Evolution and attachment parenting

Posted by Theresa Gerritsen on May 27, 2011 · 1 Comment 

OK, maybe 2007 was soooo last decade, but Regine A. Schön’s literature review article, Natural Parenting ― Back to Basics in Infant Care published in the journal of  Evolutionary Psychology, remains a great summary of how attachment parenting (AP) is aligned with human evolution and modern infant “training”.
Schön, a professor at the University of Helsinki, concludes that while no specific manner of childrearing can be reccomended across all cultures and families (of course), attachment parenting is most aligned with human evolution and supports your baby’s physical, intellectual and psychological development. This means behaviours such as carrying your baby, responding to crying promptly and sleeping near your child are both good for your little one and have played important roles in our evolution as deeply connected social animals.

So while Aunty Sue might be pressuring you to let your little one cry-it-out in the next room, know that her opinion is built on largely scientifically unfounded western ideas from the 1950s and not a million years of human evolution.

To paraphrase Dr. Sears (AP guru) attachment parenting might be more work in the beginning, but in the end your teenagers might actually want to hang out with you. Imagine that!

Read the lengthy original article by Schön here: http://www.epjournal.net/filestore/ep05102183.pdf

Filed under Evolution, Science · Tagged with AP, attachment parenting, baby training, childrearing, co-sleeping, cry-it-out, crying, Dr. Sears, evolution, evolutionary psychology, human evolution, infant care, intellectual development, natural parenting, parenting, physical development, psychological development, sleep training, sling, wearing your baby