It's impossible to summarize all of the relevant material published by these groups and other authors, but I will mention some material that is most concerned with young babies, some concerned with toddlers, and some concerned with preschoolers and young school-age children. I've chosen these materials because I believe they are helpful for adoptive or foster families as well as for child care staff-- however, the authors do not always specifically mention adoption. Readers will need to keep reminding themselves about the parallels between the situations of children in group care and adopted children.

NAEYC has posted a helpful article on the subject of helping a baby adjust to center care (http://www.naeyc.org/files/yc/file/200307/ChallengingOurAs.pdf). Examining the case of a baby a few months old who is unusually slow to adjust to new caregivers, the author makes a series of suggestions that may be helpful for adoptive parents of babies. One suggestion is to emphasize the consistency of the baby's experience; this means to make sure that feedings are predictable in time, place, and amount, to keep furniture in the same arrangement, and above all not to have a changing group of caregivers or visitors. (This, of course, is until the baby seems more comfortable; it's not a lifetime arrangement.) A second idea is that each child needs an assigned primary caregiver who is present as much of the time as possible. While two adoptive parents may do very well "taking turns", adding babysitters or grandparents to the roster probably will not work as well. Third, it's important to pay attention to a baby's temperament, or innate personality characteristics, before deciding on care practices (there has been much written about this issue). And finally but quite importantly, caregivers need to have access to plenty of support themselves, in order to do the best job in child care or in starting an adopted family. A factor in the support needed by a caregiver is his or her tendency to depression; there is more and more discussion these days of the possibility that maternal depression is a problem of adoptive mothers as well as birth mothers (see Shapiro, V., Shapiro,J., & Paret, I. (2001). Complex adoption and assisted reproductive technology. New York: Guilford).

Another of many useful articles relevant to infants was one by J.R. Lally, "The science and psychology of infant-toddler care", in the publication Zero to Three (November, 2009). The author emphasized the importance of cultural continuity for infants in child care , and this message certainly translates to the situations of families adopting young children who have been living in very different cultural environments, with different language, food and eating habits, clothing, and household items.

To consider what may be helpful for parents adopting children during the toddler period, I'd like to turn to an article in a professional journal. The psychologist Mary Dozier at the University of Delaware published an important article several years ago ("Attachment-based treatment for vulnerable children",Attachment & Human Development, Vol. 5, pp. 253-257). She referred to the difficulty adoptive parents may have in "reading" whether adopted toddlers are interested in and becoming attached to them. This may be because the children do not send the clear messages that would be typical of children who had been reared in the same family since birth. For example, toddlers typically show interest in familiar caregivers by staying close to them, clinging when in frightening or unfamiliar situations, and demanding attention by talking or presenting objects to them. They may get up and follow if a caregiver leaves the room. Adopted or fostered toddlers are more likely to look up briefly as the adult leaves and then returns; their cues are subtle, and the adult may not even notice the child's interest. According to other researchers, it may be helpful to train parents to notice a child's small cues by videotaping interactions and playing them back repeatedly, helping the parent to pick up on the ways in which the child shows his or her interest in an important adult. This helps the parents respond to the child's communication of interest appropriately, rather than ignoring it and believing that the child "just doesn't care" about them.

For parents who are adopting preschool or early school-age children, I'd like to suggest an early childhood publication that is an oldie but definitely still a goodie. This is a 1988 book by Sue Bredekamp, Developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood programs serving children from birth to age 8. (Washington, D.C.: NAEYC). Bredekamp discusses a large number of factors that encourage a good emotional atmosphere in child care programs, including the importance of keeping children in small groups and making sure they have only one or two very familiar caregivers. Bredekamp emphasizes the importance of providing a situation the child can trust-- for example, that caregivers do not leave without saying goodbye, so the child is assured that they will not just disappear. Although Bredekamp does not specifically discuss this topic, we can certainly use her information to draw the conclusion that child care programs are not appropriate for newly-adopted children, who have enough to do in adapting to their new homes. A period of some months should pass before children are asked to get used to another very new situation. For children of early school age, the same may be true, and it may be best for these children to spend some time first adapting, then doing suitable school work with the parents, then attending school half days, and finally going to full-time if all is well.

In my next post, I want to comment on some parental expectations that may help or hinder the adjustment of the new adoptive family.