Do you want better outcomes for the children in your care? Support the parents!

The first 1000 days of life are life-changing days!

From conception to two, babies are developing like no other time in their life.

Babies spend most of this fundamental time in the care of their parents, who may know little about child development, nothing about the importance of learning through play, and might well have never have even held a baby before!

When a baby is born, their brain is developed, but it still has to be wired up through the synapse connections that are created. At this stage only 25% of their brain is connected. The rest of the growth and development still needs to happen through the experiences we give our children every day. During pregnancy, at times, over 20,000 new neurones a second are being created. At periods during the first years, over one million brain synapses are being created every second (in comparison, an adult may create seven hundred new neurons a day). 90% of a child’s brain development will be completed by the time they are 3 years old!

A wide range of studies show that the first 1000 days of life (from conception to two) are the most important for a baby’s brain development. Children’s development at just 22 months old has been shown to predict their qualifications at 26 years.

How parents interact with their baby from conception to two has a profound effect on their life outcomes. It impacts every part of their life - from their academic success, to their health and mental wellbeing, their concentration and focus, through to their resilience.

Yet, only 11% of first-time parents spend time learning about child development while waiting for their baby to arrive. So it is no surprise that before the birth of their baby, one study found that only 44% of first-time parents feel prepared for parenthood and only 18% feel confident as parents after the birth. Furthermore, a whopping 70% of parents of children from 0-5 feel judged about their parenting and their child’s behaviour!

Clearly, building parents’ confidence in their parenting skills (parental self-efficacy) is the key to changing outcomes.

But where to start? It can seem like a daunting task to find all the information and resources needed to effectively and reliably support new parents in their journey. Luckily, there is a solution all ready and waiting for you, whether you’re working pre or post-natally, in the form of the Oliiki app.

The Oliiki app is a comprehensive, easy-to-use app developed by e-learning specialist, education researcher, primary school teacher and mum of 3, Clare Stead. Designed for first-time parents in order to prevent them feeling lost or underconfident and set them on a trajectory of success with play and learning at the heart of their parenting. The Oliiki app gives parents tiny daily interactions to do with their bump, baby and toddler, starting from the first day of conception and continuing throughout the first 1000 days. Helping parents understand how these tiny interactions are developing their baby from the earliest of days helps build their Parental self-efficacy. High parental self-efficacy has been linked with low post-natal depression, low infant mental health issues, and successful home learning environments.

In a randomised control trial with UCL Institute of Education, parents who used the Oliiki app over a 4-week period were significantly more confident when compared to an active control group.

Confident, engaged parents create confident, engaged children. By supporting the parents of the children in our care right from the start, we can help them to create children who reach their full potential and fly.

About Clare Stead

Clare Stead, Creator and Founder of the Oliiki app and mum of three is an e-Learning specialist, Education researcher and teacher. She is passionate about helping parents build their baby’s brains from conception onwards, so the children reach their full potential and fly. Supporting parents early gives them the confidence to know they’re doing the very best for their baby right from the start.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/clarestead-oliiki/

The information in this article is provided by Oliiki and does not represent Morton Michel.