You just had a baby girl and she won’t stop crying and your toddler isn’t doing what his peers are doing. Now what? Where do you turn to find answers?
Two new publications from the Child Health and Development Institute of Connecticut and its partners seek to give parents and caregivers the answers to almost any question they may have about their child’s development.
The two volumes, one about health and safety and one about development, were updated from their original 2004 and 2005 editions.
Judith Meyers, president and CEO of the Child Health and Development Institute of Connecticut, said Tuesday that a lot has changed in the past decade.
“Over the past ten years, significant advances have been made in what we know about children’s health, safety and development,” Meyers said. “In addition, there has been tremendous growth in the availability of resources for parents of young children in Connecticut. We wanted the handbooks to reflect this new information and these new resources.”
Myra Jones Taylor, director of the Office of Early Childhood, said one of the main goals of her office is to reach out to parents and have a central place where parents can go for information supporting their child’s development. She said these books, which will be mailed to all licensed childcare providers in the state will help give parents information about what resources are available.
Karen Steinberg Gallucci, director of the University of Connecticut’s Nurturing Families Network, said it’s difficult for new parents to get the information they need and sometimes the information they get is not always “good information.”
She said the instinct to not allow your child to cry for long periods of time is the right instinct. She said new research shows that leaving a child to cry has a negative impact on brain development.
Jennifer Vendetti, a coordinator with the Nurturing Families Network, said another thing that has changed in the world of child development is the food pyramid where milk is now limited to two servings per day. There also are new guidelines for hearing, talking, play, and floor time.
She said giving parents this information gives them an opportunity to review it so when they meet with their pediatrician they can have a more meaningful conversation about the progress their child is making.
There’s also a special section on helping children cope with emotional trauma.
The two new volumes will also distributed through the Nurturing Families Network, Help Me Grow, pediatric offices, Discovery Communities, Head Start programs and are available online at www.chdi.org
