Building Strong Foundations: Supporting Infant Mental Health

Caring for your young child’s mental health or “brain health” is just as important as caring for their physical health. Prenatal through age 5 is a critical window for brain development and your child’s brain is growing the fastest during this time.

Infant mental health (or brain health) is a young child’s ability to:

• Experience, control and express their emotions

• Form close and secure adult and peer relationships

• Explore their environment and learn Your child’s developing brain needs:

• Healthy relationships: early relationships help wire the brain to form trusting relationships, to experience love, and to feel safe and secure

• Positive experiences: verbal and physical experiences help the brain grow new connections

• Consistent and secure care: the brain grows gradually in response to experiences and the environment Did you know?

• Evidence of infants experiencing symptoms of depression has been found in children as young as 4 months old

• Chronic stress can slow brain growth, especially the part of the brain responsible for judgement, impulse control, and reading social cues from others