In this episode of KinderopvangTotaal, the podcast, scientific researcher Fabienne Naber talks about the effect of stress on the baby brain. How does (too) much stress affect the development of young children? And how can you, as a (professional) caregiver or parent, regulate this stress?
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Stress: we all experience it from time to time. One to a lesser extent and the other to a greater extent. We naturally need stress, to focus, to survive in exciting situations. ‘But in today’s society we often have long-term stress; stress that we often have no control over. That means that we are under stress for such a long time that we can also get sick from it,” says Dr Fabienne Naber in this podcast episode about the influence of stress on the baby brain.
The first 1000 days
But the foundation of how we learn to deal with stress in adulthood is laid in childhood. In the podcast, Fabienne discusses the first 1000 days. ‘When you see what happens in that brain in those first thousand days, it’s really fascinating! During that period a blueprint is made for functioning in the rest of your life. The influence of external stress on the development of the brain, but also how you subsequently respond to stress for the rest of your life.’
‘The less stress a child experiences in the first period, the better that feedback system can develop. To be able to develop this properly, it is necessary that there is little stress from the environment. Because: the calmer a child is, the better the feedback system can develop.’
Survival rate stagnates development
If a child is in survival mode due to a lot of stress, this has consequences for the (brain) development. Fabienne: ‘Everything in terms of development then comes to a minimum. The development is there, but it is not optimal. You have developed a stress coping strategy, but it is not optimal.’
Make a difference
Fortunately, as a pedagogical professional you can really make a difference by being there for a child, by reacting sensitively and responsively, by following the child in what it needs. Fabienne explains: ‘If a child has noticed in the first year and a half of life that there are people for the child, who take care of him and respond to signals, a child experiences little stress. This allows the brain and the stress system to develop optimally. A child becomes more resilient and can deal with stress better for the rest of his life.’
‘That does not mean that everyone who now has mental problems has experienced stress in the past. The level of stress that we are all subject to now is not physiologically resistant. But you have a head start if you have had a lot of rest and relaxation in those first eighteen months.’
Relaxed
‘The most important thing is that parents/carers are relaxed’, says Fabienne. ‘The more relaxed you are, the easier you can respond to the signals of a child. A child also needs an adult to regulate stress.’ How that works exactly, Fabienne explains in the podcast:
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