A first time mom was left in tears at her infant daughter’s reaction to her leaving the room, as left her phone recording to capture her baby’s response.
Chloe Bruce, 27, from Glasgow, Scotland, set her camera up to see how her 7-month-old daughter, Lillie, would react.
“I love documenting my daily life and taking videos of my little girl to keep as memories,” Bruce told Newsweek. “I’d seen people posting about how their kids react to them leaving so I thought I’d give it a go.”
Bruce wasn’t entirely sure how Lillie would react to being left alone. “I expected Lillie to cry or scream,” she said.
Her response was an entirely different one though, with Lillie overjoyed at seeing her mom return. Watching her daughter’s face light up as she re-entered the room, Bruce couldn’t help but feel emotional.
“When I saw her reaction I teared up,” Bruce said. “She was just so cute waiting for me to come back and her smile was adorable and honestly you can’t help but smile when she does!”
There’s ample reason for Bruce to be happy with what she saw on the video. Lillie’s response in the clip is a prime example of secure attachment in action.
A concept first presented by psychologist Mary Ainsworth in the 1970s, secure attachment refers to the bond between child and caregiver.
It’s characterized by children seeing their caregiver as a safe haven with that bond helping to establish what’s called the “secure base effect”, whereby a child feels comfortable exploring their surroundings, knowing their caregiver is present.
A key component of secure attachment is a noticeable reaction when a caregiver leaves or returns with babies often expressing joy when the latter occurs.
Lillie’s reaction firmly ticks that particular box. Maybe that’s why the video Bruce posted to TikTok under the handle chloebruce1 showing what happened has proven so popular. At the time of writing it’s been watched 1.2 million times.
The response caught Bruce by surprise. “I never expected the video to even get past 100 views,” she said. “I honestly think it’s gotten so many views because her reaction was so calm and cute.”
Bruce is delighted to see the video of her daughter getting such a positive response and hopes those watching take away the positive message behind it.
“I really hope people just enjoy the video and can relate to the feeling of being so loved by your child and being able to make them smile,” she said. “There’s no better feeling than seeing your baby smile when they see you!”
The post Mom Leaves Room With Phone Still Recording—Not Prepared for Baby’s Reaction appeared first on Newsweek.
