There are basic resources every baby needs for the best possible chance to develop as a healthy well-functioning human.
Start with good nutrition, breast milk if possible. That baby is going to need stimulation, lots of looking, reciprocal interactions, exposure to language and interesting stimuli. If at all possible, you should live in a place where you don’t have to constantly be looking over your shoulder in fear while you coo at the baby. Lastly, you must help babies learn how to regulate themselves, including developing regular circadian rhythms and sleep.
In short, focus on the “thrive 5:” five conditions to ensure an infant in the first year of life has what is needed for healthy development. Those conditions include environmental stimulation, nutrition, neighborhood safety, positive caregiving and regular circadian rhythms and sleep.
The finding sounds simple, and yet, it has not yet been prioritized for many reasons, including the fact that researchers had not provided empirical data to support making the “thrive 5” a public health priority.
Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis think it’s time to change that. In new research published inJAMA Pediatrics,Deanna Barch, PhD and Joan Luby, MD make the case that “thrive factors” are a key element of healthy human brain, behavioral and cognitive development.
“When they have access to these basic supports, even in the face of adverse environments, it enhances their brain development, cognition (measures of IQ) and social-emotional development,” said Luby, MD, the Samuel and Mae S. Ludwig Professor of Child Psychiatry at the School of Medicine.
There have been plenty of studies touting the benefits of individual thrive factors, such as encouraging breast-feeding to facilitate growth in general, but this new study looks at several key factors known to influence brain development and shows their relationship to outcomes at age 3.
“The novelty here is putting them all together and thinking of them as a constellation of things that are necessary and important for a child to be able to thrive,” said Barch, PhD, the vice dean of research, a professor of psychological and brain sciences in Arts & Sciences and the Gregory B. Couch Professor of Psychiatry at the School of Medicine.
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FAQs
In short, focus on the “thrive 5:” five conditions to ensure an infant in the first year of life has what is needed for healthy development. Those conditions include environmental stimulation, nutrition, neighborhood safety, positive caregiving and regular circadian rhythms and sleep.
What are the 3 most important aspects of infant development? ›
Infant development is most often divided into the following areas: Cognitive. Language. Physical, such as fine motor skills (holding a spoon, pincer grasp) and gross motor skills (head control, sitting, and walking)
How are scientists able to study the cognitive abilities of infants? ›
Another method used by researchers to study infant development is electroencephalogram, (EEG). Small discs are placed as a little hat on infants' heads. This records the electrical signals from a baby's brain. Researchers will look at which brain regions are active when an infant is looking at objects, scenes, etc.
How to help your baby thrive? ›
What your baby needs to thrive
- Show your love.
- Care for his basic needs.
- Talk to your baby.
- Read to your baby.
- Stimulate his senses.
- Give him room to roam.
- Encourage new challenges.
- Take care of yourself.
Why is infant research important? ›
By studying infants, we can gain insight into the developmental process. That is, as develop- mental scientists we do not only want to know what happens when, but we also want to know how development happens. Uncovering developmental processes is very difficult.
What are the five milestones of infant development? ›
Your baby's first year is one full of developmental milestones. These are skills like rolling over, sitting up and first steps. It's also things like smiling, cooing and waving “bye-bye.” Each of these milestones are things most children do by a certain age.
What are the four major influences on the development of an infant? ›
Each child develops at their own pace, and many factors, including age, genetics, and the environment can affect how and when a child develops. There are four main domains of a child's development: physical, cognitive, language, and social-emotional. Let's dive deeper into each one.
What is the cognitive neuroscience approach to child development? ›
The most common approach to developmental cognitive neuroscience is based on a maturational framework, in which it is assumed that as particular brain regions mature they allow or enable new cognitive functions to come on line.
What are the five stages of sensorimotor intelligence? ›
The six stages of the sensorimotor stage are reflexes, primary circular reactions, secondary circular reactions, coordination of reactions, tertiary circular reactions, and early representational thought.
Which is important for cognitive development in infants? ›
Infants draw on social-emotional, language, motor, and perceptual experiences and abilities for cognitive development. They are attuned to relationships between features of objects, actions, and the physical environment. But they are particularly attuned to people.
In short, focus on the “thrive 5:” five conditions to ensure an infant in the first year of life has what is needed for healthy development. Those conditions include environmental stimulation, nutrition, neighborhood safety, positive caregiving and regular circadian rhythms and sleep.
What is needed for a child to thrive? ›
Children thrive when they have safe places to play, access to quality early learning opportunities, such as child care or libraries, and other supports such as family resource centers, comprehensive mental and physical healthcare, and access to healthy food.
What is thriving in babies? ›
Another sign of whether a baby is thriving is whether they're reaching their developmental milestones, such as holding their head up, sitting, crawling, walking and talking.
Why is infant research important for psychoanalytic? ›
It can also provide reliable evidence for the early development of various abilities and childhood amnesia, support psychoanalysis beyond linear causality, and create a framework for the theoretical integration of psychoanalysis.
Why is research important in early childhood development? ›
Research shows that the key to children meeting and exceeding their full potential is how we help them learn. Three fundamental factors that facilitate proper brain development are: quality of environment, quality of interactions and quality of teachers.
Why is pediatric research important? ›
Clinical research and clinical trials are the only way to develop new and better therapies for children who have cancer. Pediatric research studies and clinical trials find safe and effective therapies and improve ways of preventing and diagnosing cancer in children.
What are the 3 patterns of development in babies? ›
Children differ in physical, cognitive, social, and emotional growth patterns.
What are the 3 main types of development? ›
Development refers to the physical, cognitive, and psychosocial development of humans throughout the lifespan. What types of development are involved in each of these three domains, or areas, of life?
What are the three important aspects of development? ›
(1) Development is the continuous process that takes place regularly. (2) The growth in the process of development varies from one person to the other depending on the health, genetic characters and the food they consume. (3) Development follows the correct pattern in the growth as infancy to the death.
What are the 3 key areas of human development? ›
Physical development involves growth and changes in the body and brain, the senses, motor skills, and health and wellness. Cognitive development involves learning, attention, memory, language, thinking, reasoning, and creativity. Psychosocial development involves emotions, personality, and social relationships.