Starting Early: Promoting Emotional and Behavioral Well-Being in Infant and Toddler Well-Child Care.

ABSTRACT

A child's experiences during the first 3 years of life can have a profound impact on mental health outcomes later in childhood and across the lifespan. Safe and effective therapies for mental health concerns in early childhood exist, but access to them is limited. Pediatricians have a unique opportunity to identify risk and resilience factors and support healthy emotional, behavioral, and social development during infancy and toddlerhood. This article presents a developmentally focused approach to integrating the growing science of early childhood social-emotional development into primary care practice, providing both empiric and practical rationales. [Pediatr Ann. 2018;47(8)e317-e322.].