Simple & Fun Strategies to Build Attachment with Adopted Kids

We know attachment is important in foster care/adoption, but parents often wonder how to help build the bonds of attachment with their kids. Host Dawn Davenport, Executive Director of Creating a Family, the national infertility & adoption education and support nonprofit, interviews Deborah Gray, adoption therapist, “attachment guru”, and author of Attaching through Love, Hugs, and Play: Simple Strategies to Help Build Connections with Your Child and Attaching in Adoption: Practical Tools for Today’s Parents.

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It seems obvious, but why is attachment important to children and to parents?
What’s a realistic estimate of how long it takes for a child and parent to attach strongly? What does it depend on?
What does the term “emotional looping” mean in relationship to bonding and attachment?
What are the foundations of attachment? Eye contact, cuddles, etc.
Should parents worry if their child is rough and tumble all-boy who does not like to snuggle and cuddle?
What is your opinion on re-introducing a bottle for feeding with an older adopted child?
Importance of play in creating attachment in adoption.
What specific games encourage bonding? Games by age group.
How to balance the attachment and bonding activities/strategies when you have other kids in the house and/or you work?
Importance of self-care for adoptive parents. How to balance self-care with the needs of newly adopted kids?
Why are routines so important in creating attachment?
Are adopted kids, especially those who have experienced prenatal alcohol or drug exposure, abuse or neglect, at greater risk for low “executive dysfunction”?
Why is executive functioning important for attachment?
What are some tricks and strategies parents can use everyday to help improve their adopted child’s executive functioning?
Why are our “stories” so important?
Promoting attachment in tween and teens.