Part A

1. Give a description of gender and age of the specific child observed

(must be between 9 and 30 months), as well as setting (place and size of
the group) and length of time observing.
The child in the video that I observed was a 13 month old girl named Mia.
The child was in what appeared to be a home bedroom with large white
doors with windows. There was only one child, Mia, and her mother in this
video. The mother is sitting on a tan carpet near a brown bed, and the child
is being partially held up by her mother as the video begins. There is a
wicker basket of toys off to the right and some toys scattered across the
ground. I observed the child and her mother interact for 1 minute and 10
seconds.
2. Write an objective observation of either arrival or departure time.
At the start of the video, the mother is sitting with her legs crossed on a
carpet as the child walks around while mouthing a pink toy. She asks her
daughter to come to her and reaches out her hand to coax her over. She
then uses both hands to lift the child closer to her and as the child pushes
the mothers face with her hands. The child then gesticulates, jerks her
body around, and begins to emit a high pitched cry.
Part B - Base the following answers on your objective observation (Part
A/2) of the child’s interaction with their parent. (This is your interpretation
of the objective observation.)

1. What attachment promoting behaviors do you see the child displaying?

One attachment behavior the child is displaying in this video is recognition
of her primary caregiver (her mother). She is not initially showing signs of
anxiousness or distrust as the video begins. When the mother initiates a
diaper change,however, the child displays the attachment behavior of
crying. Children cry in order to appeal for protection or to trigger a
caregiving response. The child continues to fidget around on the floor and
cry as an appeal to her caregiver and to express her displeasure with
having her diaper changed.

2. How does the parent respond?

The parent responds to the child’s frustration, fidgeting, and continuous
crying by empathizing and calmly explaining what she is going to do
(change her diaper) and how she is going to do it (quickly). She also tells
her daughter that she understands that she is angry at having her diaper
changed but that it must be done and therefore she will make the process
as quick as possible. She tries to distract the child with a toy from her father
which works briefly.
The mother encourages the child brief intermission of mouthing the toy,and
soon after the child begins to cry and squirm yet again. The mother then
tells the daughter that if she helps in the process it will go quickly, and she
counts to three. Finally, the diaper is changed and the mother playfully lifts
the child up by her arms and explains “Pom pom!” and allows the child to
walk freely. She concludes by telling the child how she is going to wrap up
the dirty diaper.

3. How does the caregiver respond?

The caregiver and the mother are the same person. The mother is the only
adult present in the video. The mother does her best to make sure the child
is an active participant in the process of her own diaper changing. She
explains the process in detail, and attempts to talk her child through it. She
also repeatedly acknowledges and validates her child’s emotions
throughout the process. All of the mother’s responses show that she is
trying to respect the child as an autonomous person.

Part C - Base your answers on your objective observation (Part A/2) of the
child’s interaction with the caregiver. (This is your interpretation of the
objective observation.)

1. What attachment-promoting behaviors do you see the child

displaying? As soon as the child is pulled into the diaper changing process
she begins to illicit a high pitch noise to signify displeasure. Soon after, the
child begins crying and whining profusely in an attempt to elicit a response
from her mother/caregiver and to communicate her discomfort and
disapproval for the diaper changing.
2. What evidence of the attachment dance do you observe? (Caregiver
promoting attachment behavior.) The caregiver promotes attachment
behavior by making eye contact, speaking in a calm and consistent tone,
and acknowledging the child’s frustrated cries throughout the entire
process of changing her diaper.

Part D

1. How did you feel about this observation?

I personally feel that this observation was good. The mother/caregiver did
her best to ensure that the child was included in the process of her own
diaper changing. She did not simply grab the child and silently change her
as she struggled and cried. She calmly invited her over to initiate the
process, and continually talked about the diaper changing and
acknowledged her child’s frustration throughout the entire process. This is
good because it teaches the child that their feelings matter and that their
bodies belong to them.

2. What advice might you give to the caregiver and/or parent?

The only advice that I would give this parent is to not provide her child with
a distraction during her diaper changing. I would suggest that the parent
should apply more patience with the child and thereby teach the child to
have patience during this necessary process. Perhaps the child did not
want to be held or wanted to play instead, but learning patience is a vital
life skill.