Infants invite those caring for them to join as companions on an incredible journey. "Infant and Toddler Development from Conception to Age 3" is a helpful guide to that journey. Each chapter taps a distinct area of research to shed light on babies' biological expectations for care and their amazing competence as active participants in…

Infants and young children are vulnerable to multiple types of trauma, including neglect and sexual, physical, and emotional abuse. Some believe that young children are not impacted by trauma and that, if they are, they will simply "grow out of it." Continuing research, however, clearly demonstrates that trauma can alter young children's…

Forty-eight middle-class mothers answered questionnaires about their 11-through 18-month-old infants' typical television watching and interest, the frequency and duration of their independent play with toys and dyadic play with and without toys, and whether the television was typically on or not on in the room at the time. Mothers reported that…

Divorce is difficult for any child to deal with, but for our youngest children it presents a host of risks and challenges. Attachment has often been at the forefront of many divorce and visitation discussions, particularly in relation to overnight visitation. The case studies presented here address another dimension of the impact of divorce on…

To examine the influence of imperfect audition in otherwise intact infants on early mother-infant interaction, three hard of hearing and three normally hearing infants were videotaped in interaction with their mothers. Interaction was coded, a narrative record of the mothers' nonverbal behavior was made, and transcripts of interviews with the…

The study sought to isolate and identify patterns occurring in language interactions between mothers and their nonhandicapped and Down Syndrome children. Data were collected as part of a 3-year study of language interaction. Twenty nonhandicapped (NH) and 20 Down Syndrome (DS) children and their mothers were evaluated via a demographic inventory,…

Describes the benefits of infant massage, particularly for babies with deafness who have hearing parents. Steps for giving baby massages are provided, including placing a hand on the baby's stomach and making eye contact, starting with the legs, looking for cues, and communicating with the baby. (CR)

Measures fathers' and mothers' linguistic involvement in the development of communication between young siblings--infants and toddlers. In a laboratory setting, 39 families, each with a mother, a father and two children, were videotaped in semistructured activities. Results suggest that fathers very actively direct sibling interactions, especially…

Discusses physical activities for six age groups in the 4-month to 6-year range which emphasize the interaction between parent and child. Briefly describes those exercises which are appropriate for each age group. (BR)

Ten infants aged 8-12 months were studied to determine whether they would spontaneously imitate the average fundamental frequency or fundamental frequency contour of their speaking partners. Acoustic analyses failed to reveal any tendency by the infants to adjust vocal pitch, amplitude, or duration in home or laboratory settings. (Author/JDD)

This "Special Focus" section contains three papers which explore social reciprocity interventions for young children with severe handicaps, by describing ways to help parents read and respond to their infants' behavior, help children respond to their caregivers, and help parents and their children have pleasant experiences within the community.…

The degree to which vocal accommodation occurred in the interaction of mothers with 27 infants 3- to 5-months old equally divided among three diagnostic groups (heart disease, Down Syndrome, and no known abnormalities) was investigated. Videotapes were made of the infants during 3 minutes of face-to-face play with their mothers. Tapes were coded…

Mothers (N=202) of infants with Down syndrome, motor impairment, developmental delay, or no known disabilities were surveyed. Significant differences among the four groups were found on difficulty of caretaking and time devoted to caretaking; number of tasks with which fathers helped; and satisfaction with support from family, friends, and…

This article provides information to assist family educators in conducting ecobehavioral assessment and organizing the home caregiving environment. Nutrition, health and safety practices, the quality of toys, parent-infant interactions, and daily caregiving routines are presented as critical aspects for effective caregiving environments.…

This practicum was designed in response to the observation that very young children who accompanied Head Start parents assisting in Head Start classrooms were observed to be either extremely withdrawn or extremely active. The practicum was implemented to improve the relationships of parents and their infants and toddlers. Practicum goals were to…