However, as infants become toddlers, serve and return interactions can be expressed by playing make-believe games, too. The serve and return interaction here is when the caregiver responds to the baby’s crying by feeding them, changing their diaper, or rocking them to sleep. In a baby’s first year of life, cries are common signals for a caregiver’s nurturing. These links become the brain’s mapping system, formed by a combination of nature and nurture, especially “ serve and return” interactions. Before children turn 3 years old, they’re already forming 1 million neural connections every minute. In the first years of life, the brain rapidly develops its mapping systemĭata from Harvard University shows the brain develops rapidly during the first years of life. So the first seven years of life might not mean everything, at least not in a finite way - but studies do show these seven years hold some importance in your child developing social skills. While creating a safe environment for our children is essential, imperfect conditions like early trauma, illness, or injury don’t necessarily determine our kid’s entire well-being. Like many aspects of parenting, the answer isn’t black or white.

In other words, is there a playbook for parents to ensure our kids’ future success and happiness? With these facts in mind, we have to wonder if any recent research backs up Aristotle’s hypothesis. Today, both theories have been discounted. And it wasn’t long ago that doctors thought parents would “spoil” their infants by holding them too much. For example, in the 1940s and 50s, pediatricians believed feeding babies formula was better than breastfeeding them. Was my daughter’s overall cognitive and psychological health truly determined in the first 2,555 days of her existence?īut like parenting styles, child development theories can also become antiquated and disproven. In fact, the great Greek philosopher Aristotle once said, “Give me a child until he is 7 and I will show you the man.”Īs a parent, taking this theory to heart can cause waves of anxiety. When it comes to child development, it’s been said that the most crucial milestones in a kid’s life occur by the age of 7.

My first five years