There is a simple reason that the mother/infant relationship has received far more attention than the father/infant relationship: Mother have traditionally been primarily caregivers for infants. It is when mothers are warm, sensitive, and responsive that infants become securely attached to them. A new mother need not be a wizard at reading her baby’s cue for her baby to develop normally. However, infants are most likely to form secure relationships with mothers who really seem enjoy interacting with them, who can read their infants’ signals accurately, and who responds appropriately and promptly to those signals. By fostering a secure attachment, a warm, sensitive, and responsive parent contributes to other positive outcomes as well – for example, to later social competence in interactions with peers, and interest in exploring the world, and rapid intellectual growth.
At the time, let’s give infants some credit for affecting their mothers. Even an otherwise socially skilled woman may find it difficult to love a baby who cries endlessly. Indeed, “easy” babies seem to make sensitive and responsive and irritable can sometimes help “produce” rather unaffectionate mothers. Mothers do have considerable influence on infant development. However, the mother/child relationship takes on its distinctive character as a result of the reciprocal contributions of mother and infant.
The Mother/Infant Relationship
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