Implications of research into attachment and day care for childcare practices.

How has attachment research influenced childcare practices?

• Research into attachments and specifically Bowlby's theory has suggested that:
• the child needs to have secure attachment with an adult
• the child can have multiple attachments witha range of adults
• the child needs to be able to use the attachment figure as a safe base to explore their environment and to seek security. They should be able to rely on their attachment figure in times of stress or when they are frigtened.
• Studies have indicated that day care can be stressful. Steele (2001) found that young children in the Strange Situation have increased levels of cortitsol (stress hormone) up to half-an-hour after their parent returns from a brief seperation 
• Watamura et al (2006) compared the levels of cortisol in the same group of babies and toddlers on different days of the week as they attended nursery or stayed at home
• They found that cortisol levels increased gradually from morning toafternoon when the babies were in the day care setting but not when they were at home. These increases were greatest for children aged 24-36 months and worse for toddleers who were shy or fearful.
• In order to reduce stress and to make day care a positive experience for babies and toddlers, many nurseries have adopted a key worker aprroach. 
• The key worker is a name personw ho actsa s…