Brain Development and the Role of Experience in the Early Years— Quote Source
Research over the past several decades has provided insight into the processes that govern early brain development and how those processes contribute to behavior. In the following article, we provide an overview of early brain development beginning with a summary of the prenatal period.
We then turn to postnatal development and examine how brain functions are built and how experience mediates this process. Specifically, we discuss findings from research on speech and on face processing. The results of this research highlight how the first few years of life are a particularly important period of development of the brain.
Breastfeeding and the Use of Human MilK
Breastfeeding and human milk are the normative standards for infant feeding and nutrition. Given the documented short- and long-term medical and neurodevelopmental advantages of breastfeeding, infant nutrition should be considered a public health issue and not only a lifestyle choice.
The American Academy of Pediatrics reaffirms its recommendation of exclusive breastfeeding for about 6 months, followed by continued breastfeeding as complementary foods are introduced, with continuation of breastfeeding for 1 year or longer as mutually desired by mother and infant.
Associations of sleep-related behaviors and the sleep environment at infant age one month with sleep patterns in infants five months later
To characterize family and environmental correlates of sleep patterns that may contribute to differences in infant sleep. Our main exposures were the parent-reported sleep environment, feeding method and sleep parenting strategies at infant age one month. The main outcomes were nighttime sleep duration, longest nighttime sleep and number of awakenings measured by actigraphy at age six months.