Grief does not spare infants and young children. Attachment disruption through the loss of a primary caregiver is devastating to a young child's foundational experience of safety without the developmental capacity to understand any aspect of their loved one's absence. In this case story, the authors explore the diagnosis of complicated grief in…

More than a decade of research on how young children learn and connect via video chat takes on new importance as families and educators navigate relationship-building and learning during the pandemic. In this brief review, the authors summarize findings on how babies, toddlers, and their families have used video chat successfully to connect and…

Early relational health (ERH) is not a new field, but an enhanced focus on knowledge from infant and early childhood mental health (IECMH), neurodevelopment, and related fields. ERH brings attention to the centrality of safe, stable, and nurturing relationships and resilient communities as drivers for current and future health and well-being of…

This unique guidebook provides theoretical and practical perspective for those who care for infants and toddlers, whether parent, medical professional, educator, or early interventionist. Easy-to-read and engaging, this summary of the Educaring® Approach introduced by Magda Gerber, founder of Resources for Infant Educarers (RIE), highlights the…

Look at your baby or toddler. They are still learning to eat from a spoon, roll over, stack blocks, walk a few steps, or say their first words. It's hard to imagine that even in these early years, young children are being shaped by the biases that surround them in the world. This is why parenting for social justice begins at birth. Get started…

Conversations with families about understanding and nurturing their young child's development can be both rewarding and challenging. In this article, two seasoned HealthySteps specialists and two HealthySteps physician champions were asked to reflect on this central aspect of their mission in serving infants, toddlers, and families and on what…

Power to the Profession is a national collaboration working to define the early childhood profession by establishing a unifying framework for career pathways, knowledge and competencies, qualifications, standards, and compensation. This initiative is led by a National Task Force comprised of leaders from 15 national organizations, including ZERO…

States need a policy and systems infrastructure that creates a robust continuum of mental health supports and services for infants, young children, and families. One critical element of this continuum is developmentally appropriate diagnosis. "DC:0-5[TM]: Diagnostic Classification of Mental Health and Developmental Disorders of Infancy and…

Expanding Quality in Infant Toddler Care is a professional development initiative that is relationship-based on every level. It is administrated by the Colorado Office of Early Childhood. Instructors get intensive training and become members of the Infant Toddler Specialist network. Every level of the EQ Initiative uses an open framework called…

Infant-toddler programs stand to benefit greatly from evidence-informed coaching and professional development opportunities. However, few coaching initiatives have been delivered within infant-toddler programs, and these programs often face challenges that affect their educators' ability to participate. In an effort to support infant-toddler…

This article is adapted from "Linking Sensory Integration and Mental Health: Nurturing Self-Regulation in Infants and Young Children--A thoroughly revised and updated version of Sensory Integration and Self-Regulation in Infants and Toddlers" (ZERO TO THREE, 2022). This book was written for a broad multidisciplinary audience of service…

ZERO TO THREE and Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health (LACDMH) collaborated and contracted to provide official DC:0-5[TM] clinical training and foundational infant and early childhood mental health training to clinicians from Los Angeles (LA) County, California, over the course of 3 years. This article describes this unique, multiyear…

The "DC:0-5[TM]: Diagnostic Classification of Mental Health and Developmental Disorders of Infancy and Early Childhood" (DC:0-5) includes significant revisions, making it a substantially different diagnostic framework from its predecessor, DC:0-3R. The Nordic countries have a long history of using the DC system. The Nordic DC:0-5…

Reflective supervision is best practice within the infant and early childhood field. Reflective supervisors and supervisees work together to develop a shared space within which both can express their emotional response to work with very young children, caregivers, and families. Supporting professionals using reflective supervision requires a…

Standards and competencies are critical structural supports for any professional workforce, including early childhood professionals. Workforce capacity building, career progression, and career longevity can be supported by the foundation of consistent competency expectations. Defining and embedding consistent, evidence-based competencies is a…