Nurturing Healthy Children Through Family Wellness
In terms of our children’s health, lots of factors have an impact. But perhaps the most important factor is the overall wellness of our families. To provide the best environment for our children, we need to make sure that our family unit is as healthy as possible.
Family wellness is determined not only by our physical health (through nutrition, doctors’ visits, exercise, etc.), but also by our emotional health, the relationships we enjoy, and our interconnectedness to our community.
The Importance of a Healthy Start from Day One
The early months and years are so important in child development. Every parent needs all the support he or she can get during this period to raise healthy and happy children and give them the best chance of lifelong success.
But knowing where to turn is often not so easy. That is why local and state partners have joined together to help you access the information and services every parent needs.
Click here to order materials. Developmental and Behavioral Screens in Primary Care
PHYSICAL HEALTH
Physical wellness encompasses a variety of healthy behaviors including adequate exercise, proper nutrition and abstaining from harmful habits such as drug use and alcohol abuse. It means getting regular medical checkups and protecting yourself from injuries and harm. A healthy lifestyle can bring a sense of well-being and help keep your body strong.
- Birth Doulas and Postpartum Doulas
- Breastfeeding Resources for Connecticut Families
- During Pregnancy
- Infant Oral Health
- Interconception
- Oral Health Care During the Perinatal Period / Infant Oral Health Care
- Paternity Establishment
- Perinatal Depression / Postpartum Depression
- Preconception
- Pregnancy
- Pregnancy and Baby
- Pregnancy Supports
- Safe Haven for Newborns Act
EMOTIONAL HEALTH
The way we feel and think about ourselves and the world around us affects how we behave and how we interact with others including our children. It affects how we think, feel, and act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make choices. Emotional health is important at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence through adulthood.
- Addiction
- Animal Assisted Therapy
- Bipolar Disorder
- Bullying
- Coping with Violent/Traumatic Events
- Crying Baby – Tips for Coping/Tips for Managing Stress
- Cutting – Self-Injury
- Dating Violence/Teen Dating Violence
- Domestic Violence/Partner Abuse
- Gambling – Compulsive Gambling
- Hoarding
- Perinatal Depression / Postpartum Depression
- Shaken Baby Syndrome
- Support Groups
- Warning Signs Of Youth Violence
Find Help
HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS
How a child thrives over time is directly dependent on the quality of human relationships enjoyed during those early years. Parents, caregivers, and teachers have the opportunity to take advantage of this critical period of growth by providing nurturing, responsive, positive, and predictable relationships through their words, gestures, and actions.
- Adult Respite Care/Children’s Respite Care
- Becoming a Parent
- Breastfeeding Resources for Connecticut Families
- Child Abduction Prevention
- Divorcing Parents Parenting Education Programs (PEP)
- DNA Testing
- Father Support Groups
- Fatherhood Initiative
- Help paying for Childcare
- Home Activities for Children
- Parent Child Activity Groups
- Parenting Education
- Parent Support Groups
- Parents as Teachers
- Parent to Parent Networking
- Search for Childcare
- Support Groups
- When Can Your Child Stay Home Alone?
- Divorcing Parents Parenting Education Programs (PEP)
- DNA Testing
- Fatherhood Initiative
- Father Support Groups
- Help paying for Childcare
- Paternity Establishment
- Support Groups
- Developing Self-Esteem in the Early Years
- Developing Social-Emotional Skills
- Everyday Ways to Support Your Baby’s and Toddler’s Early Learning
- From Feelings to Friendships: Nurturing Healthy Social-Emotional Development in the Early Years
- Helping Young Children Channel Their Aggression
- Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health
- Teaching Your Child About Feelings
- Teaching Your Child to: Identify and Express Emotions
COMMUNITY SUPPORTS
Community supports and connections play a key role in family wellness. Meaningful daily activities, such as a job, school, volunteering, family caretaking, engaging your neighbors, and taking advantage of community spaces are all ways that we can promote our family’s wellness.
Additional Reading & Resources
Text4baby is a free service that helps pregnant and new moms get important information. Women who text BABY (or BEBE for Spanish) to 511411 receive free text messages three times per week, timed to their due date or their baby’s birth date, through pregnancy and up until the baby’s first birthday. Text4baby sends personalized messages directly to you, and the texts have information you can trust because they are developed by experts from all over the country. There is also an app that provides additional information about baby’s development, pregnancy, childcare tips, and more.
Milestones matter! Track your child’s milestones from age 2 months to 5 years with CDC’s easy-to-use illustrated checklists; get tips from CDC for encouraging your child’s development; and find out what to do if you are ever concerned about how your child is developing.
Sparkler is a mobile app that helps parents to check in on how their child is doing against key milestones — and provides activities to spark their early learning.
It also has plus evidence-based and FUN do-together activities that you can play with your 0-5 year old to spark their growing heart, mind, and body!
Early Childhood Consultation Partnership
Early Childhood Consultation Partnership (ECCP®) provides early childhood mental health promotion, prevention and intervention services to children who are at risk of suspension/expulsion from early care and education settings due to behavioral and mental health concerns. This is done through consultation, capacity building and treatment planning around individual children-families and classrooms.
This website was developed to help parents and caregivers understand their child’s mental health issues. The site offers videos and training for early care and education providers and pediatric providers. The website also offers both local and national resources as well as links to publications, facts and figures and frequently asked questions.
Wellness is more than being free from illness. The things we do and the emotions we feel all relate to our overall wellness and our actions and emotions affect our wellbeing. Therefore, it is important to make healthy choices for both your physical and mental well-being in order to lower stress, reduce the risk of illness and ensure positive interactions. HealthyLivesCT was created to provide Connecticut residents with resources to support and promote overall wellness.
Vroom turns shared moments into brain building moments. Whether it’s mealtime, bathtime, or anytime in between, there are always ways to nurture our children’s growing minds.
Mobile Crisis Intervention Services
Mobile Crisis Intervention Services serves children and adolescents experiencing a mental health crisis. It can help youth avoid the negative consequences that can result from mental health crises (such as juvenile arrests) by calling 2-1-1 for both immediate and ongoing support. By dialing 2-1-1 and, when prompted, pressing ‘1’ for ‘crisis’, and then “1” again for “Mobile Crisis” police can gain access to Mobile Crisis’ 14 teams of nearly 150 trained mental health professionals across the state that can respond immediately, face-to-face or by phone, to help manage the child’s behavioral or emotional crisis.
Take a Screening
If you are concerned about yourself or someone you love, take a few minutes to complete an anonymous self-assessment.
