Ways to Support Your Child’s Brain Development

While we have approximately 100 billion brain cells, not all are connected. Brain cell connections continue to be built and formed throughout childhood for memory and learning to take place.

Take this analogy; your young child’s brain cells are like jigsaw puzzles. They are all there—approximately 100 billion of them—but they remain singular pieces unless you fix them to form a whole image.

Now, the best time to do it is during the childhood stage because it is when the brain develops faster than at any other time in life. These young cells can connect rapidly (National Academy of Sciences, 2000) when exposed to the correct stimulants. How a young child’s brain develops impacts their future abilities to learn and succeed in school and in life.

Here, we are going to look at what you, as a parent, can do to fix these puzzle pieces together, so more of their brain cells are connected.

Provide Positive Interactions

One of the most crucial things you can do is to be present with your toddler from a very young age.

Parents are encouraged to soothe, nurture, cuddle and reassure them. Without a good initial bond, children are less likely to grow up to become happy, independent and resilient adults. (Winston & Chicot, 2016).

When they experience positive responses through physical touch, their brains start to form expectations (Lally & Mangoine, 2017) on how they will be treated, and how they should respond. For example, when a toddler fusses or cries, consistent adult responses to help comfort the child will help them anticipate similar responses in the future.

Introduce Languages

We are fortunate to be living in a country that embraces many languages. We have our national language, Bahasa Malaysia, to English and our various mother tongues. Therefore, speak to them in as many languages as you know because in doing so, you are further aiding their brain development.

Some parents also send their children to language classes to pick up other tongues such as French, German, Spanish, Korean and Japanese.

Picking up a language is much easier for young children (Shiver, 2001) because their malleable brain allows them to learn up to three languages simultaneously. Once they are proficient with the important languages frequently used at home or within their community, they can learn a non-native language. They can also attain proficiency more easily before puberty, as it is the sensitive period for language development.

Play with Them

You help them connect the brain cell puzzles when you engage their senses to interact with the world around them, like reaching for a toy. Different stimuli help build different connections.

Therefore, we encourage you to involve body movements and finger play when singing them lullabies. It helps your toddler connect sounds with large and small motor actions. Music also enhances your child’s learning of rhythms, rhymes and language patterns.

You can also introduce them to different types of matter so they learn about the properties of liquids, solids, and mixtures—sensory experiences that are crucial for the learning brain. Allow them to touch and make a mess if needed because that is how they learn.

Also, when your child is playing, resist the temptation to check your social media updates. Instead, get on the ground and spend time interacting with them. Toddlers who are securely attached to you emotionally are more eager to explore and learn.

Supplement Them with Gangliosides (GA®)

Gangliosides Gangliosides (GA®) are components of cell membranes and are largely concentrated in the grey matter.

They help to form brain cell connections, hence, it is equally important as Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)—one we know is essential for brain development in toddlers (Kuratko et al, 2013).

According to a recent study (Tan et al, 2020), dietary Gangliosides (GA®) intake is found to be associated with toddlers’ neurodevelopment.

Now, there is this thing called Milk Fat Globule Membrane (MFGM) that contains Gangliosides (GA®) and Phospholipid. MFGM is associated with a significant decrease in the number of short febrile episodes and leads to improved behavioural regulation among young children. (Veereman-Wauters et al, 2012).

Therefore, supplementing your child with MFGM+Gangliosides (GA®)  is a sure way for every parent. Let’s support to maximise your child’s brain cells connections* today.

You can find Gangliosides (GA®) in Anmum^TM Essential.

It provides MFGM-Gangliosides-DHA. It is important for parents to do some research on all the good things important for the brain! Anmum™ ESSENTIAL also has no added sugars**.

It is also scientifically formulated with Prebiotic (Inulin) and 15 Key Nutrients to support the nutritional needs of a growing child.