Attachment involved fine-tuning the infant-parent relationship. When difficulties arose within the
family, attachment might be affected. When Jan became stressed she could not interact with Sam
frequently. Consistency and sensitivity in care-giving had been disrupted. Secure attachment was
not possible where the caregiver was unavailable (Atwool et al, 1997; Belsky & Isabella, 1988;
Crockenberg, 1981; de Wolff & Ijzendoorn, 1997). However, Winnicott cited in Oates et al
(2005) argued that it was bad training for a parent or caregiver to react immediately to a child’s
request. It was important to delay at times as part of training in tolerance and confidence building.
The theory had critiques.