Monday, December 11, 2006

The First Three Years of Child Development

These are the most challenging, demanding and also most satisfying years for the parents and the caregiver - almost 100% attention is required. These are the years where the child is too young to go to a child care center. At this age, the child only requires the basics and that is (1) proper milk/food, (2) living in a safe/quiet environment, (3) have plenty of suitable toys to see, touch, hear and to play with and (4) inter-acting with the child with lots of communication (by speaking/singing), inter-play and love.

Initially, the child can only communicate through crying or sounds of response, comfort/discomfort. It depends very much on the attention of the person looking after the child to pick up these signals. At later months, sounds or facial expressions of satisfaction/dis-satisfaction, happiness/unhappiness, shock, etc are also developed.

How well the parents and the caregiver master the skills of bringing up a child can be roughly gauged by the number of crying instances. It is alright if the child cries because he is hungry, wanting to sleep or feeling discomfort or sick. It is very important that the parents and the caregiver master the skill of understanding baby's cries (communication) to react to the child's needs appropriately. This will reinforce the bond and provide the child with security which is also needed by the child. The crying instances should gradually be less and less frequent as the child grows. One should avoid developing a child to communicate through crying in wanting something from you.


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