Introduction
The belief that mothers connect better to the child leads to the frequent issuance of children’s custody to the mothers in case of divorce suits. Moreover, companies aiming to promote stable families provide child care services to employed mothers, but rarely to the working fathers. The aspects show communities’ conviction that mothers connect more to the child relative to fathers. The issue causes substantial debate even in academia, with studies aiming to resolve the matter delivering contradictory findings. Consequently, the present work delves into the subject by purposing to add to the literature supporting mothers’ increased bond with their children. Admittedly, pregnancy, hormones, and parenting experiences generate a sturdier union between mothers and their children relative to fathers.
Human Nature
Human nature is such a way that someone enters the world fragile and reliant. It takes the parents’ input for individuals to grow from childhood into independent and stable entities in life. Children are naturally born to mature caretakers who connect and provide for them (Bjelica et al. 105). Mothers and fathers play almost equal roles in bringing up the child, according to Nomaguchi and Milkie (199). The employed mothers often take leaves from their jobs to lactate and offer closer care to the offspring. At the same time, the father mostly assumes the family’s financial needs to promote the family members’ stability and health. Accordingly, the child is expected to exhibit an identical connection to the two parents because of the complementary responsibilities they play in the kid’s existence and growth. However, this aspect is not practical in many settings and cultures (Nomaguchi and Milkie 202). Nomaguchi and Milkie maintain that children link easily to their mothers relative to their fathers (205). The scholars utilize experiences during different stages of growth to prove their argument.
Parenting is currently a critical issue in many societies worldwide. Scientific investigations seeking to determine the best party to impact children’s development focus mainly on the parents’ bond to children. Accordingly, debates about who between the father and mother connect better with the child emerge from this search. Feminists defending the place of the housewife in families maintain that children become what the mother makes them (Rogers and Bales 556). The argument seems to distance the father as an absent party whose engagements in outside activities make the mother a link between kids and their fathers. Equally, parties supporting the masculine side quarrel that mothers’ closeness to the offspring is to blame for the rising indiscipline among the later parties. The contestation causes serious fights and disagreements that appear not to have an end. Consequently, the world must appreciate the unbiased place of a mother in children’s growth and development to resolve most of the emerging issues concerning youngsters’ complications.
Scientific Evidence for Mother-Child Bond
The antenatal bonding between mothers and their progenies justifies the female parents’ increased bond to their children. Bjelica et al. note that children establish connections with their mothers long before birth (106). For example, the child knows the mother’s voice while still in the womb (Rogers and Bales 557). Mothers carry the child for months, since they are in the egg form, until their delivery time. The female parents thus feel the children’s first kicks, turnings, and other aspects that the father cannot experience. According to Nomaguchi and Milkie, fathers mostly learn about the unborn child’s development through the mothers (213). Equally, the mothers realize the conception aspect first and then report the matter to the fathers. The stoppage of monthly flows and doctors’ confirmation of zygotic developments in the female parents’ bodies prepare them for the child earlier than the fathers. Nomaguchi and Milkie reiterate that many men try connecting to the child after delivery, primarily through material provision (214). Therefore, the lack of antenatal bonding between children and their fathers cause substantial disconnection amongst the two parties, impacting their relationships even in later life.
Mothers’ behaviors such as affectionate touch, baby-talking, and gaping into the baby’s eyes increase the bond with their babies. Traditionally, many cultures treat child-rearing activities as feminine chores (Khaled et al. 129). Even the fathers who visit home after work spend meaningfully reduced time with the children, thus failing to establish significant connections (Almanza-Sepulveda et al. 1052). Many fathers come home tired from their job, take meals, watch the news, shower, and sleep while the female parent struggles with the vulnerable baby. The practice denies fathers the chance to interact with their children, leading to an imbalanced parenting experience that affects the child’s future interaction with the male figure. Xue et al. argue that some fathers avoid the young child due to fear (137). The parents feel that their masculine hands will mishandle the child and cause pain (Xue et al. 138). Others fear that the tiny child will slip out of hands and fall, leading to death or serious injuries. Consequently, the facet forces mothers to dedicate their time to their children and develop stronger bonds with them.
The absent fathers’ case is a real parenting experience that increases mothers’ connection to their offspring. Xue et al. purport that many children grow up without fathers for a significant time, especially in families with disagreements (138). However, cases of absent mothers are rare and mainly exist when the female parent is deceased or psychologically unable to bring the child up (Tichelman et al. 241). Tichelman et al. associate such variations in parental care and availability with the masculine gender’s negligence and lack of care (243). Accordingly, parental absenteeism implies disconnection, with the father’s voice and feeling remaining unknown to the progeny who grows under the mother’s care. Similarly, absent fathers coming into the kids’ lives later in life risk competing for the wives’ attention and love with the children, especially boys (Madigan et al. 653). Werner-Bierwisch et al. provide the case of single mothers who get married long after bringing their children up single-handedly as another one that reduces the connection between fathers and children (11). Accordingly, being absent for various reasons makes many fathers aliens to their children, who grow connected to their mothers.
Mothers bond more with children by providing necessities such as food, shelter, and sleep. Unlike many fathers who deliver food to the families’ stores and fridges, mothers directly feed and eat with the kids. The moms breastfeed their children right after birth, thus bonding with them from the oral stage of psychomotor development (Nomaguchi and Milkie 201). Additionally, mothers eat together with the kids, which promotes union. According to Trombetta et al. the mother first tastes the food to gauge its temperature and other elements before giving the baby to eat (663). The act allows the two entities to connect as friends, with the child learning to trust food products after the mother tastes them (Trombetta et al. 663). Trombetta et al. reiterate the essence of real friendship between parents and their children for actual connections to develop (664). Consequently, many fathers’ inability to eat with the kids excludes them from the union-making activities of rearing. Mothers’ dominance in this facet thus makes the gender more linked to the descendants. As such, breastfeeding and eating together make mothers’ bonds to their children more established relative to fathers’.
Physical contact between a mother and her child promotes the childhood bond. According to Xue et al., female parents physically touch their progenies immediately after birth (138). The child remains in the mother’s hands while lactating until one can sit independently. Mamas hold their children in their hands when feeding them even after the breastfeeding period is over. Røseth et al.’s study shows that mothers hag and kiss their offspring more than male parents (14911), justifying the skewed connection towards moms. The hags occur mostly when the parent leaves for the job, delivers the child to school or daycare or congratulates the kid for comprehending a skill. The practice increases friendship and connection between the two parties in an almost impossible way for the absent and commanding father figure (Røseth et al. 14915). Sick children go through mothers’ physical inspection before receiving a prescriptive drug for fever or coughs. The parent touches the child tenderly and carefully to feel the temperature and detect any problem in the child’s health, thus strengthening the bond between the two.
Mothers’ increased understanding of their children’s feelings implies a strengthened bond. As per Cárdenas, Kujawa, and Humphreys, moms comprehend offspring’s feelings more than fathers (1099). Tichelman et al.’s study maintains that over 70% of mothers can tell when their kids are hurt or hungry by looking at them, relative to only 5% of fathers (247). Rajhans et al. purport that mamas’ connection to their young children allows them to feel when the child is crying a distance away from their working place (129). The scholars explain such using the oxytocin hormone that links the baby and the female parent. According to Rajhans et al., oxytocin production occurs during childbirth and lactation (131). The hormone allows kids to determine their mothers and discriminate against aliens even before developing true senses. As such, the toddler knows the mother’s smell due to the natural chemical unique to every woman. Consequently, the male figure waits until the child can realize material property to attract them using presents, which do not work like the natural product, making mamas’ link stronger than that of dads.
Variations in children’s emotional intelligence based on parental interactions show mothers’ increased connection to children. Consequently, Wildeman et al. reveal that offspring exhibiting healthy interactions with mothers since childhood develop more established emotions relative to those growing under their fathers (145). The stronger connection between teenagers and their female parents, especially boys, promotes confidence and security feelings (Wildeman et al. Turney 149). Conversely, progenies growing under male parents depict aggression and hostility in life, proving differences in mothers’ parenting relative to fathers’. While explaining the issues, Wildeman et al. suggest that mothers’ emotional connection with their progenies helps them feel secure and less coerced, leading to increased bond and trust (149). Wildeman et al. report that mothers offer rare warmth that male figures lack due to the creation and mental construction differences (152). For example, fathers’ inability to utilize their two brain hemispheres makes them poor at understanding and sympathizing with children when such is required (Rajhans et al. 137). Subsequently, moms’ unique way of interacting with their children proves the special bond between the two parties.
Adolescents’ increased empathy towards their mothers relative to fathers signify variation in parental connection. Boele et al. point out that many teenagers depict kind-heartedness and care towards their mothers relative to fathers (1036). Moreover, Boele et al. investigate the impact of parents’ absence on children to determine whose nonexistence between the mother and father causes much pain among adolescents (1033). Boele et al. contend that about 80% of the interviewed youngsters with absent mothers have depression symptoms, compared to about 10% of those lacking a dad (1046). The results imply a significantly increased link between mothers and their children. Boele et al. purport that living inside the mother’s womb for almost a year, surviving on her milk during toddlerhood, and growing with smiles and encouragement from her make losing a mom more painful (1034). The aspect justifies the role of pregnancy and oxytocin in bonding the mother and her children. Likewise, finding a similar trend among adopted children indicates parenting experiences’ function in uniting progenies and mothers, according to Boele et al. (1049). Consequently, many children love their mothers compared to fathers because of increased bonding.
Mothers’ recurrent and life-changing punishments to their children lead to life-long bonding. Being closer to progenies from young life allows moms to monitor and mold their behavior and characters. As per Tichelman et al., mamas beat their offspring more than dads (251). Additionally, mothers naturally expect their progenies to adhere to directives in the same way that the mothers changed their lives to accommodate the child during pregnancy and after birth (Tichelman et al. 253). Consequently, children, especially teenagers, receive severe beatings and punishments from their moms that change their lives. Scars and other marks on the body resulting from such incidences live as reminders of the feminine parent’s care. Other people even provide vivid accounts about how they would become useless in life or possibly die young due to engaging in dangerous behaviors that but for their mothers’ interventions. Such memories stimulate joy and love that exceeds the one provided to the absent father finding school fees. Accordingly, children saved by mothers from dangerous behaviors grow with deep emotional connections to moms.
Conclusion
Clearly, mothers exhibit stronger bonds with their children than fathers. The antenatal attachment between mothers and their progenies validates the feminine parents’ augmented union with their children. Similarly, mothers’ performances such as baby-talking, affectionate touch, and gaping into the baby’s eyes intensify their connection with the babies. Moreover, fathers’ absenteeism is an existent parenting experience that amplifies mothers’ linking to their offspring, while providing necessities such as protection, food, and sleep boosts the connection. Physical touches between mothers and their children endorse childhood bonding, whereas the mothers’ improved acknowledgment of their children’s moods implies reinforced union. Furthermore, differences in juveniles’ emotional intelligence based on maternal interactions show moms’ better connection to children. Adolescents’ improved compassion towards their mothers proportionate to fathers denote distinction in parental connection. Lastly, mothers’ repeated and enduring corrections to their offspring lead to life-long bonds.
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