Separation Anxiety and Attachment in Infants and Toddlers

A parent-friendly tip sheet created by the Illinois Early Intervention Clearinghouse.

Written by a psychologist and expert in childhood anxiety, this book offers proven effective cognitive behavioral therapy and exposure skills you can use at home, in social settings, or anywhere anxiety takes hold.

This book, by the founders of Attached Parenting International, is a comprehensive look at attachment parenting, from an overview of attachment theory and child development research to strategies for everyday situations.

This bilingual English-Spanish book for children teaches transition rituals and self-soothing techniques to help children manage separation anxiety.

In this book, Balaban helps parents and teachers understand why children can take time to adjust to separation and what they can do to ease transitions.

This book demystifies the difficult behaviors of anxious toddlers, offering tried-and-tested practical solutions to common parenting dilemmas. Each chapter provides a real life example and new and effective parenting approaches to help parents tackle everyday difficulties and build up their child’s resilience, independence, and coping mechanisms.

This children’s book helps young children be better prepared for child care.

This children’s book tells the story of Esteban and how he manages his separation anxiety while at school, knowing that his mother always comes back.

This book shows how paying attention to the emotional needs of your child, particularly during the first five years of development, can help him or her grow up happy, secure, and confident.

This all-purpose book provides parents with advice on how to encourage healthy development in many areas, including attachment and separation.

Much more than just a simple introduction to the subject of attachment, this book is also full of advice and practical ideas you can try.

This text offers parents advice on numerous topics related to emotional and behavioral development in infants and toddlers.

This book shows caregivers how to get in touch with their own emotions so they can better help children with theirs. Information includes emotional development, early childhood behavior management strategies, and self-reflection.

This series explores how parents and caregivers can better support the social and emotional development of young children and addresses separation anxiety.

Follow the journey of a baby’s phases of attachment from birth to age two … See examples of how parents and caregivers can foster healthy attachment relationships. Attentive, responsive, and loving care given by a baby’s primary caregiver sets the foundation for a child’s capacity to form these relationships throughout life.

This program shows how preschoolers learn to play cooperatively, make friends and express emotions.

This video, part of the I am Your Child Video Series with host Ray Romano, provides information on how fathering begins even before birth, how dads can connect with their children right from the start, what fathers can do to foster a close relationships with their children even when they live miles apart and how fathers can overcome the challenges of parenting under special circumstances, like separation and divorce.

This article presents ways that parents can help children at different ages and stages to manage their fears, including separation.

his article provides an overview of attachment theory and how it relates to separation anxiety, bonding, and development.

This article describes how peekaboo games can be used with toddlers and in play-group settings to support development and autonomy.

This article from the American Academy of Pediatrics provides facts on separation anxiety and tips to improve transitions for young children.

It is often hard for a parent or other loved one to leave a young child who cries and clings. The child is experiencing separation anxiety. Children may not understand when loved ones will be back.

The Mayo Clinic Web site provides a summary of the causes of separation anxiety and what parents can do to ease this feeling in children.