Infant Mental Health Awareness Week - 10th to 16th June 2024
We should care about young children being happy and joyful, and able to play and enjoy themselves, and we should care about them avoiding stress and distress, because that matters in itself, but also because it really matters for what happens next in their lives and in their education.
Being able to play is a part of being mentally healthy in childhood. Play is what develops our mental health and foundations of mental health for life.
Good social and emotional development and wellbeing is the bedrock of children’s development and their ability to play, learn, make friends, build meaningful relationships and resilience to navigate life’s events. Good mental health and wellbeing is our primary concern for children in the early years, and its decline has become a concern.
Be a part of the change and raise awareness of all things ‘Good mental health’ during Infant Mental Health awareness week, and then continue to build on that in your setting to support a better future for our youngest children.
Below are some references where you can find information and resources to support you to raise that awareness for Infant Mental Health Awareness week and then beyond to ensure it continues into daily practice. Consider what you are able to do to involve parents, to develop your team and your own knowledge and skills in this important area.
  Just two pages taken from ‘What to expect in the Early Years Foundation Stage: a guide for parents’. Click the link below to access the Guide. Why not use relevant pages as posters to support parents?
Click the link below to explore the Anna Freud website and discover some useful information and resources.
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Explore the BBC's Tiny Happy People website to help you support parents and carers. |
Parent and Infant Relationships
Our earliest days are defined by the relationships we have with those closest to us: our parents and carers.
Parent-infant relationships refer to the quality of the relationship between a baby and their parent or carer. Good parent-infant relationships nurture ‘secure attachments’, which are the basis for optimal infant mental health promoting healthy social, emotional, and cognitive development.
It is therefore important that practitioners are able to identify parents and carers who may be struggling to connect with their baby and support them as much as possible to do so. The prompts suggested in the materials when you follow the link below will play an important role in this through supporting you to start conversations with parents and carers about their relationship with their baby. Find out more about conversation prompts and ‘PAIRS’ by clicking the link below.
Help for Early Years Providers has recently added new information and guidance on supporting babies and young children with their mental health.
Mental health for early years children - Help for early years providers
Why not watch these three Video Clips to develop your understanding and inspire your practice to further support building resilience in children.
InBrief: Resilience Series - Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University
Anxiety in children
To be able to help our children, we must first be able to understand exactly what anxiety is.
In simple terms…
It is a feeling of nervousness, worry or unease regarding everyday occurrences, perhaps mealtimes, bedtimes, meeting friends and relatives, or getting in the car.
We might notice certain changes or developing characteristics in a child experiencing anxiety, such as, nervous behaviour – fidgeting, nail biting, hair twirling, sucking on clothes or hair. They may complain of tummy ache, tiredness, or headache. We might notice some developmental regression, such as bedwetting, needing help to feed themselves, thumb sucking or reverting to baby talk. Children may become withdrawn or overly upset at seemingly no reason or show signs of fear or embarrassment – feeling like they will be laughed at or disliked, can’t do things.
Parents may mention sleep disruptions, such as difficulty in falling asleep, interruptions to sleep, waking often wanting a drink, the toilet, feeling scared or complaining of feeling unwell, really just any unusual behaviours that seem out of character or out of the ordinary for a particular child.
We must talk about anything unusual with parents, in a curious and non-judgemental way, they may be able to shed light on the reasons for these changes in behaviour or causes of anxiety.
Some top tips for supporting anxiety in children
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We shouldn’t avoid triggers-The goal is not to completely eliminate anxiety, but to help your child manage it. By avoiding all triggers our children do not learn how to tolerate their anxiety. It is important that we help them to function with their feelings. This way the anxiety will begin to fall away on its own.
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We must respect how they feel-Try not to disregard their worries, however unlikely or unreasonable they may seem. Acknowledge and respect their feelings and help to set realistic expectations for themselves. It’s a psychological fact that failure avoiders lack resilience and tend to be anxious children. So, rather than promise your child that they won’t fail at something, instil in them the confidence that even if they do fail, they will be okay. In the same way we mustn’t promise things won’t happen when we have no control over whether it will or won’t, this will just diminish a child’s trust in us. We must provide a relationship rich environment; one that reinforces feelings of trust, safety, and reassurance.
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Try not to prompt feelings-Allow children to communicate their feelings to you without asking leading questions. Be kind and be curious, but don’t put words into their mouths or thoughts into their heads that may not be there. For example, rather than ask ‘are you nervous? say ‘can you tell me how you’re feeling?’ Support children’s ability to express themselves by giving children the language of feelings, talk about feelings in the everyday, tell stories, play out scenarios in small world, explore messy play. This is a good place to explore likes and dislike, talk about how things make us feel, and introduce facial expressions and expressive language.
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Be careful not to reinforce emotions-Sometimes our body language and reactions to situations can influence and reinforce a child’s emotions so be aware of how you respond. If a child sees you become anxious about a parent being late or a new routine, then the child may begin to feel worried. Allow children to have their own emotions.
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Lead by example-Children can learn unhelpful emotional responses by watching adults. Teach them helpful ways to manage stressful times; the more a child is witness to others responding with calmness and acceptance in an anxious situation, the more they learn how to cope with their own.
There are many activities that will relieve anxiety; distraction works well with younger children, diverting their attention elsewhere, relaxation techniques such as blowing bubbles, paint blowing anything that supports breaths in and out, children’s yoga, general physical play and being outside! social stories, storytelling, puppet play, worry pebbles, or a worry tree.
When we look through a trauma informed lens, we can recognise the presence of trauma symptoms and can acknowledge the role that trauma may play in an individual's life; this might be the child or the parent of a child in your care. We must try to understand root cause to support us in building sensitive approaches that support the path to recovery and to recognise when to look to external professional help and guidance.
What could you do for Infant Mental Health Awareness Week?
- Send out information on your online platforms or newsletters.
- Organise a Coffee and Chat morning.
- Send home small paper gathering bags to encourage a weekend walk, write on them some suggestions of things in nature to look for and some to bring back to nursery, such as a tall tree, clouds, stone, leaf, twig etc…don’t ask for photographs, encourage a device free being in the moment walk! There’s a section on Tiny Happy People website which highlights the importance of connecting with nature-Exploring nature with kids in springtime - BBC Tiny Happy People
- Share social story books in the setting-or perhaps organise some family story time sessions.
Some recommended story books…
- The invisible string - Patrice Karst
- Have you filled your bucket today? - Carol McCloud
- Mindful day - Deborah Hopkinson
Together, we can ensure every child receives the support they need to thrive. Let's work towards a brighter future for our youngest learners!
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