Children that come into foster care have lacked having an adult interact with them. When foster children are placed into a foster family where there will be a lot of interaction with adults, it can be very scary for them.

These children do not know what it is like to sit down and have a family dinner alone every night. Getting up and going to school for them may have been a choice, and now they have a foster parent take them to school daily. Family outings, game night, church, and all the other family things can be a lot of foster children to adjust to. It can be very overwhelming for children to be thrown into a family life that they have never experienced before.

Bonding with your foster children is very important. Most likely foster children have had no or little bonding or attachment with adults. This will be an area that will take a lot of work and time for everyone. A number of foster children struggle with attachment issues and it can be a life time struggle for them. Even if the foster child is only there on short term placement, foster parents still need to work at bonding with the child.

Even infants and toddlers can have attachment issues that you find yourself dealing with. You may find yourself being shut out or pushed away by your foster child because she is resisting forming a bond. Remember this will not be easy for a child to do or to allow it to happen. People have not been there for her entire life, so trusting you is very difficult for her.

Do not overwhelm a child going too fast or flooding her with too many emotions. Go slow and allow the child to adjust to someone wanting to spend time and bond with her.

Read related posts:

How to Bond With Your Foster Child

Foster Child Struggling to Bond