Supportive co-parenting may help secure infant attachment development

Breastfeeding, and a longer duration of breastfeeding, had a positive impact on the mother’s parenting quality and, in turn, on the infant’s secure attachment to the mother, according to a new study by researchers from the Penn State Department of Human Development and Family Studies. The researchers also found that the support of a co-parent could help the infant develop a secure attachment, whether or not the mother breastfed.