Parent-Child Bonding in Early Childhood
             In each person's life much of the joy and sorrow revolves around attachments or
             affectionate relationships -- making them, breaking them, preparing for them, and
             adjusting to their loss by any means. Yet of all these bonds, nothing compares to that
             formed between a mother or father and his or her newborn infant. Bonding does not refer
             to mutual affection between a baby and an adult, but to the phenomenon whereby adults
             become committed by a one-way flow of concern and affection to children for whom they
             have cared during the first months and years of life. According to J. Robertson in his
             book, A Baby in the Family Loving and Being Loved, individuals may have several
             hundred acquaintances in there lifetimes, but at any given moment there are only a limited
             number of persons to whom they are closely attached. He explains that much of the
             richness and beauty of life is derived from these close relationships which each person has
             with a small number of individuals -- mother, father, brother, sister, husband, wife, son,
             daughter, and a small cadre of close friends (Robertson 1).
             Attachment is crucial to the survival and development of the infant. Many
             researchers suggest that parents' bond to their child may be the strongest of all human ties.
             This relationship has two distinct segments. The first signs of bonding occur while the
             baby develops within the mother's womb. After birth, his survival is utterly dependent on
             her until he becomes a separate individual. According to Mercer, the power of this
             attachment is so great that it enables parents to make the necessary sacrifices for the care
             of their infant. Day after day, night after night; changing diapers, attending to cries,
             protecting the child from danger, and feeding him or her in the middle of the night despite
             their desperate need to sleep (Mercer 22). It is important to note that thi...