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CHLD 139: Approaches to Infant/Toddler Caregiving

LAURA DENISE HARRIS, ED.D.

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Objectives

Explain the changing roles concerning attachment for early childhood educators.

Understand the three As and how to use them in interactions with very young children.

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The 3 As: Attention, Approval, and Attunement as Tools

Master tools for ensuring your effect on children is positive and productive:

Attention

Approval

Attunement

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The Attachment Debate and the Roles of Caregivers

Infants and toddlers require secure attachments to their caregivers for normal, healthy development.

A controversy:

    • Old view: Only the mother could sufficiently bond with the infant.
    • New view: Non-familial persons (caregivers) can meet the needs of the infants equally well.
    • Question: What quality of attachment to consistent caregiver(s) does an infant require?

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Attachment Patterns

Separation anxiety is part of normal developmental experience.

Attachment Patterns: Secure and insecure

Secure attachment

Avoidant attachment (insecure)

Resistant attachment (insecure)

Disoriented attachment (insecure)

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Four Attachment Styles Explained

Secure attachment

    • Connection between infant and primary caregiver in which the infant feels safe and responds warmly

Avoidant attachment

    • Inconsistent and insensitive caregiver attention

Resistant attachment

    • The infant simultaneously seeks and resists emotionally and physically connecting with the caregiver.

Disoriented attachment

    • The infant has usually been traumatized by severe or prolonged abandonment

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More on Attachment

Infants can form multiple attachments.

Quality of attachments is not static; they change over time in response to changing conditions.

Booth-LaForce et al. (2014) report:

    • Changes in family structure can result in either continuity or discontinuity of attachment.

Another study on children in foster care:

    • Stable, well-functioning foster homes can have a positive impact on children’s attachment (Jacobsen et al., 2014).

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Attachment Continued

  • Infants are normally capable of attaching securely to more than one adult.
  • Caregiving that is supportive and sensitive using the 3 As promotes secure attachment.
  • Reciprocal relationships or partnerships with families will assist in secure attachment.
  • Primary caregiving, family grouping, and continuity of care promote secure attachment in childcare settings.

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Attention

Attention

    • Focused attention to observe the behavior, skills and needs of children in your care
    • Observing closely = attention
    • Identification of the Zone of Proximal Development
        • Vygotsky’s term for a range of tasks that a child is developmentally ready to learn
    • Teachers must be culturally sensitive and responsive to the ways families raise children.
    • In general, what we attend to matters because it alters the course of development for children—positively or negatively.

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Approval

Approval

    • The best type of attention is approval.
    • Show respect for the child by allowing children time to complete tasks and help them make choices.
    • Reggio Emilia’s concept of rights of children reflects a child who is rich in resources, strong, and confident.
    • Genuine approval serves as encouragement.

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Attunement

Attunement

    • Being aware and responsive, “in tune.”
    • Being attuned is not instinctual for all persons.
    • Includes observing and recording child behavior.
    • Reading and responding to children’s cues creates an “interactional dance.”

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Attunement & Perceptions

Attunement & Perceptions

Perceptions can influence the quality of interactions between infants and caregivers.

      • Maternal perceptions of infant soothability influenced the degree of maternal sensitivity.
      • Foster mothers who perceived typically developing children as requiring easier care were more sensitive to them compared with children who had developmental delays (Ponciano, 2012).
      • Adopting mothers were found to be more sensitive to children requiring complex care (Ponciano, 2012).

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Infant Persistence

Infant Persistence

    • Persistence was associated with greater levels of cognitive development (BanerJee and Tami-LeMonda, 2007).
    • Mother’s early teaching helps persistence.
    • Extending periods of interactions also influences persistence (Wheeler and Stultz, 2008).

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Return & Serve Handout & Discussion

  • Read the handout
  • How does each step in the serve & return process align with the 3 As (attention, approval, & attunement)?
  • Which of the 3 As is incorporated in each step? How?
  • How do these steps promote attachment with infants/toddlers in childcare settings?
  • How might you incorporate these steps in an activity implemented in an infant/toddler classroom and integrate the 3 As in the learning experience?