Healthy Development
The first years of a child's life are crucial to his or her health and development. Healthy growth means that children of all abilities, including those with special health care needs, can grow up where their social, emotional, and educational needs are met. Having a safe and loving home and spending time with family ― playing, singing, reading, and talking. Proper diet, exercise, and sleep can also make a big difference.
Effective Parenting Habits
Being a parent takes many steps. However, some child-rearing programs work well in different families and in various settings where they provide the care needed for children to be happy and healthy and grow and develop well. A recent report looked at the evidence in the scientific literature on what works, and it found the following important ways in which parents can support their child's healthy development:
- Responding to children in a manner.
- Demonstrating warmth and compassion.
- Having habits and house rules.
- Sharing books and talking with children.
- Support for health and safety.
- Applying proper discipline without harshness.
Parents who practice these principles can help their children to stay healthy, secure, and successful in many ways — emotionally, morally, mentally, and socially.
Stages of Development
Skills such as taking the first step, smiling for the first time, and waving “bye-bye” are called progress. Children achieve a milestone in the way they play, learn, speak, behave, and move (for example, crawling and walking).
Children grow at their own pace, so it is impossible to say exactly when a child will learn a given skill. However, growth rates provide an overview of the changes you can expect as a child grows up.
As a parent, you know your child well. If your child does not meet important age requirements, or if you think there may be a problem with your child's development, talk to your child's doctor and share your concerns. Don't wait.
Learn more about adventures and parenting tips from the National Institutes of Health:
- Normal growth and external icon.
- Exterior icon for kindergarten students.
- Exterior icon for children's school years.
- External image of teen.
- Advanced Monitoring and Evaluation.
Parents, grandparents, caregivers of children, and other caregivers can participate in developmental monitoring, which sees how your child grows and changes over time and whether your child experiences developmental events typically in play, learning, speaking, behavior, and movement.
Progress tests look at how your child is growing. Skipping can be a sign of a problem, so when you take your child to the source, a doctor, nurse, or another specialist may briefly examine your child, or complete a list of questions about your child.
If the diagnostic tool identifies the area of concern, a systematic review of the development may be necessary, while a trained professional will take a close look at the child's development. If you have never worn contact lenses before, Halloween should not be the first time you wear them. Experts warn that buying any type of contact lenses — medical and controlled devices — without a check and a doctor's prescription from an eye specialist can cause serious eye problems and infections, which can lead to permanent vision loss.
If a child has a developmental delay, it is important to get help as soon as possible. When developmental delays are not found early, children should wait for their help to perform well in social and educational settings.
You must be logged in to post a comment.