Separation Anxiety and Attachment in Infants and Toddlers

Books

Everyday Goodbyes: Starting School and Early Care: A Guide to the Separation Process
Nancy Balaban
Teachers College Press, 2006
Call Number: LB 1132 .B171e 2006
Online Catalog:http://illinoisearlyintervention.worldcat.org/oclc/61353159
In this book, Balaban helps parents and teachers understand why children can take time to adjust to separation and what they can do to ease transitions.

The Birth to Five Book: Confident Childrearing Right from the Start
Brenda Nixon
Revell, 2009
Call Number: WS 105.5 .C3 .N736 2009
Online Catalog:http://illinoisearlyintervention.worldcat.org/oclc/234175966
This all-purpose book provides parents with advice on how to encourage healthy development in many areas, including attachment and separation.

Touchpoints Birth to Three: Your Child’s Emotional and Behavioral Development
T. Berry Brazelton
Da Capo, 2006
Call Number: WS 105 .B827bir 2006
Online Catalog:http://illinoisearlyintervention.worldcat.org/oclc/84025879
This text offers parents advice on numerous topics related to emotional and behavioral development in infants and toddlers.

Videos

Attachment Relationships: Nurturing Healthy Bonds
29-minute DVD
Learning Seed, 2010
Call Number: WS 105.5 .F2 .A883 2010
Online Catalog:http://illinoisearlyintervention.worldcat.org/oclc/611597251
This video follows the process of a child forming healthy attachments from birth to age 2. 

A Place of Our Own: Early Childhood Solutions—Behavior and Emotions
111-minute DVD
PBS, 2008
Call Number: WS 113 .P697 2008
Online Catalog:http://illinoisearlyintervention.worldcat.org/oclc/234239783
This series explores how parents and caregivers can better support the social and emotional development of young children and addresses separation anxiety.

Web Resources

Separation Anxiety Article from the Mayo Clinic
Web site: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/separation-anxiety/DS01173
The Mayo Clinic Web site provides a summary of the causes of separation anxiety and what parents can do to ease this feeling in children.

Separation Anxiety: When Your Child Doesn’t Want You to Leave
Web site: http://www.ocd.pitt.edu/Files/PDF/Parenting/SeparationAnxiety.pdf
This pamphlet from the University of Pittsburgh provides tips on how parents can navigate their child’s separation anxiety. 

Articles

Easing the Separation Process for Infants, Toddlers, and Families. Nancy Balaban. (2006). Young Children, 61(1), 14-20.
This article provides an overview of attachment theory and how it relates to separation anxiety, bonding, and development.

Development: Ages & Stages—Helping Children Manage Fears. Carla Poole, Susan A. Miller, & Ellen Booth Church. (2004). Early Childhood Today, 19(3), 33-35.
This article presents ways that parents can help children at different ages and stages to manage their fears, including separation.

Peekaboo Power: To Ease Separation and Build Secure Relationships. Joanne M. Szamreta. (2003). Young Children, 58(1), 88-94.
This article describes how peekaboo games can be used with toddlers and in play-group settings to support development and autonomy.