What You Need to Know About Your Baby's World and How You Can Help Them Explore by David Elkind - HTML preview

“Decades of research shows that infants and children who receive age appropriate, loving childrearing develop a sense of trust, of autonomy, of initiative, and of industry that will serve them well in their progress towards maturity.”

It is important to make clear; however, that although we as adults can separate emotional, language, intellectual and social development, the infant makes no such divisions. Infants operate as functioning wholes and all the facets of their developing personalities are closely entwined.

For example, a baby’s cries are at once a means of communication, an expression of an unpleasant emotion, and a need for social interaction. Accordingly, when interacting with your baby, it is important to realize that you are responding at many different levels at once.