Explain Bowlby's Theory Of Attachment

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Bowlby’s theory on attachment highlights that the first bonds that are created by the children and the people who care for them impact on the rest of that child’s life. Bowlby also discovered that attachment helps to keep both the mother and the child close, which in turn increases the child’s chances of survival and their rate of development. “Attachment is a strong, affectionate tie that we have with the special people that are in our lives which lead us to experience pleasure when we are interacting with them” (Laura Berk). This links to the EYFS because in a nursery setting, each child is allocated a key person each. This is an EYP who will then respond to a child’s individual needs, and try their best to help them settling into the new …show more content…

This is because the child can then have someone who they can trust and feel safe with. The child’s key person at the nursery setting can act as a safe and secure base which then allows the child to explore their environment. The child’s key person in a nursery setting should be able to notice if the child’s behaviour changes or if they are not themselves. This can help to protect the child form any safeguarding issues. A key person is feature of the safeguarding requirements for nurseries. “The key person will respond to children’s needs and help them settle into a new environment, communicate is paramount between parent and key person as these discussions hold key information about the child. A Key person will be a point of contact for parents.” (Early year’s careers). This shows that a strong bond at nursery can enable the child to feel safe and to help them to form trusting relationships later in life. “In appropriate circumstance and given sufficient time and attention, children can develop enduring secondary attachment bonds to affectionate and responsive people…Three or more secondary attachment figures in addition to the primary attachment figure can promote self-esteem in children, and is a psychological protective factor that can reduce the probability of mental health problems in the future.” (P.119, Attachment Theory: How to help young children acquire a secure