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Interaction between babies and mother There are various kinds of interaction between mothers and babies, but they can be classified according to the five senses. Interaction through sense of touching Mothers feel their babies' smooth skin, and babies feel their mothers' hands and body to confirm each other's existence. Physical contact such as hugging, patting and kissing is very important. It is natural for mothers to confirm their love by tenderly gazing at their babies, but even newborn babies are aware of their mothers' gazes. Even though newborn babies' eyes are not yet developed, the retina in their eyes are as equally developed as that of the adult. Babies are believed to be capable of seeing fairly well up to a distance of 20 to 30 cm (8 to 12 inches). If a mother looks into her baby's eyes and moves her face while speaking gently, even a month-old baby's pupils will react although only slightly. This interaction between the warmhearted mother and the baby is called 'eye-to-eye contact', which is considered to be an important base upon which a sound mother-child relationship is built. Interaction through sense of hearing Mothers listen to their babies' cries and laughter, and the babies listen to their mothers' words and lullabies. This interaction is based on speaking and listening. When talking to each other, they are practicing what is called 'entrainment' which means making sympathetic gestures or changing facial expressions. A detailed computer analysis reveals that not only infants but also newborns exhibit entrainment. This proves the importance for babies to be spoken with love by their mothers and surrounding people. Interaction through sense of smell Mothers enjoy the milky smell of their babies. And it is believed that newborns, right after birth, can differentiate their mothers from other people by their unique body scents. Even though human sense of smell is known to be weaker than that of other mammals, interaction between mothers and babies, based on the sense of smell has a profound influence on both newborns and infants. Interaction through sense of taste Newborn babies are able to distinguish various tastes, and are known to react positively toward sweetness. Mothers' milk, when compared with the uniform taste of infant formula, contains four times more fat at the beginning than at the end of nursing, So the taste of breast milk plays a significant role in the interaction between mothers and babies . | ||||||||||||||||