This article will explore how a child develops a loving relationship with his mother from birth through middle school. While the majority of this article is based on Bowlby's Attachment Theory and the work on which his research was based, it incorporates classic theories of physical development, social development, social learning, and cognitive development. Biological, learning, socio-cultural, cognitive and psychodynamic influences will be explored. Biological Influences All animals undergo a process of bonding with the parent that serves as a protective mechanism to ensure the continuation of the species. Human children bond as a matter of instinct. The bonding process begins at birth with initial bonds being strengthened through the processes of nurturing and social learning. Physiologically, bonding with a parent is both a genetic factor and a neurological programming process that results in a parent-child attachment. Genetic factors influence how a child reacts to stressors in the environment or otherwise experiences the world. These genetic factors are demonstrated through the individual's personality and behavioral patterns. The child discussed in this study has a DRD2 dopamine receptor polymorphism that is also present in his mother. This characteristic is linked to the development of an anxious personality. Other studies have focused on heart and respiratory rates or reactions of the hypothalamus, pituitary, and adrenal interactions. These studies have found that there is a difference between children who have formed an attachment with a parent and those who have not when exposed to an unfamiliar situation. The child under consideration at this stage... half of the article ......conclusionWhile secure attachments predict a child's ability to perform well in school and move through other developmental stages as expected, early insecure attachments they do not necessarily result in difficulties later in life. Peer relationships, the development of social skills, a healthy social identity, and a child's intellectual development impact an individual's ability to develop strong relationships later in life. This child's ability to experience a strong bond or loving relationship with his mother is based on a combination of his physiological characteristics, the mutual responses between him and his mother, and his life experiences within the family and in other social places. His early attachments will also impact how he is able to engage in loving, mutually caring relationships with others later in life...