Infant

Quality infant caregiving is based on respectful and responsive care. Through respectful, responsive, and supportive interactions with caregivers, infants learn about themselves and how to relate to others. Infants’ social-emotional development involves the way they feel about themselves, understanding of feelings, ability to regulate and appropriately express emotions, and capabilities in building relationships with others. A trusted relationship between infant and his/her caregiver is formed during meaningful caregiving routines. The daily predictable experiences rich in dialogues that encourage infant to be an active participant in the caregiving routine, help infant to recognize him/herself as being important and competent. Repeated experiences promote cognition, physical, language, and social-emotional development. Contented infant whose needs in these major developmental domains are met are more open to exploring the environment and new experiences.