Olivia- Birth - 2

How is your child’s attachment relationship to you and your partner developing? What is happening at the 3-month and 8-month periods that might affect attachment security. Use Siegel’s explanation of Bowlby’s work on attachment in your answer. –

At the 3-month period, Olivia is still very attached to me. Part of this is because I am her primary caregiver. I made the decision to breastfeed so that may have increased that attachment as well. Olivia is also starting to show interests in her surroundings and rcognizes familiar people places. She does often cry when introducess to new people and situations. At this age this attachment is normal and encouraged. Based on Bowlby’s work on attachment, this attachment is important with children and can have a powerful impact on the child’s future.

As Olivia ages to 8 months old, she is still very attached to me. I am number one in her life, with my partner a close second. This is still fairly normal, but eventually she should be starting to feel closer to my partner. She still gets upset in new situations and can even be difficult to sooth if she is upset. She is starting to explore more as long as I am present. The most important thing for this child is that she needs to feel optimal attachment. She needs to feel very attached to me and know that she is safe. Dr. Siegel explains that this important otherwise the child can have serious complications down the road.

Analyze your baby’s temperament in more detail at 19 months than you did at 8 months. How would you describe your baby in terms of the five aspects of temperament utilized by the Virtual Child program (activity, sociability, emotionality, aggressiveness vs. cooperativeness, and self control)? Has your child’s temperament been stable over the first 18 months? A blurb defining and providing examples of the five aspects of temperament is provided at 12 months, but you should seek out further explanations of temperament through an online search. Explain how the concept of goodness of fit (also discussed in the blurb on infant temperament) applies to your interactions with your child.

Olivia is not a overly active baby she is often content and a fairly quiety child. She tends to enjoy quiet pastimes and is less interested in vigorous physical activity. Olivia tends to take after me in the sociability and is not a very social baby. She tends to prefer me or my partner and takes time getting comfortable to new situations and people. She is really only comfortable with a few adults. Emotionally she is becoming more emotional and is showing signs of being fussy at times and happy at other times. When she is tired, she shows normal signs of being whiny and fussy. So far she has not shown much aggressiveness and is quite cooperative with her father and me. At this point she seems to have good self control for a 18-month-old. She is able to sit quietly and work on activities. She is also becomming more aware of her self. She seems to recognize herself in the mirror. As far as goodness of fit I have tried to follow that in the best way possible. When she was younger she was shy around strangers and I gradually introduced her to those strangers. I am still having to do that with her because she does seem a little nervous about strangers still. I also tried to introduce new activities to her when she was ready and accepting of the new things. As she has developed I have encouraged new motor skills and try new things.