effect that prenatal development and care and early childhood experiences can have on adolescent social and emotional development.
INFANTS AND TODDLERS
The past decades have seen the emergence of surprising and interesting new knowledge about the social-emotional development of infants and toddlers. Below, we summarize findings that help us gain new respect for, and new determination to support, the growth and development of very young children.
What Teachers Can Do:
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What Teachers Can Do: *
■ Caregivers are on the front line to model gentleness, cherishing, and soothing so infants and toddlers learn that their feelings — even angry feelings — are truly understood.
■ Offer to hold both babies if one baby acts jealous of your holding another.
■ When infants and toddlers are upset, provide a calm environment and loving, comforting hugs.
■ Give words for feelings. Use and encourage emotion talk: 'mad' and 'sad' are easy toddler words!
■ Cheerfully accept a bit of regression: toddlers can have a small bottle with water when feeling jealous at birth of a new baby.
https://web-p-ebscohost-com.lopes.idm.oclc.org/ehost/deta- Caregivers play a crucial role in modeling gentleness, affection, and soothing behaviors so that infants and toddlers learn that their feelings— even feelings of anger— are genuinely acknowledged.
- If one baby appears jealous while you hold another, offer to hold both babies simultaneously.
- When infants and toddlers are upset, create a calm environment and provide loving, comforting hugs.
- Use words to describe feelings and encourage discussions about emotions. Simple words like "mad" and "sad" are great for toddlers!
- Accept a little regression cheerfully; for instance, a toddler can have a small bottle with water when they feel jealous about the arrival of a new baby.
https://web-p-ebscohost-com.lopes.idm.oclc.org/ehost/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=c2c38ed6-2562-4903-ab0f-4b24e73639c6%40redis&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#tocil/detail?vid=0&sid=c2c38ed6-2562-4903-ab0f-4b24e73639c6%40redis&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#tocprenatal, infancy, toddlerhood,
social/emotional milestones.
Attachment, according to British psychiatrist Dr. John Bowlby, is a bond formed with another specific person that binds them together in space and endures over time. During the first year, infants learn to trust or not trust their primary caregivers. Mutually enjoyable verbal and physical loving exchanges between a caregiver and baby create emotional connections that meet the basic needs of the infant. Each attachment of baby is to a few special persons — caregivers who are attuned to baby's signals of distress, sensitive to baby tempos, and promptly and effectively meet a baby's needs — for nursing, attentiveness, diapering, cuddling, or soothing. By one year, an infant stays near his attachment person and also ventures out to explore the world. When scared or hurt, baby may gallop back and throw himself onto his special attachment person.
Dream it
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Build it
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Grow it
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Dream it • Build it • Grow it •
Caregiver Relationships with ParentsHow caregivers and parents get along impacts babies' emotional well-being. Babies have better social-emotional interactions with caregivers and peers when there are cordial, easy, and positive relations between staff and parents (Elicker, Fortner-Wood, & Noppe, 1999). Open communication, mutual respect, support and trust create an interpersonal context for optimal child care. The Care Quality Checklist (Honig, 2014) can help parents, directors, and teachers recognize the most important aspects of these relationships that help a young child thrive.1 Abraham, M. M., & Kerns, K. A. (2013). Positive and negative emotions and coping as mediators of mother-child attachment and peer relationships. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 59(4), 399–425.2 Beebe, B., Jaffe, J., Markese, S., Buck, K., Chen, H., Cohen, P., & Feldstein, S. (2010). The origins of 12-month attachment: A microanalysis of 4-month mother—infant interaction. Attachment & Human Development, 12(1), 3–141.