How does attachment develop?
Infants and mothers are programmed to attune to each other.
Infant’s primary tasks in the first three years are to learn to regulate body states, affect, impulses, focus, and arousal.
Mother’s primary tasks are to teach this regulation to her baby.
Secure attachment develops when a mother responds to her baby with sensitivity and responsivity.
What starts as mothers’ regulation of baby states evolves into internal regulation.