Observing a 1 or 2-year-old child begins with being there and thoughtful as you follow how the child explores their environment and interact with others. By observing young children and interacting with the people around them, you can get to know about children’s requirements, strengths, understanding, attentiveness, and expertise qualities and discover many other things. Observation of young kinds is vital for learning experience and interactions. However, observing 1 to 2-year-old children gives you the chance to learn what small children are concentrating on, their purpose, what plans they have put in place to learn, and how they interact with their caregivers and people around.
I chose the participants, including the child, the mother, and the caregiver. The mother and the caregiver agreed to let me observe the child for thirty minutes and agree to participate in it. We mutually decided on the setting where the observation could occur, and the environment we agreed on was the child’s home, which was the best setting. The mother and caregiver played an essential role in observing the attachment. They helped me learn about the child’s attachment to them and especially to the caregiver because they have been in their lives every day; it was not hard. Therefore, the setting and participants I chose helped in observing the attachment.
Though the observation activity was a success, at first, it was difficult for the child’s caregiver and the parent to allow me to observe the child. Still, they let me last, and the observation activity went well. The signs of attachment I observed in the child’s behavior were reaching out to the caregiver to be picked, smiling at the caregiver, making eye contact, and crying if the caregiver left. According to Ainsworth (2011), attachment is conduct through which a discerning, different, affection relationship is created with someone and tends to evoke a response from the other person. Thus, it initiates a chain of interactions that consolidates the affectionate relationship. Eye contact, smiling, and crying to be picked were some of the signs of attachment I observed from the child’s behavior which showed that she had a close attachment relationship with the caregiver.
Some of the signs of attachment I observed in the caregiver’s behaviors were attentive to the child, attuned to the child’s needs, staying close to the child despite giving the child freedom to do what she wanted, her eye contact with the child as well as reliable to the child’s actions. So, for example, immediately the caregiver moved from the setting to pick up some things for the child; the child started crying. And that reflected how close the child was to the caregiver; their attachment was so close she all the time wanted to see the caregiver around.
According to my observation, the child showed a secure attachment to the caregiver. Observing some of the child’s behavior like smiling at the caregiver, wanting to be picked, crying if she left, and making eye contact was enough evidence that the child was securely attached. That behavior showed that the child trusted the caregiver so much that she wanted her to be around her. The child’s attachment to the caregiver is solid and secure.
My advice to parents of an insecurely attached child is to ensure that you’re dependable to your child because the child needs to see you as a secure place. Also, be interactive and attentive with them. Be more understanding; what I mean is having your child spending time with a caregiver does not affect your attachment for as long as you’re understanding of your child. And finally at least be more predictable kids require a timeline to feel secure. To expectant parents hoping to foster secure attachment, they should ensure that they are dependable, attentive, predictable, and understanding to the child. Therefore it’s a pride of every parent to be well attached to their young children and to achieve that, the parent should create time to bond well with them.
Reference
Ainsworth, M. D. (2011). The infant shows patterns of attachment behavior in interaction with his mother. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly of Behavior and Development, 10(1), 51-58.
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