Why is responding to your baby's crying so important?  Emotions are associated with brain chemicals called "hormones".   Hormones help your baby to react to the world.  Hormones like adrenaline and cortisol are "stress hormones".  Cortisol can generate extra short term energy to help cope with stress and danger.  Once the stress or danger is over, cortisol goes away.  But babies can't protect themselves from stress or danger and they can't calm themselves down yet.  They need you to help.  

 

If a parent doesn't learn to read her baby's cues, then cortisol levels stay high.  High cortisol levels are "toxic" to developing brain cells.  Prolonged high cortisol levels also changes how the baby's brain responds to stress in childhood and even adulthood.  Chronic stress can cause permanent brain damage. 

 

See how this works here

Gene's Research Tip!

So, which is it; Nature or Nurture? Well in 2014, many think it is both!  It seems that our genetic DNA (the Nature part) can be turned on or turned off by the rest of the world around us (the Nurture part).  Read more here

 

Written by Barbara C. Unell

One of the most exciting milestones in your child's life is when he starts to want to do things on his own. He not only tries to put his spoon to his mouth when he wants to eat, for example, but he also wants to do so himself. "Me do it", as some children say, means doing an activity without help from you!

Showing this normal and healthy desire to be independent is good news. But it can also be frustrating for you, when you are in a hurry and it takes your child longer to do something than if you did it for him. You want him to feed himself now, for example, because you have to get to work or to an appointment. But your timetable and his are often not the same! What do you do to keep yourself calm?