What is Infant attachment?
[[Image:Father and child, Dhaka.jpg|thumb|right|alt=A young father dressed in a pink cotton shirt holds his child and gazes at the camera looking proud but tired. The little girl, wearing a sleeveless dress, sits on her father's arm and frowns directly at the camera.|In the early months of life, babies will feel attached to anyone close to them.]] '''Infant attachment''' is a special bond first developed in infancy. It is the first relationship an [[infant]] has, usually with its [[mother]] or [[parent]]s. Research on human babies by developmental psychologist Mary Ainsworth in the 1960s and 70s found that children may have different patterns of attachment. This depends mainly on how they experienced their early caregiving environment. Early patterns of attachment, in turn, shape – but do not determine - the individual's expectations in later relationships.<ref>Bretherton I. & Munholland K.A. 1999. Internal working models in attachment relationships: a construct revisited. In Cassidy J. & Shaver P.R. ''Handbook of attachment: theory, research and clinical applications''. New York: Guilford Press. pp. 89–114. {{ISBN|1-57230-087-6}}</ref> During the first stage of development the mother nurses the baby and the mother and infant(s) stay physically close to each other unless the mother needs to leave to seek food (etc.). While the mother is gone the infant(s) remain hidden and quiet, sometimes in a nest or den. Infancy is a crucial time of development—of physical growth and of learning, developing social skills to interact with others and learning life skills such as what to eat and how to respond when [[predator]]s are near. Infancy is also a time of [[brain]] development. In mammals, only some behavior is hard-wired in their brain as a fixed-action pattern. Much behavior is genetically determined only as potential behavioral systems that must be activated and developed. These include: #the development of [[perception]] #establishing norms for the body #the programming of early experiences into patterns of be