Healthy Baby Healthy Brain

Healthy Baby Healthy Brain

Supporting your child's brain development

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    • Start Early
      • Prenatal health
      • Your role as a parent
      • Ages and stages
    • Love Builds Brains
      • Attachment/Relationships
      • Listening to your baby
      • Helping your child cope
    • Playing Builds Brains
      • Everyday play
      • Play using all senses
      • Language, numbers & play
    • Health Builds Brains
      • Nutrition
      • Physical activity and sleep
    • Baby’s World Matters
      • Routines
      • Indoors and outdoors
      • How stress affects your baby
  • Accessibility Policy

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Playing Builds Brains

Boosting baby’s brain with everyday fun and games
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Everyday play
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Play using all the senses
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Language, numbers and play

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Mother holding her daughter outside in the park, enjoying the cherry blossoms together, looking at the blossoms on the tree. Okayama, Japan. April 2016

Indoors and outdoors

For healthy brain development, babies need to be able to explore the world around them, with you and on their own.

Keep your baby safe. Remove potential hazards so your baby can be free to explore. Always supervise actively.

You don’t need expensive equipment for your baby to develop. Simple household objects like cushions and balls are safe and engaging toys that babies love to play with.

Useful links:

Early ON – Ontario’s Child and Family Centres

Parachute – Home Safety

Hospital for Sick Children – Baby Safety

Health Canada – Consumer Product Safety

Creating Healthy Home Environments for Kids

How stress affects your baby

Problems at home such as divorce, illness, drugs or violence can create stress for a baby.

Stress can make it difficult for a baby to learn. When babies react to stressful situations, they use their brain to deal with problems, rather than to learn.

It is best to reduce the baby’s contact with stress. Try to get the help you need to reduce the problems at home.

Useful links:

Center on the Developing Child – Toxic Stress

Divorce and Separation

Early ON – Ontario’s Child and Family Centres

Government of Ontario – Children’s Aid

Public Health Agency of Canada – Nobody’s Perfect program

Triple P

211Ontario

Your Child’s Mental Health

Useful links:

Ontario Government Services for Children

EarlyON – Ontario’s Child and Family Centres

ServiceOntario

Public Health Agency of Canada – Childhood and Adolescence

Canadian Paediatric Society – Caring for Kids

Hospital for Sick Children – About Kids Health

Language, numbers & play

Language is one of the most important skills for your baby. The skills need to be put in place very early. Start even before birth. Talk to your baby often.

Help your baby learn new words by repeating words. Point out things while naming them. Read to your baby right from birth. This will help your baby learn to read and write later on.

It is also important to start to develop math skills early. Games such as stacking things, counting things, and sorting colours and shapes are a good way to start. These games will help your child learn how to solve problems and to understand numbers and counting. This will help your child learn more complex math skills later on.

Useful links:

EarlyON – Ontario’s Child and Family Centres

Best Start Resource Centre – Learning to Play and Playing to Learn

Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development – Language Development and Literacy

Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development – Numeracy

Routines

Babies thrive on routines. They like to know what to expect and when to expect it.

Starting from birth, develop a healthy daily routine for your child. Routines will give your child stability and a sense of security.

When children are calm and relaxed, they are able to focus on learning.

Useful links:

FRP Canada – Family Routines

Parents 2 Parents – Videos of everyday moments

The Whole Child. It’s the Little Things – Daily Routines

Physical activity and sleep

Being active is an important part of building a healthy body and brain. Babies need to be able to move and exercise the muscles in their arms, legs, shoulders and neck. Some tummy time every day is important for babies.

Toddlers should get at least three hours of physical activity each day. Some of it should be energetic play. Take your child to a playground or to an Early Years Centre and give them room to run, climb, and jump. Children learn from their parents. So, be active yourself!

Sleep is also important to your baby’s health. Make sure your baby gets enough sleep:

  • Infants 0 to 3 months – 14-17 hours per day
  • Infants 4 to 11 months  – 12-16 hours per day
  • Toddlers 1 to 2 years – 11 to 14 hours per day
  • Preschoolers 3 to 4 years – 10 to 13 hours per day
Useful links:

Canadian Paediatric Society – Caring for Kids

Hospital for Sick Children – About Kids Health

Physical Activity : Be a Role Model

Canadian Sport for Life – Physical Literacy

Sleep Well, Sleep Safe

Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines

Daddy and Me On the Move

Adorable baby girl banging on pots and pans with a wooden spoon in the kitchen.

Everyday play

More than anything, your baby needs your love, time and attention. Make play a part of your everyday routine. Bath time, mealtime, and free time are all great times to connect with your baby and to help your baby to learn.

You don’t need to spend money on expensive toys. Babies love to play with simple household things that don’t cost anything!

Babies need time to explore. They need to figure things out for themselves. Allow for plenty of playtime to help your baby learn.

 

Useful links:

Parents 2 Parents – Ages and Stages

Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development – Play

Zero to Three – Family, Friend & Neighbor Care

Nipissing District Developmental Screen

Playtime with your Baby

Your Busy Toddler 

Listening to your baby

Listening to your baby means understanding and following cues. Watch your baby’s posture, hands and eye movement. Is your baby alert or is your baby sleepy?

Get to know your baby’s likes and dislikes. Let your baby lead you to the things that your baby finds exciting or soothing.

The more you follow your baby’s interests, the longer your baby will stay focused. More learning takes place when your baby is interested.

Useful links:

Attachment Parenting International – Respond with Sensitivity

Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development – Temperament

Parents 2 Parents – Temperament

Father playing with his little happy and smiling baby daughter

Attachment / Relationships

To have the confidence to explore the world, babies need to feel safe and loved. They need to know that someone will be there to help them if they need it.

Building attachment with your baby is one of the most important things you can do as a parent. How? By cuddling, loving and holding your baby. Always respond to your baby. This will give your baby the confidence to explore and learn.

The way you respond to your baby influences how your baby will relate to other people in life.

Useful links:

Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development – Attachment

Attachment Parenting Canada

Attachment Parenting International

The Period of PURPLE Crying

Attachment : A Connection for Life 

Ages and stages

There are times when your baby’s brain is ready to develop certain skills. Brain connections for seeing and hearing develop early. So it is important to talk, sing and read to your newborn.

There is a window of opportunity for learning to talk between one and two years of age. Start putting the building blocks for language in place even earlier. Talk often to your baby. This will help your baby learn to talk.

If you suspect a delay in your baby, such as difficulty hearing or seeing, talk to your healthcare provider right away. It is important to get help early if it is needed. This will make learning easier later. Make sure your child sees a health care provider at 18 months of age.

 

Useful links:

Nipissing District Developmental Screen

Ontario Government – Preschool Speech and Language

Ontario Government – Services for children

18-month Enhanced Well Baby Visit

Parents2Parents – My Child’s Development

newborn baby boy breastfeeding

Nutrition

Healthy eating plays a major role in a healthy baby’s brain. Breast milk contains all the nutrients your baby needs, as well as antibodies to fight infection.

Mothers are encouraged to breastfeed without giving any other fluids or foods for the first six months. After six months, introduce iron-rich foods such as meat, meat alternatives and iron-fortified cereal. Include other pureed or mashed foods from the other food groups.

It is recommended to continue breastfeeding up to two years and more.

Traditional foods from all cultures can also be a healthy option. Be a good role model when you eat. Encourage your child to try new foods from all the food groups. Involve your child in meal preparation. Your child will develop a healthy relationship with food, for long-term health.

Useful links:

Eat Right Ontario

Canada’s Food Guide – In Ten Languages

Health Canada – Canada’s Food Guide Servings

Best Start Resource Centre – Breastfeeding

Best Start Resource Centre – Nutrition

Dietitians of Canada – EATracker

La Leche League

Playing using all the senses

Between birth and age three, your baby’s brain creates more connections than it needs. Over time, the connections that are used often will become permanent. Connections that are not used as often will disappear.

Using the five senses is important in a child’s brain development. Parents need to provide a variety of social and learning opportunities. These will help the brain connections to become permanent.

Activities can include reading to your child, finger-painting, dancing, breastfeeding, singing, music, smelling, tasting new foods and touching interesting things.

Useful links:

Parents 2 Parents – Parenting strategies

Parents 2 Parents – Baby massage

Zero to Three – Supporting brain development

Helping your child cope

Self-regulation is an important skill for children to have. Self-regulation is being the boss of your behavior, emotions and attention. Help children learn to adjust their emotions and behaviours. This helps them to cope with changing situations in a positive way.

Infant self-regulation is developed when adults help babies soothe themselves.

Parents can help their toddler observe the surroundings, listen, understand consequences, use words and actions to explain their needs, and problem solve. These will help deal with problems in life. They will also keep the toddler in a calm and alert state. A calm and alert state will help with learning.

Useful links:

The Whole Child. Setting Limits – Helping Children Learn Self-Regulation

Parents 2 Parents – Parenting Style

Reaching In Reaching Out – Building Resilience

Be the Best Parent You can Be – Why Positive Discipline Works

Attachment Parenting International – Positive Discipline

Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development – Aggression

Guiding your Child with Positive Discipline

Your role as a parent

All full term babies are born with basic brain functions. They can breathe, sleep, eat, etc. To develop more complex skills, the brain needs to be stimulated often, in a repetitive, predictable, back-and-forth way. This fires up new connections in the baby’s brain.

Parents need to provide lots of warmth and attention to set up these early brain connections. Respond to your baby. Talk to your baby. Sing to your baby. Touch your baby. Play with your baby. With every interaction, you are helping your baby’s brain to develop.

 

Useful links:

Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development – Brain

Zero to Three – Brain Map

Center on the Developing Child – Brain Hero

Dad Central

Your Baby’s Brain

Prenatal health

Your baby’s brain starts to form when your baby is conceived.

Stay active. Eat well right from the start to help create a healthy brain. Important nutrients during pregnancy are folate, iron, vitamin C, calcium and omega-3 fats.

Avoid alcohol, drugs and tobacco smoke. These can harm your baby’s developing brain and may cause permanent damage.

It’s best to make changes when you are thinking about becoming pregnant. Give your baby’s brain the best possible start.

Useful links:

Eat Right Ontario

Health Canada – Prenatal Nutrition

Best Start Resource Centre – Nutrition

Physical Activity Resource Centre – Active Pregnancy

Canadian Mental Health Association – Coping with Stress

Best Start Resource Centre – Alcohol & Pregnancy

Best Start Resource Centre – Smoking