Birth-5: Early Childhood

Healthy Development

The early years of a child’s health and development provide an essential foundation for their future years. Offering healthy opportunities for children to grow up where their social, emotional, and educational needs are met can significantly impact their development.

Parenting takes many different forms. Here are a few key ways that parents can support their child’s healthy development:

Teaching children routines and boundaries that are developmentally appropriate for their own needs
Allowing nutritional food to be accessible for brain and body development
Providing a physically and emotionally safe environment for children
Sharing quality time with children doing an activity that they enjoy
Setting good sleep habits and offering daily opportunities for physical activity that meets a child’s specific needs

While this is not a comprehensive list, it does offer a general parents’ perspective on promoting child wellness. New Hampshire’s network of Family Resource Centers offers many opportunities to learn about parenting and to give young children developmental experiences. In addition, our Lending Library has hundreds of books on parenting, navigating specific early childhood issues, and diagnosis. You’ll find these and more resources below to support your family’s journey.

Developmental Milestones

Are you curious or concerned about your child’s development? Developmental Milestones include smiling for the first time, waving “bye-bye,” or taking first steps. Each set of milestones varies with age, but children generally reach milestones in how they grow, play, learn, speak, act, and move.

Children develop at their own pace, so it’s hard to say exactly when they will learn a specific skill. However, developmental milestone guides and checklists give a general idea of the changes, skills, and growth to expect as your child ages.

As a parent, you know your child best. If your child is not meeting the milestones for their age, talk with your child’s doctor and share your concerns. Don’t wait.

Click the button to explore tools for monitoring and supporting your child’s development and what steps to take if you have concerns.

Understanding & monitoring your child’s development

Early Childhood Learning & Care Resources

Choosing Child Care for Children with Special Needs

If you have a child with a developmental disability or other special needs, it can be daunting to think about…

Resources for Early Childhood Learning

Healthy Families New Hampshire Healthy Families New Hampshire has trained family support specialists and nurses who visit families in their…

Child Care Resources

NH Child Care Scholarship NH DHHS 129 Pleasant St., Concord Telephone: (603) 271-4242 / TDD: (800) 735-2964 Website: https://www.nh-connections.org/families/child-care-scholarship/ NH…

Head Start and Early Head Start

Head Start is a Federal program that promotes the school readiness of children from ages three to five from low-income…

Family Resource Centers

Family Resource Centers (FRCs) are community-based organizations committed to promoting family well-being. All services are voluntary, confidential, and free of charge,…

New Hampshire Pyramid Model

Children need positive relationships, and for over 20 years, The Pyramid Model has worked to support social and emotional development…

NH Boys & Girls Clubs

Imagine a place where who you are, where you’re from, or the circumstances that surround you don’t determine your access to…

YMCA NH

With branches in Manchester, Goffstown, Concord, Londonderry, Portsmouth, Somersworth, and Rochester and New Hampshire’s leading camping programs, we focus on…