Young Children - May 2008 - (Page 41) Very young babies are easily overwhelmed by the pain of hunger or of gas moving through their bowels. They may become tired but be unable to relax into sleep. Left to these experiences, infants would find the world a chaotic place. However, when a young infant’s day is filled with caregiving experiences characterized by quick responses to his cries and accurate interpretations of the meaning of his communication such that the baby can count on being comforted, he begins to develop trust in his teacher and in his own ability to summon help. Through the teacher’s responsive, predictable, and on-demand caregiving, he begins to establish a sense of security. On-demand caregiving Albert and his coteacher Marva are constantly aware of each of the children. So, when babies are napping, at least one of them is watching and listening for sounds of their waking. When 9-month-old Gemma wakes from her nap, Albert is quickly at her side: “Hello, Gemma, we’ve been waiting for you to wake up. What a nice smile. [He smiles in return.] Look, Bessie’s sleeping right here. We’ll be quiet. Let’s get you a clean diaper while Marva gets your bottle ready.” Responsive caregiving Most elements of caregiving for young and mobile infants cannot be scheduled but need to be offered in response to each child’s communication of need. Feeding, diapering, and napping should all occur on demand. Responsiveness refers to both how well an adult underFeeding stands a child’s cues and how sensitively and accurately It takes a young baby months to develop a very reliable the adult responds: “A responsive adult is ‘tuned-in’ to feeding schedule. No sooner do they have a pattern of the child and is sensitive and caring in response to the eating a certain amount at a certain time than it changes. child” (Wittmer & Petersen 2006, 3). In a relationshipGrowth spurts, which are generally predictable at about based model, two people have repeated opportunities over 2 weeks, 6 weeks, and 3 months of age, cause a sudden time to grow to know each other and develop affection increase in a baby’s appetite. Breast-fed babies may just and deepening understanding of each other. Moments of settle into a schedule when a sudden growth spurt causes responsiveness provide a foundation for a deep and meanthe need to eat very frequently. The additional sucking ingful relationship. stimulates the mother’s milk production. For children in Relationship-based care has benefits for both the child group care, it is helpful if mothers know to monitor intake, and the teacher. The child feels that she can make herso they can provide additional milk as needed. self understood and can affect the world around her. The When a baby is fed because the teacher understands his teacher feels that she is competent and effective in readcommunication signals about being hungry, it helps him recing the child’s communication, understanding her, and ognize the feeling in his tummy as hunresponding in helpful ways. ger. It helps him learn to summon help An important element of Most elements of caregiving for and increase his sense of effectiveness. responsiveness is meeting the emotional tone of a young and mobile infants canyoung infant. Babies don’t not be scheduled but need to understand every word, but they recognize when be offered in response to each an adult’s face mirrors the child’s communication of need. feelings they themselves are experiencing. When a teacher communicates that she can understand a baby’s distress and she can remain calm and capable, it is very comforting to the baby. As the teacher adds words to describe the feelings—“You’re sooo hungry. Your tummy wants some food. You want that bottle!”—and more words to describe what is happening—“I need to warm up this good milk mommy left for you. Mmmmm. This will taste so good.”—and even words about what is about to happen—“We’ll sit right over here by the window and have a nice, quiet snack. That will feel good.”—the teacher is responding to physical need and emotional state while providing a wide, rich, and relevant set of words for the baby’s inthe–moment experience. Young Children • May 2008 41
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