Think Babies and Vote!
Tomorrow is the day! Your vote is their voice. Support candidates who #ThinkBabies and support the things families need to thrive. #ChildCare #ChildTaxCredit #PaidLeave
Think Babies: Vote for Paid Family Leave
Just 15% of all working people in the US have access to paid family leave through their employers. This #Election2022, be a Paid Leave voter and vote for candidates who #ThinkBabies. Visit https://www.thinkbabies.org/elections to learn more.
Child Tax Credit - Think Babies
The Child Tax Credit greatly reduced child poverty in the US last year. Be a voice for infants and toddlers across the country and vote for election 2022 candidates who support a permanent, expanded, monthly CTC. #ThinkBabies
Early Head Start
This National #HeadStartAwareness Head Start month, let's talk about #EarlyHeadStart. Did you know that #EarlyHeadStart creates opportunities for both parents and babies? It helps parents improve their prospects for #economic security while ensuring babies are on a solid path from the earliest age to engage in lifelong learning. Tell Congress to #ThinkBabiesandAct and increase investment in Early Head Start. https://www.thinkbabies.org/policy-priorities-early-head-start/
Bilingual Babies
Children start listening—and learning—right from the start!
This Hispanic Heritage Month, learn more about the developmental benefits to learning multiple languages at an early age: https://bit.ly/3q3sITi
What are fun ways to encourage families to practice these milestones?
Practice makes perfect! Encouraging parents and caregivers to understand each milestone and how to practice various skills is key to building lasting connections and healthy brains.
Learn more about the revised developmental milestones: https://bit.ly/3rWcvkn
How do I identify developmental flags?
If a child is not meeting their specific milestones, you know it's time to act, no matter their age. Rebecca explains why.
Learn more and download the revised checklists: https://bit.ly/3rWcvkn
What are professionals doing to invite the expertise of parents into their practice?
Remember, parents, pediatricians and early childhood professionals should be partners in identifying and assessing developmental delays.
Learn more and download the revised checklists: https://bit.ly/3rWcvkn
After much consideration, how do I advise a parent to seek professional help?
With the revised guidelines, all milestones reflect what 75% of children can be expected to achieve by a certain age, making it easier to flag a potential delay and encourage early intervention. Rebecca explains why this is a move away from a "wait and see approach."
Learn more and download the revised checklists: https://bit.ly/3rWcvkn
Revised Developmental Milestones for Babies and Toddlers: Your Questions Answered
The CDC and American Academy of Pediatrics recently released revised developmental milestones for children under 5. We asked for your questions about these updates last week, and ZERO TO THREE's Rebecca Parlakian is here to help by answering the most asked questions in our next 5 posts!
Learn more about the revised milestones and download updated checklists for children ages 2 months to 5 years: https://bit.ly/3rWcvkn
Join us for Strolling Thunder!
On May 17, babies from all 50 states and DC are zooming over to Congress to express themselves with their policymakers! We are looking for families with babies and toddlers under three who want to represent their state at Strolling Thunder and help make babies a national priority.
Tag the families you know in the comments and help us spread the word! https://go.thinkbabies.org/ST22
Happy Valentine's Day
Showing our love for babies and toddlers today, and every day. 💙
Share your inspiration and ideas for #EarlyChildhoodValentines in the comments below!
My 2022 Parenting Resolution
Heavy technology use by parents is associated with lower-quality parent-child interactions and more reports of challenging child behavior.
Can you commit to limiting "technoference" in 2022? 📱
Family Story | Paid Leave
Like so many families, Anna worked full time, but did not receive paid leave through her job. After giving birth to her son, Gareth, Anna exhausted her unpaid leave and was forced to return to work when he was just 6 weeks old.
As a newborn, Gareth, described by his parents as “sweet and bubbly,” also suffered from allergies, asthma, and other health complications. Without the benefit of paid leave to care for his medical needs, Anna ultimately resigned from her job—at great financial cost to her family.
Paid family and medical leave provide families like Anna’s the financial resources they need to ensure their babies’ safe and healthy development. Parents shouldn’t be faced with the same decision that Anna was. ZERO TO THREE is committed to ensuring that all working parents have access to paid family and medical leave.
Give today to help babies thrive: https://bit.ly/32fS1c1
Year of Play | December
December’s theme is Stars. 🌟 🌜 Try these fun activities to help young children learn more about space and nighttime:
𝗧𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝗧𝗼𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿
For your baby: Sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star with your baby, using hand gestures to go along with the song. Bundle your baby up one evening before bed and show her the stars. Point them out, repeating the word star. Listen for her to try saying it—it might sound like tar, sa or sar.
For your toddler: Sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and teach your toddler hand gestures to go with the song (flick your fingers for twinkling stars, wave your hands over your head for up above the world so high, etc.). Take your child outside before bedtime and look up into the night-time sky. Can he find any stars? What color are they? Are they bright? Are they twinkling? What else does he see in the night sky—a moon, an owl, a plane?
𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗧𝗼𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿
Read some starry books together. For babies, try: Sleep Songs: Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star/Golden Slumbers by Amanda Wallwork, Little Bear’s Special Wish by Gillian Lobel, and the classic Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown. For older toddlers, good choices include. Hush Little Baby and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, both by Sylvia Long, Owl Moon by Jane Yolen, and Forest Bright, Forest Night by Jennifer Ward.
𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘆 𝗧𝗼𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿
For your baby: Play “basketstar” with your baby. Buy a few star-shaped cookie cutters in different shapes or cut star shapes out of cardboard. Let your baby touch these and play with them. If you hold out a metal bowl, see if your baby will drop the cookie cutters in (they will make an exciting clatter). When she’s done, you can take them out and play “basketstar” all over again.
For your toddler: Cut a large star out of heavy cardboard. Let your child paint or color the star any color he’d like. Decorating it with glitter is always fun, too! You can mak
Help Babies Thrive | Donate Today
𝗣𝗶𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀: As COVID spread, Bernadette's stack of forms for families' urgent requests— food, diapers, mental health support—did too. Luckily, her pediatric clinic is one of ZERO TO THREE's over 200 HealthySteps sites where with every visit, Bernadette builds trust and find solutions for families.
Next month, we're adding 12 more specialists, like Bernadette, to pediatric practices across the country—growth that's fueled by support from individuals like you.
Donate now to support HealthySteps transform the promise of pediatric care: https://bit.ly/32fS1c1
Toddler Poem
😍 A great poem to remember in our everyday work with little ones!
Learn more about the stages of early development: zerotothree.org/early-development
DC:0-5 Diagnostic Classification | 5th Anniversary
🎉 Happy birthday, DC:0-5! Learn more about this groundbreaking manual (including the new Version 2.0) and how you can join us for a clinical training course: https://bit.ly/3pp5Tdt
Mindfulness | Early Childhood Professionals
We get it—you need a break. Try these mindfulness exercises for early childhood professionals: go.zerotothree.org/mindfulness
Year of Play | November
🌴🌲🌳 November's theme is Trees. Try these fun activities to help your child learn more about nature and fall:
𝗧𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝗧𝗼𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿
For your baby: Lay a cozy blanket down on the grass and lie underneath a tree with your baby. Talk about the tree, the branches, the leaves and the wind. Repeat the word tree and let your baby touch the tree’s trunk and leaves.
For your toddler: Take a walk with your toddler to see how many different trees and leaves you can find. Talk about how a maple tree leaves feel different than a pine tree’s needles. Feel the tree’s bark; how does your child think the bark feels? Is it rough or bumpy, smooth or sticky with sap? Look at the leaves on the ground. Collect some of your child’s favorites and line them up on the ground. Name their colors. Then line them up by size, from big leaves to little leaves. Pick some leaves to bring home.
𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗧𝗼𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿
Read books all about trees and their leaves. For babies, try: Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin, Jr., Five Little Monkeys Sitting in a Tree by Eileen Christelow, and Leaf Baby by Mary Brigid Barrett. For older toddlers, good choices include: Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina, Go Dog Go by P. D. Eastman, and The Acorn and the Oak Tree by Lori Froeb.
𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘆 𝗧𝗼𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿
For your baby: Collect a few leaves, some crinkly, some not. Give them to your baby to play with and explore with his hands. Crinkle one so he can listen to the sound the leaf makes. Which leaves does he seem to like best? What does he like to do with the leaves? Play leaf peek-a-boo. Find a big leaf that you can use to cover (most) of your face. Hold it front of you and then pull it away: Peek-a-boo! See if your baby wants to take the leaf and play peek-a-boo with you.
For your toddler: Choose a few different leaves for your child to paint with. Squirt washable tempera paint onto a paper plate. Show your child ho
Keynote | 2021 Virtual Annual Conference
"I was under a year old and in my mother's arms, was able to feel my mother's trauma through me."
Such an amazing personal narrative and insight from today's #ZEROTOTHREE2021 Keynote Speaker, Maria L Hinojosa, who underscored the important role of early childhood professionals in helping all babies and families thrive. 👏
Policy Plenary | 2021 Virtual Annual Conference
This morning's Policy Plenary has #ZEROTOTHREE2021 attendees fired up to advance infant and early childhood mental health!
Thank you to the families who shared their personal stories, as well as Dr. Lee Johnson III and Senator Michael Bennet for outlining how policymakers can #ThinkBabies as we rewire the U.S. mental health care system to better-support babies and families.
Science Plenary | 2021 Virtual Annual Conference
At today's #ZEROTOTHREE2021 Science Plenary, Dr. Ann Masten, from the University of Minnesota - Institute of Child Development, shared her perspective on multisystem resilience & research on adversity during #earlychildhood, including the pandemic, and outlined how communities, early childhood services & families can work together to promote resilience.
Practice Plenary | 2021 Virtual Annual Conference
Let's work toward a world where every child has hope, intention, and confidence inspired by an American Indian Sacred Bundle.
Powerful discussion w/ Dr. Dolores Subia BigFoot of The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center on how understanding history can improve mental health & resilience. #ZEROTOTHREE2021
Opening Plenary | 2021 Virtual Annual Conference
What a fantastic start to our Virtual Annual Conference this week! Thank you to Dr. Marva Lewis for reminding us that amid atrocities, we can raise our collective consciousness and advance essential transformations—together. Such an inspiring plenary reflecting on Dr. Bob Emde's work, the importance of positive parent-child interactions, and why we must put ALL children first.
For an inside look at more Annual Conference sessions, check out #ZEROTOTHREE2021 on Twitter and Instagram.
2021 Virtual Annual Conference | ZERO TO THREE
Our Virtual Annual Conference starts today! Here's a peek behind-the-scenes at what it takes to put together such an amazing event.
💕 We're pumped (get it?!) to Take Heart with the early childhood community this week.
2021 Virtual Annual Conference | ZERO TO THREE
At this TEDx event, Maria Hinojosa reveals how as a little girl she often felt unseen and unheard. Don't miss her #ZEROTOTHRE2021 keynote to inspire early childhood professionals to come together for all children & families, especially the ones who may feel invisible.
Register now: go.zerotothree.org/AC21