I received product and compensation from Mead Johnson Nutrition to create this post written by me. All experiences and opinions expressed in this post are my own and not those of Mead Johnson Nutrition. You can contact Mead Johnson Nutrition with product related questions or comments toll free at 1-888-777-3395.
All parents want the best for their child. We want them to be bright, strong and we want to promote healthy baby brain development. Sometimes that means supplementing their diets with Enfagrow® Toddler Next Step™ to help ensure they are getting the proper nutrition to help ensure they have the best chances for optimal child development.
Did you know that 85% of brain growth happens in the first three years of life? No wonder the first 3 years of life is the most crucial for ensuring our children have the best nutrition, , and best educational stimulation during those formidable years!
As a parent, there are 5 easy steps you can take to promote healthy baby brain development during the first 3 crucial years of their life.
5 Crucial steps for healthy baby brain development
1: Read together – It’s not rocket science to know that reading to your child helps their brain develop crucial social and communication skills. It not only helps them develop a love for books and creates special moments of bonding, but it also builds their vocabulary and cognitive reasoning. Thus why it is always highly recommended to read to your child often.
2: Play together – Not only does playing with your baby and toddler help to develop a strong relationship, but this is also another key area where it actually helps your child to learn.
The silly games you play together help with baby brain development. Peek-a-boo, Where is Thumpkin and even Patty Cake all have cognitive, dexterity and occupational development benefits for babies. Playing with your baby stimulates their brains as they grow thus ensuring healthy baby brain development.
3: CDC milestones – Not every child will develop the same way. How will you know if your child is on target? Use the CDC milestones as a means to help you track your child’s progress. This is a great resource that parents can access to visit at the crucial milestones of their child’s life to ensure that they are developing at a healthy rate. They help you know what to expect at each age.
But these milestones also have key items to watch out for at each stage and when you need to step in and seek early intervention to get help in case your child may need extra help in their development.
Such was the case with our oldest daughter Jade. Without the CDC Milestones, we never would have known she was falling behind. Thankfully, we were able to catch the warning signs of her special needs and were able to intervene at the early age of 2, when it was most crucial to get her help.
4: On time healthy wellness check-ups at the doctor. I was actually shocked when I learned that not all parents take their children in for on-time healthy wellness check-ups. But this is the key to catching delays in healthy brain development or other health issues. If you can catch it early enough, it is usually easy to remedy and keep your child on target.
Not only that, but many Doctors also use the CDC milestones to help ensure that your child is developing on schedule and this will help you catch any special needs early on.
This is how we learned Miss Jade had Sensory Processing Disorder and Speech Disorders at age 2. And with the help of our doctor’s referral, we were able to get her into early intervention programs that helped her baby brain development in ways we were not able to do on our own.
This is also how we learned Miss Rose was not gaining enough weight even though she was eating on schedule every time. Had it not been for the routine baby wellness visit, we never would have known in time to make a difference before she would have had serious health issues.
5: Proper nutrition. Lastly, if your child’s brain doesn’t receive the proper nutrition, it won’t develop correctly. Without enough of the proper nutrition you just can’t develop in a healthy manner. But a very special nutrient during the first three years is important for baby brain development.
A key building block for brain development is DHA. You’ve probably heard of DHA before, as it’s always the first thing any formula or toddler drink mentions. Why?
Because experts say toddlers need 70-100 mg/day of DHA to help support early brain and eye development, but most kids only get about 25% of the recommended amount of DHA from their regular table foods. Only 25%! That is a big gap!
The reason is that most kids can be picky eaters. And even when they aren’t picky eaters, they may still not meet recommendations because they aren’t eating foods that provide DHA. Others are too active and don’t like to sit down long enough to eat enough. They just want to go, go, go!
Enfagrow Toddler Supports Baby Brain Development
Miss Rose is my spitfire tornado. She is full of spunk and personality and never stops. I’ve had neighbors say they get tired just watching her run. I swear she skipped right over learning to walk and went straight to running.
Miss Rose is so active that she wasn’t getting enough from regular table foods she would eat on her own. She wasn’t gaining weight or growing enough to satisfy her pediatrician.
Probably because I can’t get her to sit still long enough to eat enough to counteract what she burns off in a given day.
Her pediatrician recommended that we supplement her diet with supplemental drinks like Enfagrow Toddler to help her gain weight and ensure she had the right nutrition for proper development.
Enfagrow Toddler is a milk-based toddler drink developed for toddlers ages 1-3 years. It is made by Enfamil® which is the #1 Brand of Infant Formula recommended by Pediatricians. So it’s one we know and trust to deliver quality.
It’s not a meal on its own like infant formula. It is the next step up for growing toddlers who are already eating table foods and is best used to supplement table foods that your child is already eating.
Instead of offering sugary drinks or even juice with meals or in between meals, offer Enfagrow Toddler. It has DHA, Iron, Vitamin D, prebiotics, and 22 total nutrients to support a healthy immune system.
Enfagrow Toddler helps to bridge the gap between the amount of DHA a toddler acquires from their regular foods, and what experts recommend each day to help support healthy brain and eye development.
Now you may be thinking, “Couldn’t I just feed my kid foods with DHA in it?“
Technically you can. But, the main source of DHA is from fatty fish like salmon. And most kids don’t like fish. They like cereal, cheese, bananas, regular milk, chicken nuggets, mac & cheese, carrot sticks and fruit puree. All of which has a total of 0 mg of DHA.
Thankfully, my Rose loves to eat fish! But even with her loving fish, I still can’t get her to sit still long enough to eat a good enough meal to provide DHA to meet the expert-recommended amount each day.
After the struggles we have had with her older sisters special needs and developmental delays, I want to ensure we do everything we possibly can to give Miss Rose the best start she can have during these first 3 crucial years.
It is also pretty helpful that Miss Rose loves her Enfagrow Toddler “milk” drink. She insists on it first thing every morning and after every nap.
You can find Enfagrow Toddler in powder form like a formula. It is also now in a new 32oz liquid bottle for ready to drink ease.
Click HERE to learn more and request free samples. Or visit here for Spanish.
What are your best tips to promote healthy baby brain development?
This is sponsored by Enfagrow® Toddler Next Step™.