Respond to your baby’s messages and cues to determine needs and continue to try other responses until the baby is soothed. Bowlby J. Attachment. 2. Vol. 1. London: Hogarth Press; 1969. Attachment and loss. New Jersey Birth to Three Early Learning Standards. (2013). New Jersey Council for Young Children. Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., van IJzendoorn, M. H., & Juffer, F. (2003). Less is more: Meta-analyses of sensitivity and attachment interventions in early childhood. Psychological Bulletin, 129, 195–215.
Positive parenting practices impact the development of children’s attachment and self-regulation abilities. Parents who are sensitive and responsive to children’s moods and emotional states help calm them. This makes children feel secure.
A study on naturalistic arousal patterns in infants and parents found that they can affect one another’s emotional states. Hence if the parent is stressed, the baby will sense it and become stressed. The more responsive the parent was, the faster the infant could be soothed.