By 3 months, they will smile back at you. By 4 to 6 months, they will turn to you and expect you to respond when upset. By 7 or 8 months, they will have a special response just for you (they may also be upset by strangers). Your baby may also start to respond to your stress, anger or sadness.
A lot of babies and toddlers go through a clingy stage. It mostly happens when they are between 10 and 18 months but it can start as early as six months old.
10 to 12 months old
Your baby is at the age where they might not be talking just yet, but they've started making connections between the words you say and the feelings that go along with them. Just wait for it. After they've mastered the coveted "mama" or "dada," "I love you" will be right around the corner!
Secure attachment typically develops in children in the first eighteen months of life. During this formative period, a secure child's caregiver would have been both emotionally and physically available to them.
At 2-3 months, your baby understands that voices and faces go together – especially yours. That's because your baby has formed a strong attachment to you. Your baby might follow you with their eyes and enjoy smiling at you. When you speak to your baby, they might even echo you back.
Signs of separation anxiety in babies
crying when a caregiver leaves the room. clinging to the caregiver, especially in new or unfamiliar situations. a fear of strangers. a strong preference for one caregiver over another.
Newborns only worry whether someone is meeting their needs, and it doesn't matter who that is. It isn't until they're between five and eight months old that they begin to miss you.
Infants whose experiences with a caregiver are negative or unpredictable are more likely to develop an insecure attachment. Children who are insecurely attached have learned that adults are not reliable, and do not trust easily.
At birth, they are starting to recognize your voices, faces, and smells to figure out who is taking care of them. Since the maternal voice is audible in utero, an infant starts to recognize their mother's voice from the third trimester.
Studies have shown that infants as young as one month-old sense when a parent is depressed or angry and are affected by the parent's mood. Understanding that even infants are affected by adult emotions can help parents do their best in supporting their child's healthy development.
Babies can tell who has close relationships based on one clue: saliva. Sharing food and kissing are among the signals babies use to interpret their social world, according to a new study.
Babies often prefer their primary caregiver
Most babies naturally prefer the parent who's their primary caregiver, the person they count on to meet their most basic and essential needs. This is especially true after 6 months when separation anxiety starts to set in.
Not worrying may be easier said than done, but truly, parental preference is a normal and healthy part of toddlerhood. It can pop up between ages one to three, as children become more independent and learn to express their opinions.
“In the early years, the baby has an intense need to be with his mother which is as basic as his need for food.”
Of the four patterns of attachment (secure, avoidant, resistant and disorganized), disorganized attachment in infancy and early childhood is recognized as a powerful predictor for serious psychopathology and maladjustment in children (2,18–24).
To recap, the following patterns of the caregiver tend to create insecure attachment: Inconsistent and unpredictable in how they respond to their child's needs. More aware of their own needs than those of their children's because they likely didn't receive the affection that they needed as a child.
Bowlby identified four types of attachment styles: secure, anxious-ambivalent, disorganised and avoidant.
Babies and toddlers often get clingy and cry if you or their other carers leave them, even for a short time. Separation anxiety and fear of strangers is common in young children between the ages of 6 months and 3 years, but it's a normal part of your child's development and they usually grow out of it.
Your baby's not going to forget you. You should realize, though, that she will—and should—bond with other people. Look for a daycare center where there's one primary caregiver rather than a rotating staff, suggests Lawrence Cohen, PhD, author of Playful Parenting.
The phase can start as early as six to eight months and continues until around age two – when object permanence is fully established.
That's because between 4 and 7 months babies begin to realize that people and objects exist even when they can't see them. This is called object permanence. For example, if you leave the room your baby will know that you've gone away.
A newborn baby's vision at birth is not so well developed as the sense of smell. This strong and unique sense of smell (learnt in utero by the baby) helps your little one to recognize your presence even from a distance after birth.
It is best to hold the baby on demand up to the age of 12 months old. Babies up to this age are still developing emotionally and may require parent's attention often. However, you may also try identifying the possible need of the baby.