Attachment observation

Diana Greene

Part A
1. I observed a boy of approximately 12 months of age. The observation took place at La
petite academy, in an infant/toddler room with children from approximately 12 to 18 months of
age. I observed the arrival of the family for about 15 minutes.

2. Mother and child arrived to the classroom, the teacher greets the family saying “good
morning”, mother responds saying “good morning” while she smiles and make eye contact with
the teacher. Mother places the baby on the floor and both baby and mother make eye contact,
mother says “ I will right back, am going to put your bottles in the fridge. Teacher then
approaches the child, sits on the floor and says “good morning peter, opening her arms for child
to come to her. Child did not move so teacher said “ok i see you need more time”. The mother
said, “yes, we have a rough night and he didn't go to sleep until late, he is probably tired, he
was very upset this morning waking up. Teacher then reply “aww poor baby must be exhausted,
hopefully he will take a nap and feel better after that” teacher looking ar the child said “right
peter”. Babe then crawl to hi mother legs, fussing and looking at his mother, mother picked him
up and toll him “mama has to go baby, I am late for work, give baby a kiss and hand him over
to the teacher as she walks out of the classroom. Teacher receives the baby and walks away
saying “ mama will be back, would you like a bottle and maybe try to take a nap, I bet you will
feel better after that” teacher place the child on the carpet and walk away to get a bootle ready,
baby starts crying, the teacher came back to pick him up while warming up the bottle, baby
doesn't stop crying until the teacher sits in the rocking chair with the baby and starts to feed him.
Eventually the baby was asleep and the caregiver place him on the crib.

Part B
1. Based on the baby’s behavior I could observe the baby was securely attached to his
mother, the child was depended on his mother he didn't want her to leave and was
anxious to stay. He was looking around at the room and the people, and at the same
time he never took his eyes off his mother.
 2. The parent was very neutral, she didn't show much stress even though the baby was
crying, she explained that he had a bad night and didn't sleep much and that's probably
why he was crying, she also said he needs a bottle and might go back to sleep’.
3. The caregiver was sensitive to baby’s feelings and stress, she tried to approach but the
baby didn't want her, but she was attentive saying “ I understand how you feel, I would
be mad if i had a bad night too, i will make a bottle and get your favorite blanket for you”.
4. The parent seemed like she trusted the caregiver and environment she was leaving the
baby in, did not show much emotion.

Part C
1. I believe the baby's attachment to his mother was stronger than with the caregiver. The
baby seemed like he was anxious and not ready for his mother to leave. I don't think the
baby was being neglected, the caregiver was attentive to the child's needs and helped
the baby feels better after the mom left, what I believe is that perhaps the child haven't
been in this environment for long and not attached to the caregiver.
2. The parent seemed to be fine, she did not show any kind of stress, it seemed like she
was in a rush to leave.
3. The caregiver was calm and attentive to the child stress, she tried to help the child to
calm and come to her. And after the mother left caregiver gave the baby the attention
that he needed b providing a bootle and by putting him to rest.
4. I don't think the mother was worried about leaving the baby with the caregiver, it seemed
like she trusted the caregiver. Both parent and caregiver had a conversation they both
were smiling and listening with respect to one another.

Part D
1. I had the feeling of just going in there and grab the baby myself, he was very upset and
anxious to stay without his mother, I felt anxious myself just to see the bay stress and
not being able to do anything. I felt that the mother did not want to stay for too long first
because she was late and second because she didn't want to make the situation worse
or moke the baby more upset. I believe the caregiver did a good job being sensitive to
the baby’s feelings, she meets the child’s need by giving him a bottle and doing her best
to comfort the baby.
2. It will be easy for me to say that the mother did not give the baby the attention he
needed or that she did not do enough for him before leaving. But I can't say that, I am a
mother myself and sometimes we have days like that where we are late for work, have
sleepless nights and stress but we never stop loving our babies. I could tell by the baby’s
reaction that he was probably new to environment and or people, or the attachment to
his mother was so dependable that he thought he would not be happy without his
mother.
I thin the caregiver did an excellent job by giving the baby the space and time that he
needed, by offering and giving him the attention and affection he needed to feel better.
And by letting the child know that he can trust her and that she is there to help.