For those experiencing them, educational transitions include not only the present time but are embedded within institutions that precede and extend beyond the individuals. This article explores how, as an institutional space, the early childhood education and care (ECEC) setting is (re)produced within young children's encounters with others during…

This doctoral study examined the function of baby massage in supporting early infant-carer attachment relationships among families facing stressful life experiences. It was designed in response to Bennett, Underdown and Barlow's [Bennett, C., A. Underdown, and J. Barlow. 2013. "Massage for Promoting Mental and Physical Health in Typically…

Infants, toddlers, and two-year-olds with disabilities or developmental delays often participate in center-based childcare. Just like other care and education settings, childcare for very young children should provide high-quality inclusion. To date, minimal research has been conducted on practitioner perspectives about inclusion in childcare for…

The 'schoolification' of early childhood education and care programs, seen as readying children for formalised schooling, has had an impact on the education of younger and younger age groups. While the focus of past research has mainly focused on 4-5-year-old children, this study shifts the focus to 2-3-year-old children and the literacy focus of…

In recent years, limited research attention has been directed to what happens in science education before the age of 3 years. We present the findings of a study that followed 13 infant-toddlers aged 0.1-2.2 years (mean 1.8 years) and their educators from a childcare centre. Under the conditions of an educational experiment, the results of our…

Family engagement in childcare is important to ensure the optimal growth, development, and safety of children. Previous research has explored family engagement practices, but limited research is available on the application of theory to explain the uptake of family engagement principles. The purpose of this study was to explore the use and…

This work is a part of 'baby studies' as a specific field of research. The aim of the paper is to explore how the directionality of the lines of wandering inform us about babies' sense-making and which kinds of lines of wandering children enact in day-care. The application of cartographic maps and participative observation are proposed as…

As of July 2022, child care employment in the United States was still 8.4% below what it was in February 2020 with nearly 90,000 child care professionals leaving the workforce for higher-paying and less stressful jobs. Although New Jersey's child care employment has been rising, the numbers have not reached pre-pandemic levels. This ongoing child…

Well-designed physical spaces and appropriate equipment are crucial for enhancing the quality of care and education for infants and toddlers. Four key areas were examined hygiene and safety, learning and development, space and facility management, and sustainability. The study sampled childcare centers based on their geographic distribution and…

This exploratory study aims to explore and analyse the process of parental decision-making for baby rooms in daycare centres, within the Portuguese context of early childhood education and care. The theoretical framework is based on the accommodation model. Methodologically, the research is based on a qualitative and interpretative approach…

Using a drawing-based research approach, this qualitative study explored in-service infant teachers' reflections on their play experiences and ways of supporting and scaffolding infants' play at a childcare center in Korea. The participants engaged in a drawing task that illustrated their reflections and memories of their play. They then discussed…

Home-visitation programs have improved child development in low- and middle-income countries, but they are costly to scale due to their reliance on trained workers. We evaluated an inexpensive and low-tech alternative with 2,433 caregivers of children aged 6 to 30 months served by 250 public childcare centers in Uttarakhand, India: automated phone…

The research presented in this article scrutinises how baby room leaders construct babyhood and how this impacts their practice. Our research feeds into a growing body of research that challenges the dominant developmentalist paradigm in early childhood education and care (ECEC) and instead highlights possibilities for self-determination, agency…

This study explores how infant and toddlers become caring individuals, an aspect that has received little attention among young children's interactions in educational settings. Research findings demonstrate how acts of caring support, embellish and expand infants' and toddlers' interactions. The meanings of these acts are explored based on…

Given the substantial increase in children attending center-based childcare over the past decades, the consequences of center-based childcare for children's development have gained more attention in developmental research. However, the relation between center-based childcare and children's neurocognitive development remains relatively…