Infant and Early Childhood

Babies need safe, stable, nurturing relationships to foster their healthy brain and body development and help them realize their full potential. Early positive relationships with important caregivers, including parents or foster parents, early childhood educators, and other relatives, provides the foundation for babies to develop physically, cognitively, emotionally, and socially. Recent research demonstrates the negative impact exposure to toxic stress and other threats can have on both the physical and mental health of infants and toddlers, but these poor outcomes can be improved by supporting positive experiences and strengthening families' skills to care for their young children. Intervening early, reducing or preventing the impact of adverse experiences, and promoting nurturing, responsive environments for all children are the key for lifelong health and wellness.

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Relationships Matter

Having a good relationship with your baby helps your child develop good mental health. When your baby has good mental health, they can develop the skills to:

Form close and secure relationships
Experience, regulate and express emotions
Explore their environment and learn

Your attention and touch is better than any toy you can buy. When you respond to your baby's cries in a safe and nuturing way, you are bonding and building trust with your baby.

Some people think you can spoil your baby, but science tells us this isn't true. When a baby feels loved and secure, he or she has the best chance to learn new skills and develop healthy relationships.

Crisis Helplines

Youth Mobile Crisis: Call the crisis stabilizations line for urgent connection and support: 1-833-885-CARE

Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741 to communicate with a trained crisis counselor 24/7

Early Childhood Warmline: 1-877-271-7611

Doing what you can to provide a loving and stable environment for your baby gives them the best chance for being a healthy adult. The great news is it doesn't have to be perfect!

Tips for creating nuturing surrounds:

Create routines with your baby that happen around the same time each day (i.e. meal time, nap time, play time, bath time, story time).
When you can't be with your baby, leaving them with a consistent, caring, trusted adult will help your baby feel secure and safe while you are away.
When you have a calm response to your baby's strong emotions, it can help teach your child to self-soothe and express their emotions in a healthy way.

Look for small ways to build moments of connection withy your child throughout your day. You can build these times into your normal routines.

Tips for creating connections:

Sing silly songs and read books to your child
Talk with your child about what you are doing together
Count your baby's toes when changing a diaper
Hug and cuddle before bed
Brush your teeth together
Have a dance party
Play simple games
Turn off distractions during meal times
Explore your surroundings during meal times
Explore your surroundings with your baby (babies are naturally curious)
Make a silly face and watch your baby's reaction
Comfort your child when they are scared, angry, or hurt

Signs and symptoms of emotional concerns in young children:

Infant (0-1 years old)

Rarely cries
Little interest in people or toys
Hard to calm or soothe
Does not make eye contact
Does not gain weight

Toddler (1-3 years old)

Does not go to familiar adults for help or comfort
Does not like being touched or held
Does not play well with others
Extremely fearful
Does not show different emotions
Unable to calm self (self soothe) with caregiver support

Preschool (3-5 years old)

Does not play well with others
Has trouble making friends
Loss of skills (regression) that toddler could previously preform (like toileting, talking, playing)
Destructive to self and or others
Withdrawn, sad, fearful
Unable to calm (self soothe)

Contact the Infant and Early Childhood Team