CHILDREN LOOK TO PARENTS FOR BASIC FOOTING
By Beckey Arnold - Argus Observer
Monday, March 5, 2007 9:23 AM PST
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| Robert Garza, 1, looks at life with curiosity and excitement. |
Ontario - Early childhood (birth to age 2) development is so crucial that the Malheur County Health Department focuses an entire program on the issue called Healthy Start.
Healthy Start program supervisor and registered nurse Rebecca Maxwell, Payette, said many parents believe if they respond every time the baby cries, the baby will be spoiled.
“This is not true,” Maxwell said. “You can’t spoil a baby.”
During the first six months in a baby’s life, responding to his or her needs will set the foundation for future communication skills, Maxwell said.
“The child will get conditioned to no one helping them,” Maxwell said. “They will stop communicating. They will never have normal communication skills.”
The staff at Healthy Start visits homes of new moms to help educate them on the importance of interacting with their babies, how to bond and provide a nurturing environment and how that process helps with the future of their child.
“We use the ‘use it or lose it’ method,” Maxwell said.
What that means, Maxwell said, is if the baby does not get help or is not spoken to, the brain cell connections will be discarded or pruned and the baby will lose the opportunity to have those connections.
Every time a need is met, it makes the active connections stronger.
Neglect — even mild — will have an effect on the baby’s needs, Maxwell said. There are many different forms and levels of neglect, she said.
Not talking with the baby, leaving the baby alone, allowing him or her to just lay in their crib, propping bottles rather than holding them or not answering the baby’s cries are all mild forms of neglect, Maxwell said.
“Feeding is a time to bond with your baby — it’s basic needs,” Maxwell said. “Many people just don’t know (what to do and what not to do).”
A baby’s brain reacts to early interaction, which will affect the way the brain is wired for the rest of the baby’s life, Maxwell said.
Maxwell said babies thrive on touch, particularly during the first few months of life. Other basic senses babies need to develop are hearing and smelling.
“Each time we respond in a quick response it helps the brain cells to connect,” Maxwell said.
The positive connections with brain cells continue into the toddler stage as well. Maxwell stressed at this age, the child is trying to become independent.
“They need a lot of positive reinforcement,” she said. “Try to limit the no’s.”
To avoid temptation, Maxwell recommends removing items from a room the child should not play with. The room should always be a safe environment.
“They (toddlers) need to foster independence,” Maxwell said.
When asking a toddler to redirect or to stop doing something, Maxwell said to be very specific.
“Don’t just say ‘stop acting like that.’ You need to explain why.”
She said it is better to tell the child you are proud of them when they are making good choices and not spotlight the negative.
“Give boundaries and be very consistent with toddlers,” she said.
Barb Gerulf, owner of the Giggle Tree Daycare Center in Ontario, and Tony Bourasa, infant and toddler teacher at the Giggle Tree 2, know the importance of development firsthand when caring for young children.
“Tons of their windows are open at birth, and close before age 10,” Gerulf said.
Not only do the child’s brain cells and connections need to be reinforced, the child is also learning to chew, crawl, walk and talk, Gerulf said.
“They are learning to take care of their own needs,” Gerulf said.
Both Gerulf and Bourasa said patience is the virtue of life, and by age 2, the child should begin learning patience.
The toddlers seem to benefit from interaction with each other, Bourasa and Gerulf said.
“I think these guys miss each other when they’re not here,” Bourasa said.
Timeouts are rarely used at the Giggle Tree 2, Bourasa said.
“We just redirect and move the child,” she said.
Maxwell said some parents get discouraged with toddler development and need to remember toddlers learn by experience.
“Parents need to sit down and decide ‘this is how we are going to parent,’” Maxwell said. “Toddlerhood is a hard age.”
Bourasa said she communicates with the parents at the center to help with consistency while interacting with their child, such as during potty training, bottle breaking and introducing new foods.
