Unfortunately, the term "infant mental health" can be confusing for some people because it may be understood as translating into "mental illness." Others may not appreciate that babies and toddlers have the capacity to experience complex emotions. The Guest Editors of this issue of the Journal explore the meaning of infant mental health.

This article begins with a review of research providing evidence that social-emotional competence is a key component of school readiness and that the foundations for social-emotional competence are laid down in the earliest years. We go on to review effective practices and specific interventions that have been found to strengthen children's…

Just as the early years of a child's development create the architecture for future brain growth, early implementation of federal Part C legislation laid the groundwork for a system of supports for families of infants and toddlers with disabilities. Some aspects of the current legislation provide a sturdy foundation for sound policies and…

Parents responding to the ZERO TO THREE Parenting Infants and Toddlers Today poll showed excellent understanding of early childhood development, but they also underestimated young infants' emotional sensitivity and overestimated toddlers' capacities for self-regulation. This article reviews these results along with research findings on the complex…

Nearly 20 years after the passage of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), it is time to take stock of U.S. policy on parental leave, particularly as it affects infant care and child development. While the FMLA has certainly expanded access to job-protected leave, large sectors of the workforce are left out and, in the absence of paid leave,…

Research suggests what many parents and early care and education staff already know: Significant numbers of young children are struggling with social, emotional, and behavioral challenges that negatively impact their functioning as family members, friends, and learners. This article explores how caregivers can foster developmental mastery and…

Contrary to the concept of school readiness as achieving a particular set of attributes considered essential for educational success, this article is grounded in the assumption that all children are ready to learn, but what they are expected to learn varies widely from one cultural setting and historic period to another. The authors challenge the…

This article is excerpted from "Who's Watching the Babies? Improving the Quality of Family, Friend, and Neighbor Care" by Douglas R. Powell ("ZERO TO THREE," 2008). The article explores questions about program development and implementation strategies for supporting Family, Friend, and Neighbor (FFN) caregivers: How do programs and their host…

Almost 200,000 infants and toddlers come into the child welfare system each year. They do so during the period of the most rapid brain development. Maltreatment can damage the architecture of the developing brain, with lifelong consequences for both baby and society. The child welfare system has not done well at addressing the developmental needs…

States have placed high priority on developing early care and education systems that include early learning guidelines, curriculum, program guidelines or standards, and early childhood educator competencies. To explore how professional development and quality improvement initiatives are being integrated into emerging infant-toddler care systems,…

In a mere 3 decades, infant mental health has grown from an intriguing but obscure clinical approach to young children into a broad-based, multidisciplinary effort to enhance the development and well-being of young children and families through research, practice, and policy. The authors review some of the original premises of infant mental health…

American families are affected by a complex array of community, financial, health, and educational stressors. Unfortunately, social policies in the United States have not kept pace with societal demands. The nation is, as a result, in a state of disequilibrium wherein social policies are not in synchrony with the realities of contemporary family…

The prevalence of traumatic stress in the lives of families who are homeless is extraordinarily high. Often these families are headed by single mothers who have experienced ongoing trauma in the form of childhood abuse and neglect, domestic violence, and community violence, as well as the trauma associated with poverty and the loss of home,…

Early intervention and early childhood special education professionals espouse the need for authentic assessment and meaningful family involvement, as well as relationship-based and routines-based intervention. This article explores a play-based approach to assessment that reflects these values by using the Transdisciplinary Play-Based Assessment,…

The study of bilingual children shows that learning and using two languages may affect fundamental aspects of cognitive and neural development that influence how knowledge is acquired and used. The positive effects of bilingualism are seen most profoundly in what are known as executive function or self-control tasks, and in how the knowledge that…