I call perfect parenting as ‘Yashoda Care’. It is every child’s birth right.

Picture in left depicts scene from the Indian scriptures (Bhagwat or Harivansh. Need to verify) where child Krishna is sleeping and entire family is waiting for his wake up time. They are prepared with food and water for him. They all are with smiling face. Eager to pamper the child. Look at the setup. Full ventilation. Trees in background. Birds. Sunlight.

Mind you, this is not because Krishna is God. This is not exclusive treatment given to Krishna. This was family norm in his times. An ideal child care. In fact, such high quality foster care made him God as per my understanding! 🙂

Why do we need such treatment to infants and children?

As an adult, our actions as a citizen, as a father, as a son of ailing parents, depend upon our mental maturity. Mental maturity requires healthy brain. Brain development depends heavily on experience.

Experience is what we can provide as parents. As per research, Children raised in institutions often show compromises in brain development and associated behavioral functioning, according to the study background.
High-quality foster care is CRITICAL.

And what do we do?

We watch TV while child is sleeping in another room. We continue with our activities even when child is crying and seeking our attention. We are on whatsapp when child’s eyes seek our attention for their activities. All these sums up as neglect. Neglect means impaired brain development.

Take care! All our activities are secondary when a growing child demands attention! Not only our child, all children of near and dear ones!

Take inspiration from the picture in above. Provide high-quality foster care. This requires us to live in joint family. If joint family living is not possible, good social relations with neighbors is needed.

I will conclude with African proverb:
“It requires entire village to raise a child”.

Think about it. take care.

About research:
“Results from this study contribute to growing evidence that severe neglect in early life affects the structural integrity of white matter throughout the brain and that early intervention may support long-term remediation in specific fiber tracts involved in limbic and frontostriatal circuitry and the sensory processes. Our findings have important implications for public health related to early prevention and intervention for children reared in conditions of severe neglect or adverse contexts more generally ” the study concludes.

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Research

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Brain White Matter Changes Seen in Children Who Experience Neglect

Brain development depends heavily on experience. Children raised in institutions often show compromises in brain development and associated behavioral functioning, according to the study background.

Results suggest that removal from conditions of neglect in early life and entry into a high-quality family environment can support more normative trajectories of white matter growth. Our findings have implications for public health and policy efforts designed to promote normative brain development among vulnerable children.

http://archpedi.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=2091622