What can we do to help young brains thrive? Babies whose parents frequently engage and talk with them know 300 more words by age two than those that don't.

The human brain is the most complex thing on earth and birth to five years sees the fastest rate of brain development. 60% of all energy a baby expends is concentrated in the brain and 90% of a child’s brain development occurs before they even walk into a classroom. That’s why the first five years of a child’s life a crucial.

"Children need happy healthy parents. I think what we should do is think about parenting in terms of whether we're providing good enough parenting as opposed to whether we're providing perfect parenting." Dr Jack Shonkoff, Center Director, Harvard University Center for the Developing Child.

How do you know if your baby is ready for first foods? From around six months, each baby needs additional nutrients. What your baby learns during this stage of life is important and can have an impact on their future eating behaviours and preferences.

One of the most troubling trends we are seeing in many western countries is a growing number of anxious children. Anxiety, in itself is linked to stress and stress is a very difficult concept to define given the broad array of individual factors that can create stress. What is well known, however, is that stress is incredibly detrimental to the brain and healthy development.

A child’s genes are the blueprint for their early development, but it’s the experiences and close interactions that children have in their early years that can really shape brain development. It will come as no surprise that the home learning environment features most strongly in the research as being the key to children’s optimal language, physical, intellectual and social development.