Parenting Supports
Children's Mental Health
Contact Us
Call Health Connections 905-546-3550
Email [email protected]
Parenting Supports
Supporting social and emotional well-being for babies, toddlers, and children under six
Want to learn more or have questions about your child's mental health?
Call Health Connections Monday to Friday 8:30 am to 4:30 pm to talk with a public health nurse.
Social and emotional development is important for your child’s wellbeing and mental health in their early years. By supporting your child’s mental health, your child learns:
- how to get along with others including how to build close and trusting relationships with the people in their lives
- how to cope with strong feelings including ways to understand, experience and handle emotions in positive ways
- how to respond in challenging situations including ways to deal with stress and when they don’t get what they want
What can I do to support my child’s mental health?
You can support your child's mental health as soon as they are born. The most important ways to help your child develop their mental health skills are how you interact with them every day. Learn more about the ways you can support your child’s mental health:
- Read, play, and spend one-on-one time together every day. This builds a positive relationship between you and your child.
- Make healthy routines for daily activities like eating and sleeping. Routines help young children feel safe and know what to expect.
- Play is important for brain development and practicing social skills. Community programs like EarlyON centers and libraries have free programs where children can play and develop their social skills, with you and others.
- Children need to feel safe with their parents to build a secure bond. One way to do this is to respond consistently to their needs.
- Learning your baby’s cues and responding to them especially when they are sad, sick, or scared helps them to feel safe and loved.
- Parents can help their children cope with hard feelings by using a calm voice and by providing a safe environment.
- Helping your child to understand their feelings by talking about emotions supports their well-being and their emotional development.
- Role-modeling healthy coping skills for difficult emotions helps develop your child’s self-regulation skills.
- It’s harder to parent when you’re not feeling like yourself. Mental health challenges can affect your relationship with your child.
- Parental self-care is important to stay healthy. This includes getting enough sleep, eating well, staying active, and learning how to manage your own emotions.
- Role-modeling healthy coping skills for mental health challenges can help your child to cope better with their own stresses.
- Parenting is hard! It is okay to feel frustrated sometimes. Asking for help is important for both you and your child.
- There are many parts of parenting that are out of your control. This can be stressful. Talking about these stresses with a person you trust can help.
- If you feel like you need more support, talking with a mental health professional can help you to cope with stress and connect you to other resources.
We’re here to help
If you have questions about your child’s mental health, or you would like to learn more about what you can do to support them, a public health nurse can provide more information and support for your family. You can call 905-546-2489 Monday to Friday 8:30 am to 4:30 pm.
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