CHAPTER 2: Infants, Toddlers, and Their Families Infant and Toddler Development and Responsive Program Planning: A Relationship-Based Approach Third Edition Donna S. Wittmer Sandy Petersen © 2014, 2010, 2006 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Our biology affects parenting Long gestation Difficult birth process Dependency of the infant Predictable responses of parents to newborns

Our culture affects parenting Individualist Individuals Independence Competition Production Personal responsibility Collectivist Group Cooperation Interdependent interests Process (rather than production)

Cultural questions in programs Differences between parents and teachers may be grounded in each person’s own invisible cultural beliefs about babies. Some cultural differences may not be negotiated – spanking is never allowed in child care.

Variations in parenting Early experiences Daughters of single mothers more likely to become mothers outside of marriage Sons of unstable households w/ many transitions are likely to become young fathers not living with the mother Early attachment relationships

Variations in parenting Single parents’ other adult relationships Emotional support for mother through friends and family

Variations in parenting Economics Higher income fathers are more involved unless work pressures interfere Flexible work schedules

Implications for care teachers? Becoming a mother “Natural progression and monumental transition” Universal and personal Struggles: Fatigue Loss of identity Marital dissatisfaction Overly high standards for doing everything right Depression Implications for care teachers?

Implications for care teachers? Becoming a father 1 in 3 American children live without their father Father engagement: quantity and quality of time, attachment, sensitivity Mother’s positive attitude toward father Parents’ positive relationship Implications for care teachers?

The imagined baby and the real baby Imagining ideal baby during pregnancy Learning to know and accept the real baby Implications for care teachers?

Implications for care teachers? Parenting styles Indulgent or permissive Authoritarian Authoritative Uninvolved (Baumrind, 1991) Implications for care teachers?

Family structure “Children’s optimal development seems to be influenced more by the nature of the relationships and family interactions within the family unit than by the particular structural form it takes”. (Perrin, 2002, p. 341)

Implications for care teachers? Divorce Unique issues for infants and toddlers Sensitivity to tension, sadness, anger Adjustment to day and night cycles Need for predictability and regularity Breastfeeding Implications for care teachers?

Same sex parents “More than two decades of research has failed to reveal important differences in the adjustment or development of children or adolescents reared by same-sex couples compared to those reared by other-sex couples. Results of the research suggest that qualities of family relationships are more tightly linked with child outcomes than is parental sexual orientation” Patterson (2006) p.241 Implications for care teachers?

Implications for care teachers? Grandparents May offer stable home Parents may be present Often no legal authority Implications for care teachers?

Implications for care teachers? Adoptive parents Age at adoption Circumstances leading up to adoption Difficulty of repeatedly establishing new relationships for infants and toddlers Implications for care teachers?

Implications for care teachers? Foster parents Infants are 20% of children in foster care May have experienced abuse, neglect, in utero exposure to drugs or alcohol, violence, sexual abuse Premature, low birth weight Serious health and developmental problems Implications for care teachers?

Care and education programs that support families Parent education Family support Home-visiting Parent Training and Information Centers Parent to Parent