Targeted Toolkit: Parent Strategies for Babies

Ages 0 - 12 Months

Parents are a baby's first and most important teachers and therapists. This collection of resources focuses on strategies that caregivers can use to promote their baby's growth and development throughout the first year. Many of these strategies can work both at home and in a hospital room.

A dad with dark hair and glasses is cradling his smiling infant son, who has a congenital heart defect (CHD), and leaning over him at the beach.

Thinking skills

This article describes how parents and other caregivers can help their babies develop more advanced ways of thinking, learning, understanding, and solving problems.

A baby with a congenital heart defect (CHD) wears a pink diaper cover and lies on her stomach on a white blanket.

Motor and movement skills

Parents and other caregivers can help babies with heart defects to get stronger, more flexible, more balanced, and more cooordinated. Here are some ideas.

A grandfather wearing a white t shirt stands in front of trees, holding his infant grandson, who has a congenital heart defect (CHD) and is wearing a red shirt.

Social skills

Parents are usually a baby's first social relationship, and they play a critical role in supporting a baby's social development. Here are some tips.

A dad wearing a silver jacket and braids holds up his infant son, who is wearing a silver one piece suit and has a congenital heart defect (CHD).

Attachment

By forging a secure attachment with their baby, parents and other caregivers can set the stage for the baby's healthy social and emotional development.

A mom with long black hair holds up her infant daughter, who has a congenital heart defect (CHD), black hair, and a pink flowered shirt.

Language skills

Well before they can talk, babies are actively learning language. Parents and caregivers can support their language development with these activities.

A mom holds up her infant daughter with a congenital heart defect (CHD), who wears a pink shirt and a pink bow.

Emotional skills

Parents and caregivers can help their babies start to understand and regulate their emotions. These strategies can promote healthy emotional learning.

A father with a beard sits on a hospital chair holding his baby with a congenital heart defect (CHD) skin-to-skin against his chest.

Kangaroo care

Most babies with congenital heart defects (CHDs) can be safely held skin-to-skin. When parents are able to hold their babies, they can often improve their functioning and healing.

Sleep

Parents and caregivers can help their babies to establish a good sleep schedule, and to get the sleep they need.

A mother with a green shirt and dark hair nuzzles the cheek of her baby, who has a congenital heart defect (CHD).

Communicating

When parents learn to communicate with their baby, they are better able to meet their needs and to create a strong emotional bond. This video will teach parents how to interpret and respond to their baby's cues.

A mother holds her infant with a congenital heart defect (CHD) lovingly up to her face.

Relationships

This video explains how relationships are at the core of a baby's learning and development, and offers advice on ensuring that a baby's first relationships are strong and stable.

A mother wearing a grey cardigan nurses her baby, who has a congenital heart defect (CHD).

Feeding

Feeding babies with congenital heart defects (CHDs) can be uniquely challenging, but using these strategies can help.

Family guide

This guide supports families in understanding and promoting development of infants with congenital heart defects (CHDs) across domains.