-to-skin contact, as this is how mutual knowledge is achieved and fears are lost.
Hugs in children are important for them to grow up without feeling repressed or unprotected. Contact with someone gives them the certainty that they are not lonely beings and that they can find help or emotional recharge whenever they need it.
In addition, close contact is important so that from the beginning of their lives they do not feel uncomfortable, stressed or self-conscious in the presence of someone else. Hugs stimulate the curiosity to look for someone to live with and to be away from rejection.
Benefits of hugs for children
Hugs are communicative because they allow children to show that they are important, that they have unconditional support and that they are fully capable of building vital relationships.
These types of contacts create comfort for them, because they make them feel valued. Due to this, this state of fullness causes various benefits on a physical level, among which the following stand out.
There is oxytocin release
When a hug is made, oxytocin is secreted in the child’s brain, causing him to feel calm and without emotions related to sadness.
Krishna Bandi, Pawar Archanna and Ambareesha Kondam, in their article Oxytocin: the hormone of love , stated that it is a fundamental hormone for social relationships and emotional ties. Therefore, feelings of well-being are imminent when receiving a hug.
Strengthens the child’s self-esteem
The close relationship with children allows them to feel loved, cared for and with the full confidence to be sure of relating to new beings and exchanging feelings.
There is a state of calm
Children feel safe in the hands of their parents, because hugs convey the feeling that nothing bad will happen. The contact allows the two beings to be calm, in the same harmony and to strengthen their relationship.
Allows a full mood
The child feels comfortable when they give him love. Hugs from parents can cause neurotransmitters such as dopamine to be activated to generate pleasure, since it is a pleasant and stress-free moment.
In addition, in case the child is stressed, the hugs from his parents serve as a relief. They allow you to understand that someone covers you, understands you, and never leaves you alone. Contact with another causes tension to break and positive emotions are felt again.
Protection is strengthened
When there are abundant hugs, children do not feel helpless. They often experience that they are being led by someone. This can allow that, little by little, shyness and fears are eliminated from your personality.
Development of neural connections
Each interaction is a new experience and familiarization with something, which for children can generate new stimuli to appear. This translates, in physical terms, into connections between neurons (synapses) that promote development and learning.
Can hugs be more effective than punishments?
In general, when children have bad behavior, parents make the decision to act with punishments and controls. However, it is essential to bear in mind that these behaviors may mean that the child is not feeling well.
Acting with yelling and repression can be the wrong way, as fears, insecurities and states of stress increase.
Therefore, an ideal way for children to be sincere and change their behaviors can be through hugs, calm dialogue and loving contact. This exercise allows the human being to feel support, experience protection and regulate their emotions.
Hugs for children are a path to well-being
Hugs make there more union between children and their parents. So hug, interact and give all the love you can to the children. That is the way to increase confidence and well-being.
Physical contact allows empathic beings to form and with good personality development. A child who learns to interact with others is a person who can have meaningful experiences on a daily basis.
