Attachment in Infants
Attachment in Infants
Jessica N. Summerlin
Rasmussen College
Attachment in Infants Ever wonder where to draw the line with the amount of attention you give an infant? Is there such thing as giving an infant too much attention? These are hard questions to answer and there is much debate on the topic; what is a good amount of attention to give an infant and how attention is related to attachment. The people that give attention and grow attached to an infant could be doing them harm, but could also could be doing them good. It is important to know how much is too much and where to draw this fine line. One of the most important things to know and understand is the relationships that infants have with others in their lives. The strongest attachment is between a child and their mother is one of the most important connections and a child could have but it is also extremely important that they develop this same attachment to other peoples within their lives. These people that they grow attached to could be grandparents, siblings, their father, and the child care professionals in their lives. Not only is it important to understand the relationships that infants have in their lives, it is very important to understand the characteristics of attachment. The different characteristics include having a safe haven, secure base, separation distress and proximity maintenance. There are two major theorists that studied attachment in infants first; Mary Ainsworth and John Bowlby. Both of these theorists believe that each infant will have each one of these characteristics at one point or another. They also believe that an infant can get stuck in one of the characteristics longer than another infant and this is perfectly normal. A child that skips a characteristic or that get stuck for a long period time could possibly suffer as they get older. Theorists believe that “the central theme of attachment theory is that mothers who are available and responsive to
Jessica N. Summerlin
Rasmussen College
Attachment in Infants Ever wonder where to draw the line with the amount of attention you give an infant? Is there such thing as giving an infant too much attention? These are hard questions to answer and there is much debate on the topic; what is a good amount of attention to give an infant and how attention is related to attachment. The people that give attention and grow attached to an infant could be doing them harm, but could also could be doing them good. It is important to know how much is too much and where to draw this fine line. One of the most important things to know and understand is the relationships that infants have with others in their lives. The strongest attachment is between a child and their mother is one of the most important connections and a child could have but it is also extremely important that they develop this same attachment to other peoples within their lives. These people that they grow attached to could be grandparents, siblings, their father, and the child care professionals in their lives. Not only is it important to understand the relationships that infants have in their lives, it is very important to understand the characteristics of attachment. The different characteristics include having a safe haven, secure base, separation distress and proximity maintenance. There are two major theorists that studied attachment in infants first; Mary Ainsworth and John Bowlby. Both of these theorists believe that each infant will have each one of these characteristics at one point or another. They also believe that an infant can get stuck in one of the characteristics longer than another infant and this is perfectly normal. A child that skips a characteristic or that get stuck for a long period time could possibly suffer as they get older. Theorists believe that “the central theme of attachment theory is that mothers who are available and responsive to
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