infant development – eXtension Alliance for Better Child Care

August 15, 2019August 15, 2019

Ages and Stages in Child Care

Children of different ages need different types of care and nurturing. Quality child care programs help children grow in all areas of development: physical, intellectual, social, emotional, language, moral, and spiritual domains.

Child care providers need to understand how children of different ages grow and learn in order to provide warm, sensitive care and positive learning experiences. Positive learning experiences help young children’s developing brains make and strengthen the connections they need to succeed.

There are many different ways to …

August 15, 2019August 15, 2019

What Child Care Providers Can Expect in Infants' Social and Emotional Development

Babies start forming attachments with the important adults in their lives from the moment they are born. They learn to trust their parents, child care providers, and other important adults, and learn that other people will meet their needs. During the infant years, child care providers can help babies build a sense of trust and security by being responsive to each individual infant. Responding consistently to babies’ cries, spending one-on-one time with each infant, observing and responding to babies’ cues, …

August 15, 2019August 15, 2019

What Child Care Providers Can Expect in Infants' Physical Development

Baby crawling on stomach

If you are a child care provider working with infants, you may be amazed by how quickly the babies in your child care program grow. By the time they are 1 year old, babies have almost tripled their birth weight. They learn to control their head, arms, hands, legs and feet, eventually start crawling and may even take a few first steps.

Child care providers help infants develop physically. Providing nutritious foods, encouraging their growing motor skills and providing safe …