Hold Them Hold, kiss and cuddle your infant! Do not worry about spoiling them. There is no need to hold back on sharing love.

Respond to Them Your infant depends on you to meet their needs. Watch and listen for clues about how they feel and what they need. For example, a cry or whimper may mean that they are hungry or hot. Over time, you will learn to read your infant’s signals. Respond to what you notice. This helps them learn that you care. It also teaches them about cause and effect.

Comfort Them When upset, infants have a hard time calming down on their own. They depend on you to help manage their emotions, so comfort them when they get fussy or cry. Bit by bit, they will learn ways to help soothe themselves (like sucking their thumb). Some babies cry more than others. If your baby cries a lot, raise the issue with your doctor.

Play with Them Your baby loves to look at your face. Hold them close, smile, make silly faces and talk in a playful voice. Around 6 or 8 weeks, they will start to smile back. This means they are happy and learning the basics of communication. Have little “conversations” where you respond to each other’s sounds and facial expressions. Take breaks if your baby seems tired or overwhelmed. They might show this by looking away from you.

Have a Routine Settle into a consistent routine or schedule for daily activities like feeding, naps, bathing, reading and bedtime. Every baby is a little different, so it may take some time to figure out a rhythm that works for your family. Keep in mind that routines change as your baby gets older. For example, bedtime or nap time may change over time.

Manage Household Stress Stress is normal, but too much stress is bad for a baby’s brain. Things that cause stress for an infant are loud noises, adults who seem upset or angry, or when adults do not respond to their needs. It is important to have strategies for coping when your life gets stressful. Talk to friends, family or your doctor about ways to deal with stress.

Plan to Avoid Stress What situations tend to be stressful? Think about those situations ahead of time and plan how you can improve or avoid them. For example, try to avoid trips to the store right before your child’s nap time.

Moment of Gratitude Take a moment to think about a few things that make you grateful, big or small. Reflect and enjoy that feeling for a few minutes.

Go Easy on Yourself Life can feel overwhelming and we all make mistakes. Focus on the big picture and be gentle with yourself when things don’t go as planned. Ask for help. All parents need help.

Redirect Testing limits is a natural part of learning. Focus on the things your baby can do instead of the things you don’t want them to do. If necessary, try redirecting their behavior with another activity.

Role Model Your baby learns how to act by watching you. Model the behaviors you want to pass on to them, like being kind and generous or handling challenges calmly (just do your best).

Describe Other People Build your baby’s awareness of other people and children by describing their feelings and behavior. “She is laughing because the puppy licked her face.”

Put Words to Feelings Pay attention to your child’s sounds, movements and facial expressions. Put words to their feelings, preferences and needs. “You were scared when that dog barked.” “You must like those carrots. You had two big bites.”

Reassure When Nervous Your emotions affect how your baby feels about a situation. If you have to separate from your child, talk and smile to reassure them. Say “Mommy/Daddy will be back” so they learn to connect that promise with your return.

Respond to Them Watch and respond to your toddler’s words, feelings and behaviors when they are upset as well as when they are happy.

Cuddle Them Regularly hug and cuddle your toddler to help them feel safe and loved. And remember that boys need just as much love as girls do.

Encourage Them Toddlers get a lot of satisfaction and confidence as they master new tasks. Help your child try new things. Follow their lead when they seem interested in something. Be supportive and encouraging as they take chances. Reassure them as they try to figure things out.

Talk about Feelings Teach your toddler to name their feelings. This will help them understand and express emotions. You can say things like, “It looks like you’re scared because you fell. Falling can be scary! But now you’re OK.”

Involve Them Find simple ways to involve your toddler in chores and other activities around the house. For example, they could help sort laundry and fold clothes. This makes them feel helpful and provides opportunities for learning.

Have a Routine Have consistent times and ways of doing activities like feeding, bathing, reading and bedtime. Your child will have an easier time with activity transitions when they know what to expect. Another part of a routine is having rules that you use consistently.

Manage Household Stress Stress is normal, but too much stress is bad for a brain that is still developing. Adults’ stress can trickle down to children, so it is important to have strategies for coping when your life gets stressful. Talk to friends, family or your doctor about ways to deal with stress.

Plan to Avoid Stress What situations tend to be stressful? Think about those situations ahead of time and plan how you can improve or avoid them. For example, try to avoid trips to the store right before your child’s nap time.

Moment of Gratitude Take a moment to think about a few things that make you grateful, big or small. Reflect and enjoy that feeling for a few minutes.

Go Easy on Yourself Life can feel overwhelming and we all make mistakes. Focus on the big picture and be gentle with yourself when things don’t go as planned. Ask for help. All parents need help.

Give a Heads Up Think about transitions that are difficult for your child. As a transition approaches, let them know a few minutes ahead of time so they can finish what they are doing and prepare for the next thing.

Role Model Your baby learns how to act by watching you. Model the behaviors you want to pass on to them, like being kind and generous or handling challenges calmly (just do your best).

Take Turns Look for ways to practice taking turns. For example, practice taking turns adding blocks to a tower. Or, when cooking, take turns adding an ingredient to a bowl. “I took my turn. Now it’s your turn.”

Empathize Build your child’s awareness of other people and children by describing their feelings and what caused them. “She is sad because her Daddy left.”

Act Out Emotions With an older toddler, act out different emotions for your child to guess. Pretend you are happy, sad, excited or tired. Let them take a turn as the actor.

Praise Kindness Talk to your child about ways to show kindness. Praise them when they do act with kindness or generosity. Be specific about what they did. “It was nice of you to share your favorite toy.”

Guide Behavior Testing limits is a natural part of learning. Help your child start to build self-control by using simple rules consistently. For a younger toddler, put “no” in front of the thing you do not want them to do and redirect them to a different activity. For older toddlers, give them a simple explanation of the rule and what they could do instead. Praise good behavior.

Put your love into words. Tell your child something specific that you love about them. What makes them special? What do you admire or enjoy most about them?

Describe feelings. Talk to your child about their and other people’s feelings. Let them know that all feelings are OK. See if they can name their feelings in different situations.

Talk about kindness. Describe what makes a good friend, like helping others, taking turns, and sharing.

Share strategies. When your child needs help managing strong feelings or getting along with others, you can help them come up with strategies like taking a deep breath or taking turns. Praise them when they use a good strategy.

Explain rules. Help your child understand how certain rules allow everyone to work together and stay safe – like using “inside voices” or putting things away after using them.