Best Investing Newsletter | Bureau Federal Investigator

Babies and young children are busy learning and growing so much that it is easy, as a parent, to forget that so much of what children experience and learn during the first five years will set them on a path for life. Parents and caregivers have an important role to play in providing a loving, understanding, reasonable and protective environment for young children in which to grow. Based on research that showed that one in three Canadian children has an emotional, social or learning problem, the Invest in Kids program was created to provide resources for parents and caregivers of children under five.

Developmental Ages and Stages

An important part of knowing how and when to set reasonable limits on your child's behavior is knowing what can be reasonably expected of a child who is a certain age. Developmentally, many children are unable to stay dry overnight at the age of three or four even if they are toilet trained during the day, so punishing a four year old for wetting the bed isn't based on a reasonable expectation. The Invest in Kids website has a reference list of expected developmental abilities based on the age of a child, from newborn to five years old, which can help parents know when to expect their child to be able to crawl, follow directions or share.