Strategies for Parenting Infants and Toddlers

The first three years of life (typically referred to as infancy and toddlerhood) carry immense implications for health and development both in the short and long-term. This developmental period is characterized by rapid growth and development and plays a pivotal role in the development of executive functioning which consists of important skills like attention, memory, and impulse control. Experiences in these first three years also set the stage for school readiness and ultimately long-term academic success and well-being.

Understanding infant-toddler development

At no time in life are there greater developmental changes than in infancy/toddlerhood. Changes in the first three years of life are rapid and immense with dramatic brain and physical growth, an accelerated acquisition of language skills, intense responses to stimuli, and an extreme reliance on adult relationships. It is truly remarkable when we think about all that happens between birth and three-years-old. Children go from merely paying attention to speech, to understanding it, to providing one- or two-word responses, and to forming multi-word phrases. Similarly, during this period children start off not being able to support their own head, to sitting up, rolling over, crawling, walking, and even beginning to help with self-care and other tasks (e.g., getting dressed and cleaning up). This is also a key time for the formation of social relationships. Infancy/toddlerhood is when children begin to develop a sense of what the world around them is like and form attachments with their caregivers. These early views of the world and the formation of these relationships often end up influencing later feelings of comfort or anxiety and even the quality of adult relationships!

What does a high-quality infant-toddler home environment look like?

To ensure that infants and toddlers are positioned favorably in terms of social, emotional, and cognitive development it is vital that parents and caregivers are able to provide a warm, safe, and stimulating environment that is supportive of the needs of young children. Here are some things that you can do to help promote positive development and attachments with your own infants and toddlers.

Read to and speak with children

To support infants and toddlers’ rapid language and cognitive development, caregivers need to speak and read to children. The number of words young children hear is predictive of their own vocabulary and language skills later in life. Make eye contact when infants and toddlers speak to you (even if an infant is only babbling and not yet forming full words) and try to ensure they can see your mouth when you speak (this is particularly important with infants). Reading is an excellent way to expose children to different words. Also, name things when interacting with your children. For example, asking a toddler to bring you a dustpan to help clean up would be more appropriate than asking a child to bring you “that” and pointing at the dustpan. Even just verbally explaining what you are doing can help children build early language skills (e.g., “I’m going to transfer these crackers from this large box to the small container”).

Respond to infants and toddlers with warmth

Infants and toddlers learn through the interactions they have with adults and these daily interactions set the stage for their later development by providing a foundation for social-emotional skill development. As such, it is important that you are responsive to infants and toddlers’ needs and you respond with warmth, patience, and kindness. If a child is upset, you should attempt to comfort the child. This can impact how the child views both themselves as an individual and the world around them. If they are upset and the adults around them respond harshly the child may internalize this and view the world as a scary place and question if they are deserving of love.

Do your best to expose your child to age-appropriate and safe inside and outside spaces

Infants and toddlers learn through exploration. Infants and toddlers need spaces that allow for both quiet and active play. Try to provide developmentally appropriate toys and activities that support motor, social-emotional, cognitive, and language development. For young infants this may be toys with different textures, toys that make noise, or things to look at (soft mirror). Toddlers may enjoy pretend play (e.g., puppets, dolls, vehicles), toys that they can move and stack (e.g., nesting cups or soft blocks), and other toys that support their motor development (e.g., boards with knobs and switches). Toddlers are likely to be more active than infants and often enjoy toys like soft balls they can throw or tunnels they can climb through. Toddler also are likely ready for relatively simple puzzles, dress-up clothes, and safety scissors and large crayons. Taking trips to the neighborhood park (for outdoor play) or the local library (for indoor play) can be an excellent way to expose your child to age-appropriate spaces as well as toys and resources that you may not have available at home.

Because of the importance of healthy infant-toddler development, it can be easy for caregivers to feel overwhelmed. It is important to remember that while this period may be stressful at times, it is also a period of tremendous opportunity, where warmth, patience, and attention can go a long way. As a caregiver of an infant or toddler you have a wonderful opportunity to pave the way for the formation of a close, long-lasting, and meaningful relationship, that can ultimately set the child up to be healthy and happy older children, adolescents, and adults. 

Additional Information

For a similar reference written for early care and education professionals please see Supporting Infant-toddler Development.

References

Girard, L. C., Doyle, O., & Tremblay, R. E. (2017). Maternal warmth and toddler development: support for transactional models in disadvantaged families. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 26, 497-507.

King, E. K., Pierro, R. C., Li, J., Porterfield, M. L., & Rucker, L. (2016). Classroom quality in infant and toddler classrooms: impact of age and programme type. Early Child Development and Care, 186(11), 1821-1835.

Maguire-Fong, M. J., & Peralta, M. (2018). Infant and toddler development from conception to age 3: What babies ask of us. Teachers College Press.

Murray, A., & Egan, S. M. (2014). Does reading to infants benefit their cognitive development at 9-months-old? An investigation using a large birth cohort survey. Child Language Teaching and Therapy, 30(3), 303-315.

Paulus, M. (2014). The emergence of prosocial behavior: Why do infants and toddlers help, comfort, and share?. Child Development Perspectives, 8(2), 77-81.

Source

Rudy, T. L., & Perkins, D. F. (2023, August 14). Adolescent Social Media Use Republished with permission by the authors and the Clearinghouse for Military Family Readiness.