Emotional Development means developing a full range of emotions, from sad to happy to angry, and learning to handle them appropriately. This leads to deeper qualities – sympathy, caring, resilience, self-esteem, assertiveness and being able to rise to life's challenges.
Emerging Skills
Become attached to their caregivers
Develop self-calming skills (for example, begin to quiet down on their own after being upset)
Show a number of different emotions
Be comforted by a familiar person when upset
Begin to develop an attachment to a special blanket or toy
Through the comfort and responsiveness of an adult, babies will learn how to handle their emotions and how to seek help when needed.
Parents Can:
Make eye-to-eye contact with their baby
Child Will:
Become familiar with your face
Try to mimic some of your facial expressions
Respond to your face with smiles
Parents Can:
Be aware of their baby's cues that tell them what she likes or dislikes
Respond to their baby's cues consistently and appropriately
Child Will:
Feel secure
Feel her needs are being met
Communicate to you more often knowing that you understand her cues
Parents Can:
Respond quickly and sensitively to their baby's crying or discomfort
Child Will:
Feel his needs are being met
Feel secure
Learn that you will respond when he tries to communicate
Begin to quiet down on his own after being upset
Parents Can:
Praise their baby
Respond with positive encouragement during interactions (such as, "Good reaching, I know you can do it!")
Child Will:
Feel loved
Develop a positive sense of self
Play
Through opportunities for play, babies will experience joyful, free, spontaneous moments of fun while also learning about themselves and others.
Parents Can:
Respect their baby's choice to stop interactions
Interpret their baby's choice to stop as a signal that he has had all stimulation he can handle
Child Will:
Begin to feel he has some power over things in his environment
Begin to understand that his feelings are important and valued
Become attached to you
Enjoy spending time with you
Parents Can:
Sing action songs, such as "Head and Shoulders" or "Wheels on the Bus" with their baby
Child Will:
Become familiar with the tune and movements
Anticipate your actions
Enjoy face-to-face play time with you
Parents Can:
Make simple noise shakers from water bottles or film canisters. Shake the objects in front of and to both sides of their baby's head, encouraging head turning and eye movements to follow the noise
Child Will:
Respond to the sound with eye movements and head turning
Express her like or dislike of the activity
Teach
Through routines, and emotionally and physically safe and secure environments, babies can learn how to think, solve problems and communicate.
Parents Can:
Be consistent with routines and responses
Child Will:
Learn to predict what comes next
Feel secure
Parents Can:
Be responsive to their baby's feelings, labelling emotions and mimicking joyful expressions
Child Will:
Begin to show a number of different emotions
Respond to your reactions
Parents Can:
Talk to their baby during daily routines describing what they are doing (for example, "Mommy is taking off your wet diaper and putting on a clean diaper.") Use their baby's name often as they talk with him
Child Will:
Be engaged by the sound of your voice
Become familiar with his name
Respond to your voice with cooing and gurgling sounds
Parents Can:
Be aware of the toys or objects that comfort their baby, such as a soft blanket, teddy or soother. Make the special object available whenever their baby is distressed