Episode 21: Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health with Lynette De Dios
I’m sure you have heard of this, but the first 5 years of a child’s life are extremely crucial. Their brain rapidly develops and the foundation for how the child will relate to others, manage and express emotions, and learn is being set. Ultimately, a child’s relationship with their caregiver and their environment have the biggest impact on their mental health? Oftentimes the way we parent is influenced by the way we were brought up culturally. Considering all of this, how can we better understand the needs of our children, especially during the first 5 years, to ensure that they are up for success as it relates to their mental health?
In this week’s episode, we welcome Lynette De Dios who is the founder of Early Childhood Consulting and is a licensed clinical social worker with almost 15 years of experience working with families in an array of environments including: the classroom, pediatric hospital, and in their home.
Lynette understands that a baby’s social and emotional well-being is just as important as their parent’s and values the family’s culture and parent’s expertise as the child’s caretaker. She founded Early Childhood Consulting in 2022 to provide high quality clinical services to young children in the familiarity of their home, in the presence of their special caregiver, and in the family’s preferred language.
In this episode, you will hear:
- What infant and early childhood mental health is.
- How we can unlearn and relearn the way we parent our children when our culture is highly influenced.
- How we can overcome our childhood traumas while parenting and raising children while recognizing our inner child.
- How Latina moms can receive support related to their own mental health as they navigate a new identity as mothers.
I had a wonderful conversation with her and you do not want to miss all of the insightful information she shares about infant and early childhood mental health.
You can visit Early Childhood Consulting at earlychildhoodconsults.com or you can connect with Lynette on Instagram.
Resources mentioned in the interview:
- Blanca Velázquez-Martin, LPC from Whole.Child.Home
- ECC’s Child Anxieties in the First 5 Years
- ECC’s Identity of a Mother Begins to Develop During Pregnancy
