Does Attachment Parenting create needy children?

Scarred from her own emotional turmoil as a child, Aimee Wheeler discusses how attachment parenting could be the cause of needy children. She shares the value of attachment parenting in raising healthy and independent children, rather than raising children who have trust and other issues.
Does Attachment Parenting Create Needy Children?
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Does Attachment Parenting create needy children?

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It's often a common question as to whether or not children will become overly needy if you're really focused on their attachment or you follow an attachment parenting sort of style. And yes, there is a little bit of a trade off. Children are going to be attached to you, they're going a bit needy, but that's normal, that's what children are supposed to be and they'll grow out of it. Only by being able to become truly dependent on you will they ultimately be able to develop their own internal independence in a healthy and flexible way. A child who's left on their own to figure it out, yes they're going to become independent, but at the expense of a healthy sense of self and in a very rigid fashion.

Scarred from her own emotional turmoil as a child, Aimee Wheeler discusses how attachment parenting could be the cause of needy children. She shares the value of attachment parenting in raising healthy and independent children, rather than raising children who have trust and other issues.

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Aimee Wheeler, PsyD

Therapist

When her son was born, Aimee found herself in uncharted waters. She knew she wanted to be a different type of parent than her parents had been. After years of self-exploration, she felt she had healed a lot of her childhood emotional wounds and that she could be a good mother but she didn't really know how to parent differently. She went to Mommy and Me classes, breastfeeding groups, you name it, searching to fill a void she initially could not identify. They were all helpful but not what she felt she was longing for. She realized she was looking for a safe place to really talk about the challenges she was facing every day. Unfortunately, it seemed that none of the forums she found as a new mother were able to provide that. She vowed then to create such a place for parents, and the idea for Parenting Discovery Center was born.

Her educational background in psychology had nurtured her tremendous curiosity about the impact and importance of infant attachment. Her research in this area had equipped her with a conscious sieve to help evaluate the overwhelming amount of parenting advice available. What she found was that at a time of total vulnerability, parents are often taught parenting techniques that cause them to unwittingly undermine this important and essential bond. 

The Center provides a safe and supportive environment for exploring the emotions and challenges faced by new parents. They are also here to help peoople understand the importance of attachment and help parents build a conscious bond with their baby based upon their individual family's values and lifestyle. 

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