Attachment and bonding...

We are so excited about adopting our Little Cupcake and bringing her home! So of course, when we talk about our hopes and dreams for the future, we talk about the good things like: how wonderful it will be when we finally get to cuddle her (and "spoil" her :0) all the kisses she will get, the laughter and fun we will have with her. The thought of having our baby with us (after all this crazy adoption process) and then not be able to baby her because she wants nothing to do with us is just so very sad and heart-breaking.  

When we started our adoption journey we thought our baby was going to be living in an orphanage so we became somewhat obsessed with reading anything on adoption attachment and bonding. We learned that lifelong bonds are formed through the cycle of attachment. For example: a baby cries because she is hungry or needs a diaper change, when the mother consistently meets her needs, the baby learns to trust.
The repetition of this cycle forms the foundation for healthy relationships in the child’s life.

Unfortunately, it is no secret that orphanages are under staffed and there are way too many children to receive individualized care.

It gives us a lot of comfort knowing that our baby girl has been living with a foster family since she was just a few months old and by looking at the pictures you can tell she has been very well taken care of :0)

Living in a home environment with caregivers that care and meet her needs will hopefully facilitate our very own attachment and bonding when she comes home to us.

Of course, we will do our part to create opportunities to promote attachment/bonding so here are some of the things we have learn about and plan to do:  

 Meet her needs in a quick and consistent manner

Cuddle and spend as much time as possible with her

"wear" baby as much as possible 

Massage while playing soothing music

Bottele-Feed while rocking her in a rocking chair

Co-sleep 

Play, sing and read to her (a lot)

Maintain familiar routines as much as possible

Delay visits of family and friends for a few weeks 

Do not allow anyone other than Mommy and Daddy hold, feed, and change baby until she learns who her parents are :0)

Hey, anything for our Little Cupcake! 

Oh my goodness, we just can’t wait!

We have been doing lots of adoption-related reading lately :0)