In response to Jan's request, here is the letter I sent to Jim Fehr. I
realize that Ezzo discounts all child development information. I think that
it is because much of attachment theory includes references to Darwin in two
regards. First, John Bowlby uses an ethological perspective, looking at the
behavior of both primates and people in their natural environments to
determine the bonds that have endured anthropologically. Second, Bowlby
refers to Darwin's work on the development of affect. Both are totally
different from his evolutionary theory that would conflict with religous
views. But even the mention of Darwin's name is enough to discredit
attachment theory for Ezzo. The info includes here is current and does
not refer to attachment theory.
Mr. Fehr,
I have tremndous concern about the
material published by Gary Ezzo and I understand that you are considering
offering his books again. Because of some brilliant research, we have
incredible information that informs us about the infant-parent relationship
and how it effects development.I am pursuing my Master's of Science at the
Erikson Institute in Chicago,
becoming an infant mental health and developmental specialist. I have worked
with over 600 families in 14 years.
Much of this research comes from the micro-analysis of infant-maternal
interactions. That is, the examination of interactions broken down into
moment by moment close inspection. These are the naturally occurring,
spontaneous interactions and responses that comprise the foundation for the
infant-parent relationship.
When the foundation of this relationship is compromised, developmental
outcomes are also compromised. I am concerned that the Ezzo information
artifically restricts and structures the infant-parent relationship,
interfering with crucial aspects of development. The effects are many and
insidious. I offer you but a few insights into the significance of the
infant-parent relationship and infant development. I hope that you will
consider that the Ezzo 's material puts the parental-infant relationship at
risk, and decide to offer alternatives to your customers that will not
damage their babies.
Most sincerely,
Joanne McCrory
1- One of the most important new concepts in the field of infant mental
health is of authenticity in affective inter-subjectivity. That is, the
parents' response must be genuine so that the infant can accurately perceive
reality through the continuity in the parents'affect, in their response and
in the other inter-modal cues (the way a parent moves, the tone of voice,
the emotion in touch or swiftness of response). This allows the infant to
trust his/her perceptions. If the response is calculated, the infant will
receive impressions that cause him/her to doubt his perceptions, creating a
"false sense of self". In order to fit the response, the infant will
sublimate his perceptions at the expense of his/her equally legitimate
remaining feelings and perceptions. The child's inner reality and sense of
self becomes contingent upon environmental impingements. When caregivers
excessively impose their own external agenda upon the child instead of
responding authentically, the child constructs this inauthentic, false sense
of self characterized by an attitude of compliance, betraying reality. The
child becomes unable to achieve authenticity in feeling or experiencing.
This lack of authenticity originated with the parents and has ominous
implications for affective and psychological development.
2- Babies and mothers often have instances of affective mismatch during the
course of any day. This is when the baby's emotion or intensity of emotion
does not match with that of the mothers. For example, in the "gonna get
you" game, we realize that it is too intense when the baby turns away. We
adjust to fit the baby's needs. There has been some dazzling research that
such instances of mismatch are numerous and necessary, allowing for many
opportunities to repair. During the repairs and readjustments, the baby
exercises and cultivates many valuable skills that help regulate him/her
self. This is the normal, spontaneous course of events. However, if the
mis-attunements and mismatches are pervasive, then the baby will develop
non-interactive ways to cope with the imbalance or non-responsiveness. We
see this when there are too many mismatches or when the mismatches are not
repaired. Specifically, the babies begin to focus elsewhere, develop
self-stimulating or regulating behaviors and begin to withdraw from
interaction to avoid the tension. Responding in pre-conceived, restricted
or pre-structured ways impacts the repair cycle that is so vital to the
relationship and to normal development. What may appear to be compliance
is, in fact, gaping breaches and defenses in the interactive relationship as
a result of mis-attunement or non-responsiveness.
3- Development occurs in relationships. The first relationship is with the
parents and it is crucial. Caregiving acts comprise the co-regulating
relationship. The parents help keep the baby warm, fed, clean, calm etc.
Parents co-regulate infants' physiology, sleep, hunger, thermo-regulation
until they are physiologically mature enough to regulate themselves. One of
the most exciting new areas of research demonstrates that parents also
regulate the child's neurological development during caregiving. Brain
development occurs as part of both physiology and affect development. For
example, the research shows that physiologic, affective gaze behavior
between mother and baby is a primary path for neurological regulation,
actually going through the visual cortex directly into the structure of the
brain. Babies' eyes are dilated when they look at their mothers, and the
glimmer in the eye may actually be a neurological aspect of co-regulation.
Inhibiting the co-regulating relationship has been shown to impact the
infant's developing brain, in all ways including brain mass.
4- Additionally, when the parent responds to a baby's cries, the parent is
also helping to regulate the child physiologically and neurologically.
Crying effects the infant across all systems:
- The experience of crying interferes with the cardiopulmonary system -
excessive crying interferes with closing the valve that reroutes the blood
to the lungs rather than the umbilicus, visceral-the gut tenses,
autonomic-heart pounds, breathing becomes labored, motoric-muscles tense
limbs loose coordination, and metabolic- Cortisol, the stress hormone is
released. Stress has been shown to destroy the connections in the prefrontal
cortex, which regulate the infant's ability to self-calm.
- Prolonged, deep crying effects the arterial oxygen balance because there
is a momentary but repetitive cessation of breath intake.
- The body reacts defensively, producing white blood cells and Cortisol.
Even after the crying stops, stress hormones remain in the blood stream for
20 minutes; even after crying ceases, the infant remains stressed.
- Prolonged crying effects weight gain as it burns calories and drains
energy: babies are often too weak or too sleepy to nurse.
- Crying disrupts sleep patterns bypassing light sleep and going directly to
deep sleep . This is a response to stress due to physiological reaction to
Cortisol, the stress hormone.
- Exhausted babies spend less time interacting and learning Babies who cry
are at greater risk of setting up negative or minimal feedback cycles.
- Prolonged, unregulated states of negative affect are neurologically
psycho-toxic to infants.
- Excessive and prolonged unattended crying is now being linked to post
traumatic stress disorder. "Parents should recognize that having their
babies cry unnecessarily harms the baby permanently. It changes the nervous
system so that they're sensitive to future trauma." (Commons in Powell 1999)
Crying is, however, part of signal system.
- An infant's cry is loud, 20 decibels louder that speech, insuring a
response and eliciting a maternal physiological reaction. Oxytocin is
released, heart rate and blood pressure rise, breast temperature and blood
flow to the breast increase, milk is released.
- The response to crying impacts frequency. It takes 90 seconds for an
infant's cry to intensify and become difficult to sooth. Babies who are
consistently responded to within 90 seconds cry 70% less.
- The walking rhythm of adult while comforting a baby (60-70 cycles a
minute) matches the walking rhythm during the last trimester, and the heart
rate of a pregnant woman. Rocked or walked at this rate, babies stop crying
on average by 15 seconds.
References
Cramer, B. (1986) Assessment of parent-infant relationships in TB Brazelton
& M.W. Yogman (Eds.), Affective development in infancy. Norwood, NJ: Ablex
Dettwyler, Katherine and Stuart- Macadam, Patricia Breastfeeding:
Bio-Cultural Perspectives 1995 Walter de Gruyter Publishers
Emde, Robert. (1990) The infant's relationship experience. In Sameroff,
Relationship disturbances in early childhood, (Eds.), NY: Basic Books
Heller, Sharon The Vital Touch 1997 Holt
References within Heller
Gene Anderson, Risk in Mother-Infant Separation Postbirth, Journal of
Nursing Scholarship 1989
Allan Schore, Affect Regulation and the Origin of the Self 1994
Emde R.N., Harmon R.J., Metcalf D.R. et al., Stress and Neonatal Sleep,
Psychosomatic Medicine, 1971
J.Lind, V Vuorenskoski and O. Wasz-Hockert, The Effect of Cry Stimulus on
the Temperature of the Lactating Breast Primipara Obstetrics and Gynecology,
1972
A.F. Korner, H.C. Kraemer, M.E. Haffner, and E.B. Thomas, Characteristics of
Crying and Noncrying Activity of Full-Term Neonates, Child Development 1974
Bruce Taubman, Clinical Trial of the Treatment of Colic by Modification of
Parent-Infant Interaction Pediatrics 1984
A. Ambrose Stimulation in Early Infancy 1969
Koplow, L. (1996) Unsmiling Faces. NY: Teachers College Press
Powell, Alvin, Harvard Researchers Say Children Need Touching and Attention,
Harvard Gazette 1999
Sameroff in Sameroff, Arnold and Emde, Robert. (1990) Principles of
Development and psychopathology in Relationship disturbances in early
childhood. USA: Basic Books
Sander, Louis. (1976) Issues in early mother-child interaction. In Infant
Psychiatry, E.N. Rexford, L.W. Sander and T. Shapiro (Eds.), New Haven
Conn.: Yale
Schore, Allan, Affect Regulation and the Origin of the Self 1994 Lawerence
Erlbaum Publishers
Stern, Daniel. (1985) Interpersonal World of the Infant. NY: Basic Books
_________________________ (1995) The motherhood constellation. NY: Basic
Books.
Tronick, E.Z. (1989). Emotions and emotional communication with infants.
American Psychologist, 44 (2(, 112-119.
_________________________and Gianinio, A. (1986 February). Interactive
mismatch and repair. In Zero to Three.
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