I saw this article in our local paper today, from the Washington Post, by Shankar Vedantam. As a firm believer in Attachment Parenting (AP), it was neat to see a study that confirms the philosophies behind AP.
While, I don’t really believe in “blaming” your parents (as the title of the article suggests), I believe that it is important for parents to be responsive to their babies, as much as possible. I think most people do the best they can, but as numerous studies and research are starting to show, babies need to have a secure bond with their parents, and AP provides some suggestions on how to do this. For me, AP is just kind of following my instincts anyway- baby is crying- pick up baby and hold him until he is happy- things like that.
I really liked the following paragraph from the article, which says,
“Contrary to the popular American myth that people left to fend for themselves become strong and independent, the psychological research seems to show exactly the opposite is true: It is the people who are confident enough to reach out to others for help — and to whom help is given — who become truly capable of independence.”
I strongly feel that the experiences that babies and children have early on shapes them later in life. The time I have with my children is so short in the grand scheme of things, I want to parent them so they grow up to feel good about themselves, be independent, have self respect, self esteem, and be able to pass that down to their children as well.
One reply on “Study Links Security in Babies to Later Relationships”
Great Article. Happy, independent, loved children always come out ahead! We are such models for our children, and I love to see parents who take this responsibility seriously. I have always seen you parent with a lot of “common sence” and I really respect that. You always seem to stay very cool, and calm and collected. You are quite the role model!