3.3 Caring through every day experiences
Early brain development is shaped by the minute-by-minute, day-by-day sensory input: the seeing, tasting, touching and being touched, the sounds and smells of daily life. Much of this happens through daily care routines. Different parts of a baby’s brain register sensations and other parts organize this sensory input into patterns.
Sensory information shapes how we relate to the world, to familiar and new experiences. As the brain develops into the preschool years, sensations and perceptions connect to higher cortical centres of the brain responsible for creating symbols, paying attention and planning.
Drs. Stanley Greenspan and Stuart Shanker (2004) propose six basic stages of emotional and brain development that underlie our capacity to make sense of the world. In their book, The First Idea, they trace the transformation of simple reflexive behaviour at birth to symbolic thinking, language and culture. They emphasize the importance of the ‘steady drip of daily life’ in shaping early brain development.
Although brain development continues throughout life, what happens early matters and the developing brain needs to be protected well before birth.
The following scenes show some Canadian parents and babies engaged in typical care routines.
Consider whether these interactions are examples of what Greenspan and Shanker call “required experiences”.
Do you think some of the parent styles of nurturing in the scenes are culturally-based?
There is a wide variety of caregiving practices around the world, often rooted in cultural traditions and beliefs. Some traditional North American Indigenous peoples used moss bags to wrap infants. The caregivers used the moss bags together with cradleboards to keep their babies close to them. The caregiver could carry or wear the cradleboard or set it on the ground near them. Moss bags and cradleboards were integral to how adults took care of and taught their children.
Listen now as Audrey Fourre, a family literacy facilitator with the Manitoba First Nations Education Resource Centre, shares Indigenous teachings of the moss bag.
Sensitivity and responsiveness
Research indicates that sensitivity and responsiveness are key characteristics of caregiving that positively influence a child’s development – in the short term and in the long term (National Scientific Council on the Developing Child, 2004b).
Sensitivity includes being able to imagine how the baby is feeling and how things appear from his/her perspective. It is interesting to note that the baby has a role to play. For example, a baby with immature neurophysiological systems may be harder to “read”.
Responsiveness is when the caregiver can act on the baby’s cues and provide an appropriate response. There is evidence that babies who are responded to promptly and appropriately show a variety of positive outcomes, such as less frequent crying and more interest in exploring their environment (Richter, 2004).
Listen now as Dr. Megan Gunnar from the University of Minnesota explains the difference between sensitivity and responsiveness and why caregivers need to try to find the right balance. She refers to the concept of “serve and return” interaction that was introduced on the page on Nurturing (p. 2.2 in this module).
The next video is from Harvard University’s Center on the Developing Child. It explains and shows examples of five steps caregivers can use for serve and return interactions with young children.
As you watch these two scenes of parents and children, watch for examples of sensitivity and responsiveness as well as examples of serve and return interactions.
In what ways is the parent in each scene being sensitive? Responsive? Did you notice the back and forth “serve and return” interactions?
Gunnar describes it can be hard for parents to get it “just right”. Can you think of some examples, either from your own experience as a parent or from observation, when it has been “just right” and also when the parent has been overly intrusive or ‘what Gunnar calls ‘hovering’?
Dr. Magdalena Janus is a professor of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences at the Offord Centre for Child Studies at McMaster University. In the following clip she explains that while children absorb everything that goes on around them, they are also “forgiving”. This is a comforting message to adults who have ever felt that they didn’t handle a situation very well.
Consider…
In many parts of the world, massage, a soothing and highly sensory experience, is a valued part of nurturing infant care. In the description below, think of all the wonderful sensations, interactions and even later developmental benefits when caregivers regularly massage their very young infants.
“Oil massage continues as a very strong tradition in all the villages. This is usually done by the mother or another female relative who has children herself. Massage is performed daily (usually once and sometimes twice) after birth until the baby is two months, using warm mustard oil with juano (a herb). Massage continues until children are about four years old, but on a less regular basis – often after bathing. Oil massage is believed to make children strong and to protect them from cold. These beliefs are well supported by a South Indian study which demonstrated that low-birthweight babies who received massage showed a remarkable gain in their weight and on a battery of developmental tests over a six month period. The study demonstrated a clear effect of mother-chid interactions on both physical and psychol-social outcomes” (Arnold, Bartlett, Hill, Khatiwada & Sapkota, 2000, p. 69).
Supporting the caregiver-child relationship
People who work with young children and families can capitalize on the power of children’s attachment relationships with parents and other primary caregivers and create opportunities to support, coach and mentor these relationships as a base for development and learning.
The Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development (EECD) covers topics related to nurturing practices and how professionals working with children and families can support caregivers’ abilities to be sensitive and responsive. Read the EECD topics on the following factors, which have been repeatedly demonstrated to be important in the optimal development of children and impact caregiver-child relationships.
Attachment is defined as the emotional bond between an infant and a parent or caregiver. In contexts where an infant demonstrates a need for comfort, support, attention and security, these patterns of behavioural and emotional interactions develop and take time.
Breastfeeding often begins immediately after birth and has been shown to play an important role in attachment, immunity, nutrition, pain regulation, and even later cognitive outcome.
Many new mothers may feel symptoms of depression following the birth of their infants. In some women, symptoms persist and lead to the more serious postpartum depression. Mothers who are depressed have been shown to respond more negatively and less sensitively to the infants, which can negatively affect child outcome.
See also these topics from the Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development that relate to nurturing practices and how professionals working with children and families can support caregivers’ abilities to be responsive and sensitive.
The Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development has extensive resources, including summaries of the latest research in many areas of child development.
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