Child-Parent Attachment

The All-Important Relationship Between Baby and Parent

From birth, infants begin to develop special relationships with their primary caregiver. By the time they are mobile, they have formed one or a few focused attachments. Research indicates that the quality of these attachments is critical to a child’s social-emotional development and early learning. In order to learn, to feel competent, to regulate their behavior and manage feelings of distress, infants and young children need security in their families and with their primary caregivers.

Resources for Child-Parent Attachment

UW Resources

Center for Adoption Medicine: The Center for Adoption Medicine is a resource that covers medical and developmental issues in adoption and pediatrics. The center worked with the School of Nursing on a pilot study looking at how attachments form in international adoptions.

Center for Child and Family Well-Being: Faculty in the Child and Family Well-being Research Group were working toward understanding children’s development and well-being from a bio-ecological perspective that takes a “whole child” approach, addressing individual, family and contextual factors at multiple levels of influence.

Center on Infant Mental Health and Development: This site is a partnership between the UW’s Center on Human Development and Disability and the UW School of Nursing. The center promotes interdisciplinary research, education and practice, and advances policy related to the social and emotional development of all children during the first five years.

NCAST – Promoting Nurturing Environments for Young: NCAST provides professionals, parents and other caregivers the knowledge and skills to provide nurturing environments for young children by developing and disseminating innovative research-based products and training programs used in many disciplines and settings.

External Resources

Center on the Developing Child: This Harvard University center generates, translates and applies knowledge in the service of improving life outcomes for children in the U.S. and beyond.

Talaris Institute: A Seattle-based organization designed to support parents and caregivers in the healthy social and emotional development of children, ages birth through 5.

Washington State Department of Early Learning (DEL): The DEL offers information and resources to parents and teachers that help nurture safe and healthy early learning experiences for all Washington state children.

Zero to Three: A national, nonprofit early childhood organization that promotes the health and development of infants and toddlers.