Babies in the Workplace

out and explore the world as they grow up. Children who have insecure attachments or who never develop this trust tend to be insecure as they grow up and can develop other psychological problems. In fact, studies have now shown that allowing a baby to "cry it out" can actually cause brain damage.

If you said to a group of your friends, "I really need a hug," how would you feel if
no one responded? Being ignored when we need support can make the strongest of us feel insecure and alone. If it hurts us as adults when people reject our need for love, how much worse must the emotional pain and feelings of rejection be for a baby--not to mention the physical anguish they endure after screaming in desperation for someone to help them?

Although a baby whose cries are repeatedly ignored will sometimes

eventually cry less, this method of teaching a baby not to cry can come at a tremendous price. Psychologists and anthropologists now understand is that it is not that these babies are learning to be independent. What is happening is that the baby has come to the conclusion that no matter how much he calls for help, no one is going to come to his assistance. So the baby stops trying to communicate with his world. In extreme cases, these
babies turn inward, stop trying to interact
with other people, and essentially withdraw from the world. They grow up to have great difficulty forming healthy bonds with other adults and with their own children, because they never developed a trusting attachment in those crucial first months of life that can determine so much of their perspective of the world.

When babies' needs are met quickly, they do not need to scream in order to get their needs met; they learn that they are