Your bub is now in the early childhood stages of their development. There is a lot of growth over these years, they will begin to move on from baby babble to simple words and eventually you will have a little chatterbox on your hands as their speech continues to develop.
They will also start walking and moving around independently of you. As they get older they will have lots of energy and it’s good to get them outside and playing on Country. You can also use these play times as a way to teach them the importance of Country and caring for it. You may have your baby in childcare and they will eventually transition into kinder where they can develop friendships and explore and play while in a learning environment.
This page will explore the key goals and milestones, challenges and tasks as well as some services you can access that can assist you in raising a young child!
Image source: Koori Parenting: What Works For Us, Victorian Aboriginal Health Service.
1. Social Connection
Active Tasks
- Find culturally safe daycares & services for young children.
Supporting Resources
2. Eat Healthy
Active Tasks
- Identify healthy food options
- Define ‘Sometimes’ food vs. ‘Regular’ food.
- Develop healthy snacking options
- Limit takeaway & junk foods
- Understand how to keep your child's mouth and teeth healthy
Supporting Resources
- Guide to Healthy Eating Wall chart
- WellMob ‘Eating Well’ resources
- Healthy, deadly lunch boxes
- Looking After Young Mouths - Visual flip chart
Image source: Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander
Guide to Healthy Eating; Australian Government, Department of Health
3. Maintain sound Mental Health
Active Tasks
- Understand what it takes to maintain good mental health
- Keep connected with your community
- Identify the people in your circle who you know and trust (could be Aunties/Uncles/older siblings/etc.) and can speak too when you’re feeling down
- Look out for identifiers; ADHD, Autism. Recognise that this manifests differently in boys and girls
- Engage in creative activities. Art, music, painting, photography, filmmaking
- Culturally safe Mental Health Support Services
Supporting Resources
- Cultural Activities, Arts & Craft
- Cultural Art & Crafts
- Community & Cultural events
- Social & Emotional Wellbeing Fact sheets
- WellMob, Social & Emotional Wellbeing resources
- Yarn it out! Article
4. Being a good role model as a parent
Active Tasks
- Modelling healthy habits
- Projecting healthy thoughts and ideas
- Modelling self-love and acceptance
- Understand the effects of Intergenerational trauma
Supporting Resources
- Koori Parenting: What Works For Us (VAHS)
- Breaking the cycle of trauma
- WellMob, Trauma
- WellMob, Parenting
Downloadable Resources
Download and print the resources below.
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Guide to Healthy Eating - Wall Chart
Eat different types of foods from the five food groups every day. Drink plenty of water. [Source: www.eatforhealth.gov.au]Download
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Healthy, Deadly Lunch Boxes!
These cards are full of great ideas for different foods and snacking options that you can have in your lunch box to make it healthy and nutritious.Download
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Koori Parenting: What Works For Us
An information booklet prepared by the Victorian Aboriginal Health Service in consultation with other Koori parents exploring strategies to break the cycle of intergenerational trauma and develop a healthy parenting approach.Download
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Looking After Young Mouths - Visual flip chart
A visual flip chart that explains the importance of keeping your teeth healthy and clean. Aimed for parents and carers of babies and young children. [Source: Queensland Health]Download