The First Three Years

The first three years of you baby’s life will have a huge impact on the quality of his or her life, even though they will not remember much, if anything.
These first three years are mostly filled with eating, sleeping, crying, and playing. You may ask how can a period of time when your child is so clearly unformed be so critical to the formation of the human being your chid will become? The answer to this is very complex and fascinating.
According to research, a child’s brain grows to 90 percent of its adult capacity and brain “wiring” occurs ( it’s when the crucial connections are maid linking brain cells.) during those first three years.
Even though your baby’s future ( like his or her brain ) is far from fully cast at age three, it appears that its is the time when the mold that will shape the person he or she will become forms. And the greatest influence during that time is you. The kind of care a child receives during those formative years determines how well the brain connections will be made, hove much that little brain will develop, how successful, how content, how confident, and how competent to handle life’s challenges that child will be.
You are positively affecting your child’s brain form connections when you touch, hug, hold, cuddle, or respond to your baby with warm responsive care. You are helping your child’s brain reach its full potential when you read, sing, make eye contact, or talk to your baby. You teach your child social and emotional skills, that will boost his or her intellectual development during following years, through positive parenting. Your child will be more motivated to learn and take on new challenges with enthusiasm and without fear of failure if he or she is more emotionally and socially confident.
If the baby was fed when hungry, changed when wet, held when frightened, he will develop a sense of trust in others and a high level of self-confidence.He also will have fewer behavior problems in school, and is emotionally more capable of positive social relationships.
You can teach your child self control by helping to regulate your baby’s impulses and behavior during the early years. You can enable your child to be less likely to be anxious, impulsive, or frightened by setting limits (and enforcing them consistently) that are age-appropriate and fair.
To make sure that your baby’s brain gets lots of nurturing when someone else is taking care of your little one, it is important that the caregiver provides the same kind of stimulation, responsiveness, positive discipline.

It is important to keep in mind that helping your child reach its potential is different from trying to change the person your little one is. Encouraging intellectual development is not the same as pushing it. Watch and listen carefully, and you will almost always know what is best for you munchkin.