Why mothers should hold their babies constantly

Many parents think that babies should be isolated in cribs and strollers. This is a common practice in American society. Most American parents utilize strollers and cribs as a way to lay babies down to rest. However, there is a benefit in constantly holding your baby as a mother. Mothers in biblical times held their babies constantly. The biblical context is a context that we as a society glean from, so we as a society should take notice.

Mothers holding their babies is a form of the Christian doctrine of mutual submission, where children are held in the loving arms of parents. See Colossians 3:20-21 KJV:

Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord. Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged.

The Greek root word translated "obey" is υπακουο (Latin: hupakouo) and refers to secure, vulnerable rest in the love and grace of parents. Children are to rest securely in the sacrifice of parents, just as parent believers rest securely in the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Parents are to be extensions of Christ in the family home, dutifully and selflessly submitting to children just as they would God, expecting absolutely nothing in return, with children resting safely and securely in the wake of the submission of parents. Parents are to submit to children as their enemy, from beneath yet from above, revering and fearing children as vulnerable extensions of God.

The Greek root word translated "provoke...to anger" is ερεθιζο (Latin: erethizo) and refers to damages or offenses, namely the slightest of personal offense perceived by a child, including, but not limited to, the slightest of offensive touch or speech perceived by a child, stemming from entitlement. This commandment was intended by the Apostle Paul, and understood in its original context, as a moral statute prohibiting all forms of punitive parenting, including any punishments or controlling demeanor towards children. In the Old Testament, punitive parents were put to death by way of bloodletting, after punishing their children one last time. Parents who punished their children were charged with kidnapping, with "kidnapping" being defined under the Law as the slightest of damages or offenses stemming from hostage-taking - child punishment was seen in biblical times as holding your child hostage merely for things they did wrong, theteby treating your child as a quartered slave. Paul here was lifting up the Law in order to convict a group of Greek Christian parents who brought their pagan custom of spanking and punishing chldren into the church. Paul, contrary to popular legend, was anti-spanking, and opposed any and all punishment of a child in his writings.

Mothers in biblical times held their babies from day one. Mothers and children were naked in the family home in relation to each other, and thus a baby got a lot of skin-on-skin comfort just for being held by mothers. Because of this, older children wanted to frequently be held by mothers. This created a secure attachment between mother and child. When children cried, mothers scooped them up in skin-on-skin closeness, and cooed while also reassuring children with the phrase "this too will pass". 

Most children in America are mobile, and very much so. This mobility of children is taken for granted. Whereas, most children in biblical times were held by their mothers from day one. When you hold a child from day one, they become conditioned to being held through their formative years, preventing power struggles from children wandering.

Mothers constantly held infants in their arms, and allowed the infant child to suckle her teat, on average until age 3, or else until the child pushed away the breast. Children remained close to mothers for the formative years of their lives, in skin-on-skin comfort and sustenance. When out and about, mothers wrapped up their children with swaddling blankets next to their bosom, allowing for children to breastfeed if they were milk-hungry. 

Touchy-feely traits in children are not genetic, but conditioned. When children are held constantly as infants, they grow to be clingy with mothers especially, and want to be held constantly. This separation anxiety is a healthy stage in childhood development, and thus it is good for children to be held constantly by mothers in their infant years. 

Children separate from parents on their own. When children are around age 6, they start to squirm out of the arms of mothers, and run around the neighborhood playing, venturing further and further from home, but then retreating to the sustaining warmth of mothers come nightfall, in the form of co-sleeping. Co-sleeping was skin-on-skin for children in biblical times, and ended when the child hit puberty. At the onset of puberty, children wanted their own space to sleep, and this was the beginning of the end of the closeness between parent and child. Fathers were there to lavishly praise and encourage in children the stages of independence. Children will grow to be independent entirely on their own, but it takes time.

The depraved and entitled parents who provoke their children to anger through punitive parenting will not inherit the Kingdom of God! Let them be forever cast into the lake of fire and burning sulfur, which is the second death prepared for Satan and his accomplices! Let them descend into the abyss which is the ever-burning Hell of fire and torment, suffering God's Wrath forever and ever! Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!