I went to an absolutely fascinating lecture the other day about early brain development. It was aimed at pediatricians (I'm not a pediatrician) and the main points were really about the vicious cycle of poverty and what happens when children are stressed. (Good stress, bad but finite stress, and bad ongoing stress.)

A couple things struck me, such as how many more words children from middle class and affluent families hear versus impoverished ones. He had a *very* interesting thing to say about ADHD diagnosis and school performance too.

But here's something for the MIL's and such who insist you should put your baby down because you are "spoiling" them:

It broke my heart to watch this, even knowing it was just an experiment. The purpose was to show that infants and toddlers do interact, socialize, and build relationships. (Apparently people thought that infants weren't capable?)