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Crying suggests a physiological maturational development, which requires adjustment and adaptation. Crying is not a signal for help or relief, as it does not require intervention (Thomson & Leeds, 2014). Infants communicate their needs to their caregiver through crying (Soltis, 2004), thus, being able to evaluate the infant’s cries is an important skill for caregivers to develop.
Applying Theory
Attachment
Attachment is the connection that forms between a main caregiver. John Bowlby (1970) found that a child’s emotional development is built on a foundation of trust and security. While working with rebellious adolescents, Bowlby found parallels in their family histories and their deviant behaviour. Many of these adolescents had unstable home lives in their early years of childhood; they had no mother figure in particular. He believed that the first relationships the infant engages in, has a direct effect on later behaviours. As he studied the mother-child relationship, he invented the attachment theory (Faris & McCaroll, 2010).
Reasons To Not Soothe Infant
When an infant is upset and cannot stop crying, the caregiver is advised to walk away …show more content…
The first stage proposed by Erikson is trust vs. mistrust, which occurs from birth till about 18 months (McLeod, 2013). The task throughout this stage is adept when babies develop a sense of trust in other people. Erikson proposed that resolving the crisis of developing basic trust in others occurs in infancy, the crisis of when identity is developed (Sneed & Whitbourne & Culang, 2006). Erikson theorised that when the caregiver fails to meet an infant’s basic needs (such as ignoring the infant’s cries), the child will develop basic mistrust, which could eventually result in depression, withdrawal, and perhaps even paranoia in the later development of life (Boeree,