Why is parenting so difficult? Shouldn’t a mother be ‘hardwired’ into knowing how to raise an infant? The answer, as Small says, has to do with the conflict between biological needs of a baby and the cultural beliefs that a parent has conceived. First of all we can not classify one universal way of parenting as there is no ‘one right way of doing it’. Each and every mother should have the confidence in trusting her nurturing instincts and disregard any advice from others whose advice is based on, as Small puts it, “a mix of tradition, fad and folk wisdom mixed with a modicum of science”(43). Styles of parenting vary across cultures. Issues such as sleeping, eating, crying and the response of the parents’ to this behavior are critical for the development of the child.
Every parent should know the biological expectations the baby has of them so that rather than picking a choice out of many alternate ways of doing something, a parent can make an educated decision. Nothing in biology makes sense, except in light of evolution (said T.Dobzhansky) therefore we should study how the infant as an organism that has evolved over generations into its modern form. Human infants are born with half-finished brains which are different compared to other mammals. Small believes that the reason for this is that “human ancestors switched to bipedal locomotion.” This switch caused pelvic alterations resulting in a compromise between human infants meant that there was a limit to how much the infant’s could develop. This is also the reason why childbirth is so painful. A human mother is therefore unable to give birth herself; this emphasizes the importance of interaction for the human species. The father is also an important figure in the infant’s life. He can, as Small says, provide everything a mother can excluding milk and apart from certain situations such as stress the baby makes little distinctions between the mother and the father. There has been much debate over the issue whether immediate exposure is crucial after childbirth, but Small sums up the argument by saying that any time lost between the infant and parent is detrimental for the development of the child. Bonding is thus very important for the development and mental health of the infant and this takes experience and learning and the attachment increases with time, as evinced by a study of 68 women.
Many of us can relate to baby Hattie and baby Mari, being raised with developmentally appropriate resources. However, this film has shown me that all cultures and family dynamics are different and there is no wrong way or right way. All four babies received all basic needs and were nurtured by their parents, which made them all the same regardless of their culture or
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 right help, this child may harbor these ill feelings for life.
“No cost nor labour did I spare” is a phrase every mother lives by. It shows that a mother loves her children so much that she will give anything up just so her children can reach success in life. The way this is written suggests that there was no thought involved in making this decision, the mother did not even think about it for a second, she knew immediately that she would not spare any cost or labor for her child. Anne Bradstreet is the author who wrote this, suggesting that the most important thing in her entire life is her kid’s success in life. In the poem “In Reference to Her Children,” author Anne Bradstreet demonstrates her love for her children by raising her children with pain and care, watching concernedly her children grow up, and wanting to be with them in the afterlife.
Maternal and paternal systems enrich a child and contribute extensively to the child’s emotional well-being. There is a large body of research that links early life experiences and relationships as being crucial to our lifelong capacity to engage in healthy relationships, enjoy basic physical health and avoid mental health risks.
The attachment theory, presented by Mary Ainsworth in 1969 and emerged by John Bowlby suggests that the human infant has a need for a relationship with an adult caregiver, and without a subsequent, development can be negatively impacted (Hammonds 2012). Ainsworth proposes that the type of relationship and “attachment” an infant has with the caregiver, can impact the social development of the infant. As stated by Hammonds (2012), attachment between a mother and a child can have a great impact on the child 's future mental
Every family is unique in dynamic and nature. Parenting styles within families vary depending on circumstance and principal. What defines parenting styles is the approach that parents take on raising their children and the psychological and social effects it has on their child’s development. These parenting techniques influence the child’s lifestyle and beliefs throughout their life and have lasting effects on the child’s adulthood. In the research article Child self-esteem and different parenting styles of mother’s: cross-sectional study discusses that “Parenting style refers to the practices adopted by parents during their children’s growth and socialization stages and how the children are controlled.” Developmental psychologist Diana Baumrind
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)
A parent’s parenting styles are as diverse as the world we live in today. Nowadays, parents only want what is best for their children and their parenting styles plays a crucial role in the development of children which will in the long run, not only effect the child’s childhood years, but later prolong into their adult life as well.
The infant determines whether or not the world is just based on the experiences it has during this first psychosocial stage (Santrock, 2011, p. 22). When an infant is born the first people it has contact with besides doctors are its parents; it is the job of the parents to figure out what steps to take to keep the baby feeling good (Sears, 2003, p. 4). According to Sears (2003), believe the most efficient way to create a happy and healthy relationship between the mother and infant is through the attachment parenting style (p. 3). The most important goals of the attachment parenting style are to help the parent gain a better understanding of the child, help the parent make the child feel loved and secure, and to make sure
(Early infant attachment is an important phenomena to study as it is connected to later child development). Early infant attachment is linked to cognitive, social, and emotional development (Pallini, Baiocco, Schneider, Madigan, & Atkinson, 2014). These three developmental aspects are significant in one’s later mental process capabilities, the relationships formed later in life, as well as their psychological stability. The attachments formed with caregivers in infancy are vital. Bowlby stated, “It is our first relationship, usually with our mother, that much of our future well-being is determined” (O’Gorman, 2012). It’s crucial for a child’s development to look at parenting styles and early infant attachment classifications which are made to caregivers. Most research focuses around mother-infant attachment making little known about the relationships made with fathers.
Webster’s dictionary defines parenting as the process of raising and education a child from birth until adulthood. Everyone has or had a caregiver, whether it be pests, animals or human beings. However, the thing that differs is the method of parenting. There are many methods of parenting, but there are only three main parts. They include authoritarian parenting style, permissive parenting style, and democratic parenting style. The next few paragraphs will give the reader a detailed description of these three parenting methods and what my parents have used in parenting me.
Emotional along with physical domain in prenatal stage is necessary for the growth of the baby (Watson & McDonald, 2007). Pregnancy is the time from contraception prior to after birth, is established to be a major part of a person’s life which will carry a great deal of challenges not just for ...
Throughout nearly all studies, it has become clear that parenting seems to have two main aspects that build it: demandingness and responsiveness. With these two characteristics, there are 4 main “parenting styles” that can be distinguished, each having their own level of both features.
Attachment is crucial to the survival and development of the infant. Kenneth and Klaus points out that the parents bond to their child may be the strongest of all human ties. This relationship has two unique characteristics. First, before birth one individual infant gestates within a part of the mothers body and second, after birth she ensures his survival while he is utterly dependent on her and until he becomes a separate individual. According to Mercer, the power of this attachment is so great that it enables the mother and father to make the unusual sacrifices necessary for the care of their infant. Day after day, night after night; changing diapers, attending to cries, protecting the child from danger, and giving feed in the middle of the night despite their desperate need to sleep (Mercer 22). It is important to note that this original parent-infant tie is the major source for all of the infant’s subsequent attachment and is the formative relationship in the course of which the child develops a sense of himself. Throughout his lifetime the strength and character of this attachment will influence the quality of all future ties to other individuals. The question is asked, "What is the normal process by which a father and mother become attached to a healthy infant?"...
Mothers are the primary caretakers of the children. The fathers have had minimal care taking responsibilities. Many women, if they had a career before hand, have to give it up to stay at home with the child. Although, many fathers where the wives must work become important in the process of care taking because their role must increase to their children. Studies of human fathers and their infants confirm that many fathers can act sensitively with their infant (according to Parke & Sawin, 1980) and their infants form attachments to both their mothers and fathers at roughly the same age (according to Lamb, 1977).