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Early years development

early years development

The first five years of your child's life are undoubtedly the most important in terms of development and throw up a number of issues you may be concerned about.

The early years development section provides access to a wealth of information, from speech and language delay to cry analaysis, and from baby signing to communication. 

Using ParentsCentre's articles, case studies, forums, hotseats, interviews and quick links to relevant pages of our partner sites, you will be able to find all the information you need.

Parents' views

Sometimes speaking to parents and carers who have experienced the same issues and problems as you can be a great way to get valuable advice and information. Read, respond or start a new discussion in the 'Family matters - being a parent or carer' Opens in this window  section of the ParentsCentre forum. You may also be interested in paying a visit to the 'Worried about...' Opens in this window, 'Childcare' Opens in this window, 'Education and learning' Opens in this window, 'Behaviour and discipline' Opens in this window, 'Having a baby' Opens in this window and 'Parental rights and responsibilities' Opens in this window  sections.

Experts' views

Benefit from the advice and tips given by our experts in the 'Ask an expert' section of the ParentsCentre forum.

Babies and communication
  • advice on how to stimulate your baby so that they learn good oral language and communication skills
Fad or fact? Baby signing
  • the benefits of trying to encourage your baby to understand objects and actions by using sign language from an early age
Fad or fact? Cry analysis
  • how a WhyCry baby analyser may help you to understand what your child's cries mean
Fad or fact? Soothing massage
  • the increasingly popular technique for encouraging relaxation and other benefits
Fad or fact? Gentle cranial manipulation
  • a look at whether cranial osteopathy - which is supposed to aid colic, sleep and feeding problems - actually works
Inspiring Creativity and Imagination
  • the Sure Start-funded project which aims to showcase different ways to create exciting spaces for children to play in
  • 12 printable examples of real projects to help guide you
Birth to three matters
  • how babies and young children can grow and develop into strong people
  • the importance for babies and young children of hearing language and interacting with those around them
  • the ways in which children explore, experiment, imagine, create and represent as they learn
  • what constitutes a physically and emotionally healthy child