API Cofounders, Barbara Nicholson and Lysa Parker, will be returning to Toronto, Canada, in 2019 to lead a three-day Attached at the Heart Parenting Educator Training. This training will prepare professionals to become Certified Attached at the Heart Parenting Educators. Early-bird registration deadline is March 19 (Note that application must be submitted and approved in advance, along with registration and payment, to meet this deadline.)

We are thrilled to announce that API is partnering with La Leche League of KY/TN for the Rock the World: Breastfeeding and Parenting Conference in Nashville, November 2, 2019! We hope you can join us!

Read to learn more, and please take our quick survey as well as stay in touch about updates. Thank you!

Happy Valentine's Day from Attachment Parenting International! We're glad we're "Attached at the Heart"!

Check out the Evolved Nest with Darcia Narvaez podcast. Dr. Narvaez's long list of credentials and work includes her role as an API Board Member.

"The premature babies participating in Lahav’s study were born not too long—between 25 and 32 weeks of gestation—after the start of the auditory cortex’s development, so hearing and language capabilities had likely been affected.

"The ACE study has demonstrated how impactful adverse childhood experiences are on an individual; impacting mental, emotional and social growth as well as negatively affecting physical health. In recent years professionals have turned their focus to the prevention of ACEs and one thing stands out. We must address the intergenerational transmission of these adverse experiences. But how do we do that?" ~Victoria LeBlanc, Attached at the Heart Parenting Educator Coordinator

From the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University Dr. Jack Shonkoff "testified about both the trauma that such a forcible separation can cause, as well as the long-term effects of toxic stress that continue to compound until separated children and their parents or caregivers are reunited."

"My something extra was starting something nine months ago at the Aspen Institute called Weave: The Social Fabric Project. The first core idea was that social isolation is the problem underlying a lot of our other problems. The second idea was that this problem is being solved by people around the country, at the local level, who are building community and weaving the social fabric. How can we learn from their example and nationalize their effect?"

"In the course of my interviews, I discovered that American working mothers generally blame themselves for how hard their lives are. They take personal responsibility for problems that European mothers recognize as having external causes. The lesson here isn’t for overwhelmed American parents to look longingly across the Atlantic; it’s to emulate the Swedes, Germans and Italians by harboring the reasonable expectation that the state will help."

"According to Damour, the most powerful force for good in a teenager’s life is a “caring, working relationship with at least one loving adult.” Within that context, adults can offer teenagers empathy, grounded perspective and a vote of confidence as they work through challenges -- helping them aim for courage, not avoidance.

"A new study from Washington University in St. Louis suggests that adults who have a hard time finding their sense of purpose in life possibly had more conflict with their mothers in their early elementary school years.

"It often seems like society gives us two options: we either raise them to be tough and ‘take no prisoners’ or to constantly ‘turn the other cheek’ and let them become the bullied of every situation.

"And current research suggests that the attachments formed in the first two years of life have a profound effect on how we behave in a diverse range of human relationships, from love, to work, to politics. Lovenheim has built his case on the importance of parental attachment through years of research and conversations with developmental scientists." "And to do that we generally need to get close enough, often enough to our infants and young children to learn how to correctly read their signals. This gets into the core practices of what’s called attachment parenting."

From Dr. Sears: "Self-esteem is your child’s passport to a lifetime of mental health and social happiness. It’s the foundation of a child’s well-being and the key to success as an adult. At all ages, how you feel about yourself affects how you act. Think about a time when you were feeling really good about yourself. You probably found it much easier to get along with others and feel good about them. Try these tips and advice to help raise a confident child."

"...affectionate touch has long lasting health effects: (1) Prevents excessive stress (2) Prevents hippocampal dysfunction (control of anxiety) (3) Establishes and maintains social bonding." "Why is physical affection, or positive touch, so important? Touch has significant effects on a growing brain and body. Here are a few examples."