APedia

Attachment Parenting International's Media Database

Infant Care

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Immediate skin-to-skin with fathers can boost the hearts of babies born by C-section "Mothers and babies are routinely separated after C-section in many places around the world.	The role of families in human flourishing: My long-read Q&A with James Heckman On childcare: "And good public policy would join them and would nourish both the family and these programs, forming a bond... read more
Principles Of Indigenous Child-Raising: Our Ancestors Were Smart And Good "What specifically does supportive child raising look like in traditional Indigenous communities?	Book Resources for AP Families ... read more
Cosleeping and Nursing Have Helped My Toddler and Me Find Peace During Shelter-in-Place "You're going to spoil him." "You'll make a dependent child." "You'll never be able to get him to sleep alone." We have all heard these statements, as well as other fears and ... read more	How Black Doulas are Fighting Maternal Mortality For Bailey Rollins, the owner of a Brooklyn-based doula service, the maternal mortality crisis informs every aspect of her work.
Can exposure to dust mite allergens in breast milk fight against food allergies? Breast milk has long been referred to as “liquid gold,” and new research reveals the moniker has been well-earned.	Why Black Breastfeeding Week Is So Important This Year Every year, Black Breastfeeding Week proves how important it is to celebrate and uplift Black maternal health. My breastfeeding journey was not easy.
Lactation Matters: For Healthy Baby & Healthy Mother Earth Breastmilk is the first food that we consume and is a critical part of a sustainable food system.	The Hows and Whys of Attachment Parenting "This classic book is a wonderful parental companion that can be read a few pages at a time. Inspirational stories and research nurture the parent into an empathic embrace of her child.

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Journal Studies

Breastfeeding May Improve Nocturnal Sleep and Reduce Infantile Colic: Potential Role of Breast Milk Melatonin Engler, A. C., Hadash, A., Shehadeh, N., & Pillar, G. (2012). Breastfeeding may improve nocturnal sleep and reduce infantile colic: potential role of breast milk melatonin. European Journal of Pediatrics, 171(4), 729-732. Exclusively breastfed infants had less colic and fussiness, and slept longer. Melatonin, which promotes sleep, available only in breastmilk, showed a clear relationship to infant sleep patterns.	Childhood Sleep Duration and Associated Demographic Characteristics in an English Cohort Blair, P. S., Humphreys, J. S., Gringras, P., Taheri, S., Scott, N., Emond, A., ... & Fleming, P. J. (2012). Childhood sleep duration and associated demographic characteristics in an English cohort. Sleep, 35(3), 353-360. More research is needed to identify what is normal when it comes to child sleep. Some of what is known is that children need longer nighttime sleep until about 9 years old. By school age, most children sleep through the night, but children up to 3 1/2 years old continue to wake at least once. Low birth-weight and pre-term infants sleep more. Infants of younger mother sleep more. All infants sleep longer at night, wake multiple times at night, and sleep longer daytime naps than young children who mostly stop taking naps by 5 years old. Girls sleep longer than boys. Children with siblings sleep less.
A Longitudinal Investigation of Maternal Touching Across the First 6 Months of Life: Age and Context Effects Jean, A. D., Stack, D. M., & Fogel, A. (2009). A longitudinal investigation of maternal touching across the first 6 months of life: Age and context effects. Infant Behavior and Development, 32(3), 344-349. As infants grew older, mothers provided less nurturing touch, patting and stroking but more tickling and static touch.	Touch for Socioemotional and Physical Well-Being: A Review Field, T. (2010). Touch for socioemotional and physical well-being: A review. Developmental Review, 30(4), 367-383. Touch is needed for social-emotional and physical development and well-being. In addition, there are therapeutic benefits of massage.
The Development of Maternal Touch Across the First Year of Life Ferber, S. G., Feldman, R., & Makhoul, I. R. (2008). The development of maternal touch across the first year of life. Early Human Development, 84(6), 363-370. While maternal touch predicts mother-infant reciprocity, which is linked to positive child cognitive, language, and social-emotional development, the incidence of all forms of nurturing touch decrease through the infant’s first year, especially after six months.	Natural Variations in Maternal and Paternal Care are Associated with Systematic Changes in Oxytocin Following Parent-Infant Contact Feldman, R., Gordon, I., Schneiderman, I., Weisman, O., & Zagoory-Sharon, O. (2010). Natural variations in maternal and paternal care are associated with systematic changes in oxytocin following parent-infant contact. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 35(8), 1133-1141. Oxytocin levels rise in both mothers and fathers who provide high levels of affectionate touch but not in parents who provide less nurturing touch.
Effect of Mother/Infant Skin-to-Skin Contact on Postpartum Depressive Symptoms and Maternal Physiological Stress Bigelow, A., Power, M., MacLellan-Peters, J., Alex, M., & McDonald, C. (2012). Effect of Mother/Infant Skin-to-Skin Contact on Postpartum Depressive Symptoms and Maternal Physiological Stress. Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, & Neonatal Nursing, 41(3), 369-382 Skin-to-skin contact lessened the mother’s stress and postpartum depression symptoms within the first month after childbirth.	Predictors of Maternal Sensitivity to Infant Distress Leerkes, E. M. (2010). Predictors of maternal sensitivity to infant distress. Parenting: Science and Practice, 10(3), 219-239. A mother’s emotional goals predicted her sensitivity to infant distress more so than her own emotional reaction. In addition, her prenatal ability to detect an unfamiliar infant’s distress was associated with more maternal sensitivity with her own infant.
Breastfeeding, Brain Activation to Own Infant Cry, and Maternal Sensitivity Kim, P., Feldman, R., Mayes, L. C., Eicher, V., Thompson, N., Leckman, J. F., & Swain, J. E. (2011). Breastfeeding, brain activation to own infant cry, and maternal sensitivity. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 52(8), 907-915. Breastfeeding changed the mother’s brain, activating brain regions associated with empathy, greater maternal sensitivity, and mother-infant bonding.	Breastfeeding and Its Relation to Maternal Sensitivity and Infant Attachment Tharner, A., Luijk, M. P., Raat, H., IJzendoorn, M. H., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., Moll, H. A., ... & Tiemeier, H. (2012). Breastfeeding and Its Relation to Maternal Sensitivity and Infant Attachment. Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics, 33(5), 396-404. Breastfeeding for longer was associated with more maternal sensitivity, more attachment security, and less attachment disorganization, but bottle-feeding did not necessarily harm the mother-infant relationship.

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