Bonding: A brilliant brain builder. The importance of supporting parents to bond with their child from the earliest years

Abstract

Although it has long been acknowledged that children benefit from a strong bond with their parents, the precise ways bonding helps the child – through improved brain development and building specific skills necessary for lifelong wellbeing – are only now becoming clearer. New evidence also reveals specific ways parents can interact with their child to help promote bonding. These new insights demonstrate the critical need to develop social policies around ways to support parents in caring for children, such as through improved paid parental leave.