Parenting of infants and toddlers
Document Type
Book Chapter
Publication Date
2018
Department/School
Psychology
Publication Title
Handbook of Parenting and Child Development Across the Lifespan
Abstract
Parenting tasks change in relation to children’s developing abilities. This chapter considers parenting changes during the substantial period of children’s growth from birth to age three. The chapter reviews theories of parenting, and then considers developmental tasks and challenges of parenting in three broad domains: providing physical care and safety, structure and limits, and socialization. The chapter considers the parenting challenge of how to identify and respond to young children’s developmentally changing needs. It also considers the challenge of dealing with individual differences in children, particularly temperament characteristics. Almost all of the research on parenting focuses on basic care and socialization during the typical situations of daytime, such as eating, exploring, maintaining safety, and playing. However, this chapter also considers research that has begun to emerge on parenting in the context of dealing with children’s need for sleep. Finally, the chapter considers suggestions for future research and implications for policy and practice.
Recommended Citation
Staples, A. D., & Bates, J. E. (2018). Parenting of infants and toddlers. In M. R. Sanders & A. Morawska (Eds.), Handbook of parenting and child development across the lifespan (pp. 585–607). Springer International. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94598-9_26
Comments
A. D. Staples is a faculty member in EMU's Department of Psychology.