Another key element that helps ap parents build a strong attachment with their baby is breastfeeding. Certain intrinsic characteristics of breastfeeding naturally promote attachment. For instance, during breastfeeding hormones are released which have a relaxing effect on the mother and stimulate maternal instincts. The extra holding and skin-to-skin contact that breastfeeding provide also encourage the attachment between mother and baby to grow.
Bottle-feeding certainly isn't an automatic cancel from being qualified to wear the ap label, though. Some mothers try their best to breastfeed and feel a sense of failure and deep sadness that they couldn't breastfeed. Sometimes breastfeeding doesn't work out because of bad information from doctors or nurses, lack of support, poor information from books, friends, or family, and sometimes, in a very few cases, mothers are unable to breastfeed because of physical reasons.
An important part of attachment parenting is the belief that nursing (whether by breast or bottle) should be a time for nurturing and communicating love to your baby. Breastfeeding moms have it far easier because, as mentioned above, many things that promote bonding are built into breastfeeding such as skin-to-skin contact and being in mama's arms. Because of this and because breastfeeding is the norm our babies were designed to live and thrive on, it's important that the bottle-feeding experience be made as close to breastfeeding as possible.
