the importance of mother-infant attachment

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Dr. Sigmund Freud thought the experiences in the first five years were the most critical for the development of personality. It is where it all begins. We all go through stresses in life but it is the well-developed adult that is able to handle stress and how they handle it. It all starts with attachment between the caregiver and the infant. The emotional bond that forms between an infant and a primary caregiver is called attachment. Bonding is a continuation of the relationship that began during pregnancy. The physical and chemical changes that were happening in the body of a mother remind her of the presence of that little person who was growing inside her. Birth reinforces that bond and gives it validity. Now she can see, feel, and talk to the little person that she knew only as a movement in her belly and the heartbeat she heard through the ultra sound. Bonding allows her to transfer her love for the infant inside to the outside. Inside, she gave her blood and outside, she gives her milk, her attention with her eyes, hands and voice. Bonding brings mothers and newborns back together. Attachment is a very important development in the social and emotional life of the infant, usually forming within the first six months of the infant’s life and showing up in a number of ways during the second six months, such as wariness of strangers and fear of being separated from the caregiver. According to psychologist Mary Ainsworth, attachment is a connection between two people that creates a bond. It is that bond that causes the desire for contact with that person and the feeling of distress when separation occurs from that person. This special tie between two human beings that bind them together is what attachment is. Attachment aids a n... ... middle of paper ... ...Weller, Aron, Sirota, Lea & Eidelman, Arthur I. (2003). Testing a family intervention hypothesis: The contribution of mother-infant skin-to-skin contact (kangaroo care) to family interaction, proximity, and touch. Journal of Family Psychology, 17, 94-107. doi:10.1037/0893-3200.17.1.94 Feldman, Ruth, Weller, Aron, Sirota, Lea & Eidelman, Arthur I. (2002). Skin-to-skin contact (kangaroo care) promotes self-regulation in premature infants: Sleep-wake cyclicity, arousal modulation, and sustained exploration. Developmental Psychology, 38, 194-207. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.38.2.194 Lyons-Ruth, Karlen, Easterbrooks, M. Ann & Cibelli, Cherilyn Davidson. (1997). Infant attachment strategies, infant mental lag, and maternal depressive symptoms: Predictors of internalizing and externalizing problems at age 7. Developmental Psychology, 33, 681-692. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.33.4.681

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