Erikson's Cases

The first case problem is a mother who is concerned with her 3-month-old son’s feeding habits. She explains that her son will not feed from anything that is not her breast. He will not take any bottles, no matter who is feeding him. Even when the bottle contains his mother’s breastmilk, her son will not drink it. The “expert” who is responding to this mother’s post suggests that this is because the baby is in a stage of attachment to his mother, and that the mother should try her best to not separate from her son unless she absolutely needs to.
The “expert” providing the advice to this mother is correct. Currently, according to Erik Erikson, her son is in the stage where his psychosocial issue is trust (Wiley, 2017). At this stage in her son’s development, he only trusts her, and has issues with trusting others. This may cause his need to feed from her breast, because his trust is only with her. He can sense the difference between the bottle and his mother’s breast, and is more trusting of the mother rather than the bottle. …show more content…
The son cries and throws a tantrum whenever his mom or dad drops him off at the babysitter’s house for the day. He is now seeking ways to help his son adjust to being dropped off without getting as upset as he normally gets. The “expert” that replies to him assures the father that this is normal for his son’s age, and if anything this shows that they have a healthy bond. The “expert” suggests that the parent responds to how the child is feeling, and understand why they are feeling this way. She also suggests that “training away” the crying is not beneficial, and that the father should help the son adjust in a healthy way to the new