mother as primary caregiver

• Primary caregiver of an infant


  The person who is most responsible for an infant's development and well-being
• This debate presupposes that there is such a thing as a primary caregiver, but even more this debate concerns a sensitive issue. We now live in a society that promotes equality and opportunity for all regardless of gender.
• The suggestion that the mother is the best primary caregiver of an infant, what might this have on the career prospects of women?
• If the mother is designated as the primary caregiver of an infant, those who desperately want to contribute to the infant's care would be sidelined.
• Arguments for the mother being the primary caregiver of an infant

  • Feeding
  • Freud's views on the importance of the mother
  • Deprivation damage
• Feeding


  Breastfeeding offers the healthiest start, protects the infant from numerous infections and diseases, and creates a strong physical and emotional bond between mother and baby
• The feeding argument implies that the infant's mother is the ideal primary caregiver, as the infant will need to be available to feed the infant probably every two hours
• Freud's views on the importance of the mother

  The mother-infant bond was of the greatest importance in the psychosexual development of the infant, who depends on the mother to satisfy their needs. Separation anxiety is caused by the infant realising the bond will go unsatisfied if separation occurs.
• Deprivation damage


  Early and prolonged separation between a child and its mother can have lasting emotional effects, leading to an affectionless character and difficulty forming relationships
• Arguments against the mother being the primary caregiver of an infant

  • Feeding
  • Freud's views on the importance of the mother
  • Deprivation damage
• In the 1950s, behaviourists promoted the view that feeding alone does not create an emotional bond - contact comfort does.
• Schafer and Emerson (1964) found that primary attachments were not formed with the person who fed or spent more time with the infant, but with carers who responded quickly and sensitively to their signals and offered the most interaction.
• Freud did recognise the importance of the role of the father, for example in providing protection and in a boy's development.
• Bowlby did not mean the 'maternal' in the maternal deprivation hypothesis was exclusively the child's mother - he wrote that a child should experience a warm, intimate and continuous relationship with their 'mother' figure, which could be a substitute.
• Research has shown that some children show no negative effects from early separation, suggesting the relationship with the 'mother' figure is not always of crucial importance.
• There is evidence that men are capable of forming close attachments with their children, and that both men and women feel freer to take on roles traditionally reserved for the opposite sex.
• A father's testosterone level drops to help him respond more sensitively to his children's needs.
• The view of the mother as the primary caregiver is mistaken, as healthy development relies on multiple relationships, not just one primary attachment figure.
• Research has shown that more fathers are the main caregivers, and men typically provide an equal contribution to their children's development.