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Parenting and Child Development
While it’s easiest to form a secure attachment bond with an infant, it can be formed at any age—and can ensure your child has the best possible start in life. Learn more.
Bonding with your Baby – Why bonding is important, how your baby interacts, and ways to get support. (KidsHealth)
Attachment: The First Core Strength – What you can do to promote secure attachment. (Scholastic.com)
Bonding with Your Baby – One sheet about bonding and attachment with a good list of suggestions for new mothers. (Child Welfare Department)
Developmental Milestones – A detailed list about developmental milestones that relate to bonding. (CDC)
Communication and your newborn – Learn how newborns communicate and what to do if you suspect a problem. (KidsHealth)
Brazelton Touchpoints Center - The Brazelton Touchpoints Center was founded in 1996 by T. Berry Brazelton, MD, and colleagues and is based in the Division of Developmental Medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital, a Harvard Medical School teaching hospital. Together with families, providers and communities, the Brazelton Touchpoints Center develops and applies knowledge of early childhood development to practice and policy through professional and organizational development, evaluation, advocacy and awareness and serving as a resource for proven practices. More About Us
The Brazelton Touchpoints Center is also home to the National Center on Parent, Family and Community Engagement.
Child Mind Institute - If you have a child struggling with mental health or learning challenges, getting sound, clear information is the first step to getting good care. The Child Mind Institute aims to empower you with the resources you need to make good decisions for your child. Whether you're investigating your concerns or researching a particular diagnosis, we offer the most current thinking from experts and the experience of families who've been through it.
First 5 California - First 5 California is dedicated to improving the lives of California’s young children and their families through a comprehensive system of education, health services, childcare, and other crucial programs. Get your FREE new parent kit. Check out their Parent Site: https://parentguide.first5california.com/en-US/.
HealthyChildren.org - Powered by pediatricians of the American Academy of Pediatrics
KidsHealth - Doctor-reviewed advice on hundreds of physical, emotional, and behavioral topics — from before birth through the teen years. Separate sections for parents, kids, and teens, each created with your questions in mind. Easy-to-follow articles, slideshows, videos, and health tools designed to help families learn, grow, and be their best. Free lesson plans and programs for teachers and early childhood educators.
Text4Baby - There are a lot of things to remember when you're pregnant or a new mom. Text4baby makes it easy to get important information, and it's free. Women who text BABY (or BEBE for Spanish) to 511411 receive free text messages three times per week, timed to their due date or their baby's birth date, through pregnancy and up until the baby's first birthday. Text4baby sends personalized messages directly to you, and the texts have information you can trust because they are developed by experts from all over the country. There is also an app that provides additional information about baby's development, pregnancy, childcare tips, and more.
Text4baby is a free service provided by Wellpass.
Vroom - https://www.vroom.org/ This tool gives parents/caregivers tips to enrich the experience with their children and better support their development. The tips care calibrated to the child’s age.
Footsteps2Brilliance - https://www.footsteps2brilliance.com/ This is a bilingual literacy tool. Best practice is for a parent/caregiver to sit with her/his child and go through the material/activities.
Learn the Signs. Act Early – This is a program of the CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/actearly/index.html The program has an app but can also be used from a regular computer. Great tool to track milestones from birth to 5 years old. This is the specific site for families: https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/actearly/parents/index.html
Zero to Three – If you want to learn more about the research and best practices for early learning (birth to three years old), Zero to Three has some great materials. Some of it is available by subscription only. https://www.zerotothree.org/
Ages and Stages – Universal Screening Tool. Community Resources for Children in Napa, CA provides ASQs free of charge by appointment (Eng/Sp). Contact (707) 253-0376.
https://agesandstages.com/about-asq/how-asq-works/
Understood https://www.understood.org/en A great site for learning and attention issues. It is not specific to early learning. Starts in preschool and goes through the school-age years.
WIC (Women, Infants and Children) is a national nutrition education program that promotes healthy eating, encourages and supports breastfeeding, and provides referrals to health and community resources. WIC Participants receive checks to purchase healthy foods, tips for healthy eating and active living, support and help with breastfeeding, and referrals to other community programs.
Triple P Parenting (Spanish and English)
1-2-3 Magic
Mindful Parenting
Parenting with Love and Logic
Our Home Runs
Bringing Baby Home
Emotion Coaching: The Heart of Parenting
The healthcare landscape in California can be confusing. Consumers have questions about the types of health plans available, how to find the best plan and how to get the best care. Once insured, consumers might have questions about their health care rights and what to do if they have an issue with their plan.
To answer these questions and more, the Department of Managed Healthcare (DMHC) has conveniently compiled information and resources to assist California’s health care consumers.
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If you are residing outside of California, go to https://www.healthcare.gov/.
I NEED ADVICE
BabyCenter: Welcome to parenthood — it's quite a ride! Have questions about baby sleep habits, baby care and feeding, health, development, and safety? We can help you solve breastfeeding and baby sleep problems, start solid foods, handle crying, know what your baby's ready for, track your baby's weekly development, find great childcare and baby activities, and more.
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Bright Horizons: Here are some tips for enhancing your child's brain development in this very important first year of life.
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KidsHealth: What should you expect as your child grows? Learn how to understand and deal with your child's changing body and mind from infancy through the teen years.
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What to Expect, the First Year: Everything you have to look forward to now that you have a baby, from milestones to baby's growth, plus tips to make life easier.
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From the American Academy of Pediatrics, the nation’s most trusted name in child care, comes this all-in-one resource that provides authoritative advice on every aspect of infant care. Featuring new and expanded content, including the latest reports on cutting-edge research into early brain development, the fully illustrated fourth edition of Your Baby’s First Year includes
• Growth and developmental milestones through the first twelve months of a child’s life, including physical, emotional, and cognitive development
• An updated chapter on developmental disabilities
• A complete health encyclopedia covering injuries, illnesses, and congenital diseases
• Breastfeeding discussion, including its benefits, techniques, and challenges, as well as nutritional needs and vitamin/iron supplementation
• Recommendations for choosing child care programs
• Updated safety standards: the very latest AAP recommendations, including immunizations, childproofing, and toy safety
• Safety checks for home, including bathing, preventing drowning, poisoning, choking, burns, and falls
• Car safety, including information on car safety seats