Infant and Preschool Learning News

July 19, 2024

Top Headlines

Large Study Confirms: Siblings of Autistic Children Have 20% Chance of Autism

July 16, 2024 — A new, large study confirms earlier findings that children with an autistic sibling have a 20% chance of being autistic ...

Toddlers' Brains Show Significant Growth in Cognitive Skills by 16 Months

July 11, 2024 — Toddlers engage more regions of their brains around 16-months to help them develop important cognitive skills enabling them to follow simple instructions and control impulses. Findings from the study suggests 16 months is a critical period for brain ...

Creativity Starts in the Cradle, New Research Shows

July 10, 2024 — New research indicates that babies can begin grasping complex language and ...

Neighborhood Opportunities Influence Infant Development and Cognition

June 27, 2024 — Researchers find that growing up in neighborhoods with more educational and socioeconomic opportunities has a positive impact on infants' brain ...

Latest Headlines

updated 10:55pm EDT

Emotional Overeating Fed by Temperament, Caregivers' Reactions to Children's Emotions

June 27, 2024 — A research team tracked children from infancy through age 3 to explore the roots of emotional overeating. Parents/caregivers were surveyed about the ...

How Much Oxygen Do Very Premature Babies Need After Birth?

June 24, 2024 — A study suggests giving oxygen at a concentration of 90 to 100 percent soon after birth could halve the risk of death for very premature babies that need help ...

Babies Babble Squeals and Growls in Clustering Patterns Observable from Birth Through the First Year

May 29, 2024 — In the first large-scale observation with human coding of infant vocalizations using all-day home recordings, babies of all ages from birth up to a ...

Babies Use 'Helpless' Infant Period to Learn Powerful Foundation Models, Just Like ChatGPT

June 5, 2024 — Babies' brains are not as immature as previously thought, rather they are using the period of postnatal 'helplessness' to learn powerful foundation ...

Great News, Parents: You Do Have Power Over Your Tweens' Screen Use

June 5, 2024 — For many parents, it can feel like curbing kids' screen use is a losing battle. But new research has found the parenting practices that work best to curb screen time and addictive screen behavior: ...

Infants Hear Significantly More Speech Than Music at Home

May 30, 2024 — A new study has compared the amount of music and speech that children hear in infancy. Results showed that infants hear more spoken language than music, with the gap widening as the babies get ...

Brain Connectivity Patterns Differ in Infants at Familial Risk for Autism

May 22, 2024 — A study has found distinct brain connectivity patterns in six-week-old infants at risk for developing autism spectrum disorder ...

Survey Finds Loneliness Epidemic Runs Deep Among Parents

Apr. 24, 2024 — A new national survey finds a broad majority of parents experience isolation, loneliness and burnout from the demands of parenthood, with many feeling a lack of support in fulfilling that ...

Everyday Social Interactions Predict Language Development in Infants

Apr. 8, 2024 — Researchers found that when the adult talked and played socially with a 5-month-old baby, the baby's brain activity particularly increased in regions responsible for attention -- and the level of ...

Even Moderate Alcohol Usage During Pregnancy Linked to Birth Abnormalities

Apr. 2, 2024 — Researchers have found that even low to moderate alcohol use by pregnant patients may contribute to subtle changes in their babies' prenatal development, including lower birth length and a shorter ...

Earlier Headlines

Researchers Propose a New Way to Identify When Babies Become Conscious

Mar. 22, 2024 — Academics are proposing a new and improved way to help researchers discover when consciousness emerges in human ...

Five Factors to Ensure an Infant Thrives

Mar. 18, 2024 — Researchers make the case that five 'Thrive Factors' are a key element of healthy human brain, behavioral and cognitive ...

First Recognition of Self in the Mirror Is Spurred by Touch

Mar. 13, 2024 — Most babies begin recognizing themselves in mirrors when they are about a-year-and-a-half old. This kind of self-recognition is an important developmental milestone, and now scientists have ...

COVID Vaccines Are Safe for Pregnant Women and Babies, Study Finds

Mar. 7, 2024 — The COVID vaccine is safe to administer during pregnancy, researchers report in an important finding on the safety of the vaccine in infants -- despite widespread fear and ...

Early Vocabulary Size Is Genetically Linked to ADHD, Literacy, and Cognition

Mar. 1, 2024 — Are genetic factors underlying children's language development linked to later-life outcomes? In a genome-wide analysis, an international research team found genetic associations between ...

How Parents Can Help Prevent the Development of ADHD Symptoms

Feb. 15, 2024 — Parents of young children with an excitable or exuberant temperament could adapt their parenting style to help moderate their child's potential development of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity ...

Early Drawing and Building Skills Linked to Enhanced Education and Behavior in Children

Feb. 6, 2024 — Fine motor skills in young children are linked to better GCSE scores and fewer behavioral problems in childhood and adolescence, according to a new ...

Navigating the 'Big Little Leap' to Kindergarten

Jan. 22, 2024 — No matter how well children are prepared for kindergarten, their transition to the classroom during the first few months plays a key role in their success, a new study ...

Seizures Identified as Potential Cause of Sudden Unexplained Death in Children

Jan. 4, 2024 — In a study designed to better understand sudden, unexpected deaths in young children, which usually occur during sleep, researchers have identified brief seizures, accompanied by muscle convulsions, ...

Enlarged Spaces in Infant Brains Linked to Higher Risk of Autism, Sleep Problems

Jan. 2, 2024 — Researchers have found that enlarged perivascular spaces in the brains of babies, caused by an accumulation of excess cerebrospinal fluid, have a 2.2 times greater chance of developing autism later ...

Parents' Top Resolutions: More Patience, Less Time on Phones

Dec. 18, 2023 — Among many parents' top resolutions for the New Year: More patience, less time on phones, better consistency with discipline and healthier family ...

Mothers and Children Have Their Birthday in the Same Month More Often Than You'd Think -- And Here's Why

Dec. 14, 2023 — Do you celebrate your birthday in the same month as your mum? If so, you are not alone. The phenomenon occurs more commonly than expected -- a new study of millions of families has ...

Breastfeeding Alters Infant Gut in Ways That Boost Brain Development, May Improve Test Scores

Dec. 13, 2023 — Breastfeeding, even partially alongside formula feeding, changes the chemical makeup -- or metabolome -- of an infant's gut in ways that positively influence brain development and may boost test ...

Mothers Need More 'Exclusive Breastfeeding' Support

Dec. 8, 2023 — Exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life is proven to protect both mother and child health. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), between 2015 and 2021, 48% of mothers ...

Discrimination During Pregnancy May Alter Circuits in Infants' Brains

Dec. 7, 2023 — Racial discrimination and bias are painful realities and increasingly recognized as detrimental to the health of adults and children. These stressful experiences also appear to be transmitted from ...

Children Born Moderately Early Are at an Increased Risk of Developmental Disorders

Dec. 7, 2023 — Children born between 32 and 38 weeks' gestation are more likely to have developmental disorders -- such as language delay, cognitive impairment, ADHD and Cerebral palsy -- compared with ...

Adversity Accelerates Epigenetic Aging in Children With Developmental Delays, but Positive Parenting Can Reverse Course

Dec. 4, 2023 — Research has shown that children who experience adversity during their early years may undergo faster biological aging. Nonetheless, a recent study reveals that positive parenting interventions can ...

Why Reading Nursery Rhymes and Singing to Babies May Help Them to Learn Language

Dec. 1, 2023 — Phonetic information -- the smallest sound elements of speech -- may not be the basis of language learning in babies as previously thought. Babies don't begin to process phonetic information ...

How Pre And Postnatal B-12 Vitamins Improve Breast Milk Vitamin B-12 Levels, Which Supports Infant Brain Development

Dec. 1, 2023 — According to a new study B-12 vitamins increase the presence of the micronutrient in mothers' breast milk, which is especially helpful in countries where it can be difficult to eat what is ...

Despite Pressures Facing Young Families, Parents Take Precious Moments to Play With Their Babies

Nov. 30, 2023 — Four in five primary caregivers of nine-month-old babies reported cuddling, talking and playing with their little one several times a day, in the first national long-term study of babies in over two ...