Child development

Some tips to try

Three short pieces from the library, and the part of each you can act on tonight.

• The Late Talker. She is three and not speaking like other children. The pathway exists.
  • Use the existing UK pathway: health visitor, GP, local speech and language service.
  • Early input materially helps; do not wait on the assumption she will catch up.
  • At home, keep the rich language environment: conversation, story, narration.
  theparentbook.com/parents/library/quick-tips/when-the-language-has-not-yet-come
• The Party She Needs to Leave. Her need to leave mid-party is not rudeness. It is recovery.
  • Honour her need to leave without making her unusual.
  • Plan the social calendar to include recovery hours.
  • The Saturday with one event, not three.
  theparentbook.com/parents/library/quick-tips/the-party-she-needs-to-leave
• Toilet Training as a Family Project. She is ready when she is ready. It is not your timetable.
  • Wait for the signs of readiness, not the schedule.
  • Calm, low-key introduction rather than a project-managed campaign.
  • Accidents are part of the process; no disappointment for setbacks.
  theparentbook.com/parents/library/quick-tips/toilet-training-as-a-family-project

If you want to read further

• Anxiety, by Age. A developmental atlas for parents whose child is worried in a way that has started to make decisions for them. theparentbook.com/reader/anxiety-by-age
• Big Feelings and Co-Regulation. A chapter for parents whose child has just come undone. theparentbook.com/reader/big-feelings-and-co-regulation

Worth your time

• A book for you: The Whole-Brain Child, Daniel J. Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson. The cleanest single primer on how a child’s brain organises a big feeling. uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-whole-brain-child-12-proven-strategies-to-nurture-your-child-s-developing-mind-dr-daniel-siegel/359fa846ee904ff0
• Something to watch: Play Is More Than Just Fun, Stuart Brown, TED. A pioneer of play research on why unstructured play is part of how children become competent adults, and why a family schedule that leaves room for it matters more than the cultural script suggests. www.ted.com/talks/stuart_brown_play_is_more_than_just_fun

Where else to go

For almost everything, the NHS is the right first move, and it costs nothing.

• Your GP. The gateway to everything the NHS offers a child: paediatric assessment, a referral to CAMHS, and support for you as the parent. Ask for a double appointment. Describe the pattern over weeks rather than the worst single day, and say plainly what you are worried about. Bring a written list; the ten minutes go quickly. www.nhs.uk/service-search/find-a-gp
• Your child’s school. The pastoral lead, the head of year, or the form tutor. Free, already knows your child, and often the fastest route to a change that helps. Before or alongside anything else. A school cannot act on what it has not been told, and what you bring is often what it did not have.

• NCT (National Childbirth Trust). The UK’s leading early-years charity. The right line for families in the pregnancy and under-fives years, including the toddler tantrums, toilet training, language development, and the early aggression that the very-young-child tips hold. Quick tips and chapters across the 2-5 years cluster. NCT’s parent-facing resources are calm, evidence-anchored, and the cleanest UK source we know for the developmental sequence of the early years. The Infant Feeding Line holds the breastfeeding and early-feeding territory specifically. Charged at your standard call rate, not free. NCT Infant Feeding Line and Parent Support 0300 330 0700 · Daily 8am-midnight (Infant Feeding Line) www.nct.org.uk
• MindEd for Families. NHS-backed e-learning hub written by specialists and parents together. The right pointer for parents who want to go deeper than a charity explainer. When the chapter calls for a substantial primer rather than a short article. Particularly useful for parents who are research-minded and want structured material they can work through. www.minded.org.uk
• Anna Freud. A research-led mental health centre. I send parents here when they want to read from a clinically authoritative source. Chapters touching attachment, trauma, neurodevelopment, or any concern where the parent benefits from reading from a centre with research credibility. The right pointer when YoungMinds feels too light. www.annafreud.org/parents-and-carers

The full list for child development, with what each organisation does and when it is the right call, is at theparentbook.com/help/child-development/services