Understanding Your Child’s Behavior: Reading Your Child’s Cues from Birth to Age Two, a new resource from the Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning (CSEFEL) at Vanderbilt University, will help parents better understand their children’s behavior cues and respond to those cues in ways that support healthy social and communication development.
In the early years before a child has strong language skills, it can be especially difficult to know what I baby or toddler is trying to communicate to you. Parents will learn to better understanding the meaning of their child’s behaviors by:
- First, observing and interpreting your child’s behavior.
- Next, responding to your baby or toddler based on what you think the meaning of his or her behavior is.
- Then, trying again if your first try didn’t work.
- Finally, keeping in mind that tantrums are a communication, too.
Remember that no one can always understand what a child is trying to communicate, but check out Understanding Your Child’s Behavior for a primer on what to expect and how to respond.
