Observation Of Parent Infant Interaction

Early childhood is the most important phase of development in one’s lifespan as the experiences during childhood sets the course for later stages of development. It has been noted that a mother’s actions during pregnancy may influence the development of an infant. The developmental influences include prenatal, perinatal and neonatal environments. (Santrock, 2002) Although babies come into the world with no say or control over which family they will be placed into, or the environment in which they will begin to live in, theorists agree that the first two years are crucial, with early emotional, physical and social development influenced by the infant’s biological and environmental factors (Sigelman, Rider, & De-George Walker, 2013). The

In the film Babies, 4 infants are being observed for the first two years of their lives. Each babies comes from different culture, which shows how the various customs can impact the child’s development. Ponijao is the youngest one in his family and lives in a village in Opuwo Namibia. Bayar lives in Bayanchandmachi, Mongolia. Mari is the first child of a couple who lives in Tokyo Japan, and Hattie lives in Sans Francisco California. The film shows the babies develop cognitively, physically and socially-emotionally, during the infancy and toddler years. The Infancy and toddlerhood period is from birth to 2 years. “This period brings dramatic changes in the body and brain that support the emergence of a wide array of motor, perceptual, and intellectual capacities” (Berk & Meyers, 2016, p.6).

If the mother is not available for that special attachment then the infant could attach to a mother-substitute, this attachment relationship is the prototype for all future relationships. Forming this special attachment is believed to build up an internal working model or to help them template for their future relationships. The internal working model can be changed as the infant develops new types of relationships to others, contact and attachments with a variety of people can lead to a fully developed internal working model. The internal working model is the vital part of forming

* Babies and young children are vulnerable and very dependent on their parents and carers. Therefore as well as provide and children’s learning and development it is also essential that we support the physical care, keep them safe and meet their nutritional needs.

As the babies begin to recognise people around them this has an impact on their emotional development as they can become distressed when people are not around.

 Based on an article written by the “Committee on Early Childhood, Adoption and Dependent” Care draws your attention to the fact that during the first

Infant attachment is the first relationship a child experiences and is crucial to the child’s survival (BOOK). A mother’s response to her child will yield either a secure bond or insecurity with the infant. Parents who respond “more sensitively and responsively to the child’s distress” establish a secure bond faster than “parents of insecure children”. (Attachment and Emotion, page 475) The quality of the attachment has “profound implications for the child’s feelings of security and capacity to form trusting relationships” (Book). Simply stated, a positive early attachment will likely yield positive physical, socio-emotional, and cognitive development for the child. (BOOK)

In the reading by Daniel J. Seigel, and Mary Hartzell, it discusses how important it is for an infant to form an attachment bond with the parents, and how the parents need to be attuned to their infants needs to form a trusting relationship. The reading also details the

When exploring a mother and infants relationship closely it is evident that there are many layers to their relationship from attachment to parental sensitivity. Through the form of observations, information has been gathered to look in-depth at the mother-infant relationship. There are many layers in a mother-infant relationship and this essay will explore five concepts: emotional availability, internal working model, infant’s attachment, circle of security and developmental milestones. In light of this it’s important to look at the background of the family dynamic including the mother, father and infant as well as close family members including grandparents. The infant in which the observations are based on is currently 8 and half months old. The mother currently is studying full time and is also a mother to 3 older children ranging from 25 to 16. They reside in a small local town in the Wimmera region and the mother has been in the same town for 20 years and the father visits on a regular basis. Both the mother parents live only thirty kilometres away and the father has one living parent his mother who lives over 50 kilometres away. Both mother and father are in the late thirties early forties range and the father works full time as a painter.

After birth a child is surrounded by all these groups of people they learn a lot from this group of people and they plays an important role in the development of a child’s

Infants tend to develop an intense bond with their caregiver. They prefer to be around their caregiver and will become distress when separated. If the relationship between the caregiver and the infant is strong and healthy, infant tend to have a better personality as they grow older. The theories of Mary Ainsworth and Erik Erickson proves that the caregiver plays a significant role in shaping an infant’s life.

The concept of infant-mother attachment is as important to the child as the birth itself. The effect this relationship has on a child shall affect that child for its entire life. A secure attachment to the mother or a primary caregiver is imperative for a child’s development. Ainsworth’s study shows that a mother is responsive to her infant’s behavioral cues which will develop into a strong infant-mother attachment. This will result in a child who can easily, without stress, be separated from his mother and without any anxiety. Of course the study shows a child with a weak infant-mother relationship will lead to mistrust, anxiety, and will never really be that close with the mother. Without the

caregiver in the early years of life is the key for an infants’ future emotional, social and cognitive development. Bowlby explained that this primary attachment relationship develops because infants need a mechanism to ensure survival. Attachment is therefore an adaptive behaviour which ensures the infant receives food, security and a safe base from which to explore the world. Several innate behaviours have evolved in order to elicit caregiving such as crying and

Attachment is the method through which people acquire specific positive and close emotional bonds with others. In mature relationships, people may be equal attachment figures. However, this is not the case in a relationship between the child and parent. The child-parent attachment is a tie based on a need for safety, security and protection, paramount during infancy and childhood when the developing individual is undeveloped and weak. As a result, infants unconsciously attach to their caregivers. This paper will further discuss the importance of early emotional attachment in development as well as progressive concepts and empirical foundations.

The three parent child observations that have been documented will be analyzed using knowledge from class material and with peer-reviewed articles. Support will be given to show the connection between the articles, the class material, and to each observation. Each observation took place in a different location and each supporting article discusses how the actions of the parent and child relate to different aspects of a parent child relationship.