...Attachment Parenting: Following Your Instinct Often times, parents describe the feeling of holding their bundle of joy for the very first time as love at first sight. Why is that? Research has shown that this indescribable surge of emotions between parents and their offspring can be attributed to the natural hormone, oxytocin; ultimately triggering nurturing feelings and behaviors for both mom, dad and baby (Pedersen). Often times these natural feelings get pushed aside the moment mother and baby are discharged from the hospital. Unfortunately, this encouraged disconnect has been weaved into cultural fabric, like establishing a routine in baby's life from day one and suggesting unrealistic expectations about infant sleep capabilities, including sleep-training and controlled-crying methodologies. However, some parents choose to embrace their natural...
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...Parenthood can often be extremely overwhelming and demanding. Putting aside your entire life and giving up everything to satisfy the needs of your baby is not an easy or painless task. The immense pressure to do the best you possibly can for your child poses a huge responsibility on parents. In my opinion, the critiques condemnation of attachment parenting is not fair. I believe that the concept of attachment is reasonable and infact necessary for infants to develop into skilled, independent and mature individuals who share a strong emotional bond with their parents. First and foremost, it is essential to know what Attachment parenting is all about? It is ‘an approach of raising children who are well connected to their parents rather than a strict set of rules.’A common misconception that people have is considering intensive mothering to be a synonym for attachment parenting. Intensive mothering is based on the idea of completely sacrificing your needs and desires and devoting your life to your child or in other words letting your child dictate your life. Most of the articles such as Dr. Laura’s neighborhood focuses on the extreme extent people go to in order to raise their child in the “perfect” way. The author in a rather sarcastic tone aims to make the readers realize that even in the 1970’s and 80’s parents raised babies who turned out to be just fine without ‘the concern that they aren’t spending enough time with their kids and needing to demonstrate in countless ways...
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...Cultural differences in attachment Van Ijzendoorn & Kroonenberg 1988 Cross-cultural Attachment What is culture? * “Culture is a framework of beliefs and values shared by a group, that influences the perception and interpretation of experiences by individuals within that group, as well as their goals for action and their actions themselves.”. * Parents' attachment beliefs, values, and practices differ around the world. Although the attachment relationship is universal, parents' attachment beliefs, values, and practices differ around the world. Abraham Sagi, Marinus Van IJzendoorn & N Koren-Karie (1991) reported on Strange Situation findings from studies in the United States, Israel and Japan. The American results were similar to Ainsworth’s: 71% showing secure attachment, 12% anxious-resistant and 17% anxious-avoidant. The Israeli findings - from Sagi, Van Ijzendoorn, Ora Aviezer, Frank Donnell & Ofra Mayseless (1985) - were rather different: 62% secure, 33% anxious-resistant and only 5% anxious-avoidant. The Israeli sample, though, was taken from a kibbutz (communal farm) where the infants were looked after much of the time by adults who were not part of their family. As the children still had close relationships with their mothers, they tended not to be anxious-avoidant. They rarely encountered complete strangers which might help explain the high numbers of anxious-resistant. Another reason put forward was that mothers were often absent; while the caregivers...
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...worker in the setting is based on the principles of the attachment theory. The key person responds sensitively to the child’s demands and regularly engages in playful interactions. The child will become fond of their key person, and will prefer to be with them other than other practitioners, and will often refuse to go with any other practitioners. The key person has a big impact on all areas of a child’s wellbeing, learning and development. For babies and young people to feel happy, settled and secure, they need to make an emotional attachment with other adults to care for them when their parents aren’t there, such as practitioners. When adults spend extended periods of time with children, by interacting with...
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...arms and legs, and finally hands and feet. During infancy and childhood, the arms and legs continue to grow somewhat ahead of the hands and feet. • Sex differences in growth: infancy, girls are shorter and lighter than boys and higher ratio of fat to muscle. Sex differences persist through early and middle childhood and are greatly magnified at adolescence. Children of the same age differ in rate of physical growth – some mature faster than others. • History of breastfeeding & cultural variations: breastfeeding now more common in industrialized nations. 77% of mothers in America begin breastfeeding after birth, but more than one third stop by 6 months. • Benefits of breastfeeding: provides correct balance of fat and protein. Ensures nutritional completeness. Ensures healthy physical growth. Protects against many diseases. Protects against faulty jaw development and tooth decay. Ensures digestibility. Smoothens the transition to solid foods. • Kwashiorkor: disease caused by an unbalanced diet very low in protein. The disease usually strikes after weaning, between 1 and 3 years of age. Common in regions where children...
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...From a very early age my child, Elise, had developed rather poor sleeping behaviors. At around zero months Elise was only sleeping two hours a time. A typical sleep cycle for newborns involves a four-hour cycle of the baby being awake for one hour at a time and then sleeping for approximately three consecutive hours (Kail,p.93). At around three months, Elise was very active and seemingly in constant motion and awake more often than is typical for other babies. It is normal for babies around three or four months of age to be sleeping through the night (Kail, p.93). At around eight months Elise was still experiencing issues with sleep. Although I could tell she was tired, she would cry when I try to put her to bed. Although Elise experienced...
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...way agree with the (Ainsworth & Bell, 1970) article and the information being provided regarding attachment. Attachment is a deep and enduring emotional bond that connects one person to another across time (Bordens & Abbott, 2011). Attachment does not have to be reciprocal. One person may have an attachment with an individual which is not shared. Attachment is characterized by specific behaviors in children, such as seeking proximity with the attachment figure when upset (Bordens & Abbott, 2011).Attachment behavior in adults towards the child includes responding sensitively and appropriately to the child’s needs. Such behavior appears universal across cultures. Attachment theory provides an explanation of how the parent-child relationship emerges and influences subsequent development. Attachment theory in psychology originates with the seminal work of John Bowlby (Bordens & Abbott, 2011). Stages of Attachment A study of 60 babies at monthly intervals is conducted for the first 18 months of life (longitudinal study). The children can be studied in their home. The children can be visited monthly for approximately one year, their interactions with their parents are observed, and parents are interviewed and evidence for the development of attachment is that the baby shows separation anxiety after the parent left (Bordens & Abbott, 2011). Up to 3 months – Indiscriminate attachments. The newborn is predisposed to attach to any human. Most babies respond equally to any caregiver...
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...which were influenced by how I answered the assessment I completed when I first I was asked to create and answer questions about a virtual child. When I was told this was an assignment I thought “this should be easy”. Boy was I wrong! I found many things can affect the outcome of my child. If I am too strict or too easy, the child’s behavior will show this. Over time, this will also affect the child’s temperament. I have learned that some of my classmates’ virtual children are harder to get along with and require more discipline then others. I decided to just trust my instinct and answer the questions as if they were for a real child. In this report you will see how my answers affected my virtual daughter Alexis and, my experience throughout the duration of the assignment. 0-8 MONTHS 1. How does your baby's eating, sleeping and motor development compare to the typical developmental patterns? ~Alexis’s motor skills are typical for her age, crawling, sitting up, and standing up, but not walking yet. Her sleeping habits are normal for her age. Infants normally sleep sixteen-seventeen hours a day. For the first week or so Alexis wasn't very hungry and actually lost a little weight, she has now started eating and has gained back some of the weight she lost. 2. At 8 months of age was your child an "easy", "slow-to-warm-up", or "difficult" baby in terms of Thomas and Chess's classic temperamental categories? On what do you base this judgment? ~Alexis was an easy baby. She...
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... 2 Child Anxiety When discussing anxiety in children, there are three main anxiety disorders that are unique to children alone. These disorders are separation anxiety, selective mutism, and reactive attachment disorder. While anxiety can be seen as a normal part of childhood and learning to adapt to new surroundings and situations, for some children, this anxiety can be persistent and intense. Furthermore, this persistent anxiety can lead to interfering with the child's ability to make new friends, trouble in school, and trouble with sleeping. Separation anxiety can occur in a child when a parent or caregiver leaves the room or even when they are dropping their child off to a daycare or preschool environment. Most of the time, separation anxiety will diminish the more the child gets acclimated to their new surroundings and environment. If separation anxiety persists, the child may also have fears of something bad happening to their parents while they are not around. Symptoms of separation anxiety include: excessive distress when separated from a caregiver, nightmares, reluctance to go to school or go to sleep without the caregiver nearby, and repeated physical complaints (Stafford, Boris, & Dalton, 2007). Generally there are no tests for this condition because some separation anxiety is normal in all children, but a doctor should be consulted if the anxiety persists after the age of two. Some treatments that...
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...493) This form of depression can have lasting effects on the family and child. A depressed mother can seriously retard her child’s rate of development (Cooper and Murray 2001). How does postpartum depression differ from “the baby blues”? What are the signs, symptoms, and treatment associated with postpartum depression? What are some of the lasting effects of this disorder? Roughly 13 percent of all women who give birth develop postpartum depression (Coone and Mitterer 2013 Ch. 14 pg. 493). How will this disorder affect the bonding and attachment necessary in the development of the newborn into childhood? The “baby blues” is a condition that is usually experienced by an estimated 25 – 50 percent of all women, (Coone and Mitterer 2013). It is a milder form that lasts 1 – 2 days following childbirth. Signs and symptoms of “baby blues” are similar to that of postpartum depression, such as irritability, difficulty with sleeping, loss of appetite, and trouble concentrating. These can be attributed to natural hormonal changes that occur following childbirth. However, postpartum depression can set in soon after childbirth, or develop gradually over a period of months, and can last longer and symptoms are more severe, in severe cases a mother can become suicidal and unable to care for the newborn. Postpartum depression symptoms that differ from “baby blues” include loss of pleasure, lack of interest in the baby, negative feelings toward the baby and in the mother, lack...
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...operate under the CE, one of which is the Phonological Loop (PL). The PL stores any information, which the individual hears, like an inner ear, and uses the inner voice to silently repeat the information the individual has heard or seen (maintenance rehearsal). Another slave system is the visuo-spatial sketchpad, which is used for planning spatial tasks and temporarily storing visual or spatial information. The final slave system is the episodic buffer Information from the CE and the LTM can be stored in the episodic buffer to create a complete memory, which can then be transferred to the LTM for more permanent storage. OUTLINE RESEARCH INTO PEER RELATIONS:4 Clarke Stewart et al studied 150 children and found that those in day care were more advanced in their social development than children who stayed at home. They were more advanced in social development, independence and social interactions with peers. Field also found that the amount of time spent in full-time daycare was positively correlated with the number of friends...
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...culture, and traditions. One of the many decisions new parents have to make is bedtime routines, sleeping arrangements, and choosing between breast-feeding vs. bottle-feeding. Parents often receive advise from friends, family, and media but ultimately the choice is up to the parents on what habits they want to form with their infant. These decisions may be made based on the parents’ schedule, what is more convenient, or what they feel best is for the baby’s growth. While researching what preferences parents have I read the article titled, “Cultural Variations in Infants’ Sleeping Arrangements:...
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...Clarita requires counselling, and given her age and the request of her mother to abandon family-based therapy, counselling with a group or individual will be best. Although Clarita was referred to treatment by her mother, core mental health will be considered if and when her symptoms get to a point where there is concern for her physical safety or the safety of others. Core mental health is reserved for the most severely ill children and it should not be considered as a first step for Clarita before trying less intrusive options (Goertz, 2001). Medication is not recommended at this point until a medical assessment is made to determine if there are any physical or biological concerns related to her lack of engagement in activities she once enjoyed,...
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...depression later on. 3. 1-year-olds usually fear being separated from someone they are accustomed to being around or sleeping with, such as a parent. This...
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...that if my mom and I do not take them, they will be sent to live in a foster home. According to the Department of Children and Families of New Jersey, Child Protective Services...
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