BC Council for Families

Caring, consistent relationships with adults provide external supports that are the basis for infants' development of self-regulation. Caregivers can provide structure and predictability; developmentally appropriate environments; age-appropriate limits; and empathy and caring. The authors discuss goodness of fit -- caregivers' ability to interpret children's cues and adjust their (adult) responses to children's temperaments. They use vignettes to illustrate how experiences with manageable challenges, like having to wait a short time to be fed, promote healthy emotional regulation in infants and toddlers.

This article is from the July 2006 issue of Beyond the Journal, an archived version of the publication Young Children.  The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) is dedicated to improving the well-being of all young children, with particular focus on the quality of educational and developmental services for all children from birth through age 8.

Gillespie, Linda Groves and Nancy L. Seibel.  "Self-Regulation: A Cornerstone of Early Childhood Development." in Beyond the Journal: Young Children on the Web. National Association for the Education of Young Children. July, 2006.