Healthy brain development starts with positive early interactions

Your child’s brain starts growing about 2 weeks after they’re conceived, and it grows quickly from birth to age 3. During this time, over 1 million new brain connections (external link) form every second! These connections help your child learn how to think, feel and act. The more a connection is used, the stronger it gets. If it’s not used much, it gets weaker or disappears.

In the early years, the brain is also very flexible and can change easily. This is called ‘brain plasticity’. Even though the brain keeps growing into a person’s mid-twenties, it becomes less flexible over time. That’s why it’s so important to build a strong, healthy brain early on, just like a house needs a strong foundation.

Quality time and experiences

• A child’s brain grows based on their early relationships and experiences with parents/caregivers.
• These early experiences affect how children learn, handle their feelings, and get along with others.
• When children feel loved and have positive experiences, their brains grow stronger.
• Simple everyday moments, interactions and routines help build brain connections.

Spending quality time together helps your child learn, behave well, and build strong relationships later in life.

Loving care builds strong brains

A child’s brain grows through a mix of their genes, the environment, and their early life experiences. This is called "epigenetics," which means that the world around us can change how our genes work.

Positive, caring, and consistent interactions, like talking, smiling, or comforting your child, help their brain grow in healthy ways. These back-and-forth moments, called "serve and return," help build brain connections that support learning, communication, and social skills.

Supportive relationships and healthy caregivers help children deal with stress

Stress is a normal part of life and can affect children in different ways. There are 3 main types of stress (external link).

• Positive stress is short-term and can be helpful. It happens during things like getting a vaccination or starting school. It’s a normal part of growing up.
• Tolerable stress happens during tough times, like losing a loved one or getting hurt. If children have caring adults to support them, they can get through it.
• Toxic stress happens when children face hard situations over and over again without support from a caring adult. This kind of stress can hurt how their brain grows.

When a child faces toxic stress, their brain can stay on high alert. They might always be looking for danger, even when there isn’t any. This can make it hard for them to learn, feel safe, handle their emotions, and make friends.

Having a strong, caring relationship with your child helps them deal with stress and everyday challenges. If your child is going through something hard, like family issues or a separation, comfort and support them. This helps their brain stay healthy and grow the right way.

Strong, caring relationships help protect children from Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)

Many children go through hard experiences early in life, called Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) (external link). These can include things like abuse, neglect, living in poverty, or having a caregiver with mental illness or substance use problems. These experiences can put too much stress on a child’s body and brain, making it harder for them to handle stress later in life. Without support from a caring adult, ACEs  can:

• cause toxic stress
• slow down healthy growth and development
• raise the risk of mental and physical health problems later in life, like anxiety, depression, drug or alcohol use, and long-term health issues.

Going through ACEs doesn’t mean a child will have these problems. There are many ways to help. When children have stable, supportive and caring relationships with their parents/caregivers, they can learn healthy ways to cope and recover from tough situations.

Positive Childhood Experiences (PCEs) are important for healthy minds and bodies

Focusing on the good things in your child’s early life can help them grow and develop in a healthy way. Positive Childhood Experiences (PCEs) (external link), like feeling loved, having a safe home, and time to play, can help children do well, even when life gets hard.

There are ways to lower the chances of negative experiences (ACEs) and help children heal from tough situations. Things that really help a child’s well-being include:

• having good friends and caring adults outside the family
• having parents/caregivers who:
  • meet their child’s basic needs (like healthy food, water, shelter, sleep, school and health care)
  • use positive parenting (like listening, guiding, and encouraging)
  • create a loving, stable home
• having a family that gets support from others
• spending time as a family doing fun, meaningful activities together

Building resilience with relationships, experiences, and skills

Resilience means being able to bounce back from tough times. Supportive relationships and positive childhood experiences help children handle challenges and become stronger.

When children feel safe and supported by their parents/caregivers and others in their community, they learn healthy ways to:

• cope with stress
• manage their emotions
• solve problems

All children need to build important ‘core life skills’ to do well in school and in life. These skills include:

• self-regulation – managing their feelings and behavior
• executive function – planning, focusing, and staying organized

These skills help children succeed in school, get along with others, and face challenges.

When children have a lot of stress, it can be harder to develop these skills. Simple, positive interactions with your child, like talking, playing, and spending time together, help your child develop these important skills, so they can handle life’s ups and downs.

Getting support

Parents and caregivers feel stress too! Taking care of yourself helps you handle stress and be there for your child when they need support.

It’s normal to have questions and need support.

• Call 311 to speak with a public health nurse (Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.).
• Email haltonparents@halton.ca   to reach out to a public health nurse.
• Sign up for the Halton Region Public Health's free parenting programs and supports.