The Importance of the Early Years
The following is a report on the seminar held in London on January 15th 2005
The Importance of the Early Years - a seminar for those involved in the lives of young children
The Montessori Society AMI (UK) were delighted to be hosts to Dr. Silvana Montanaro in January this year at a seminar for new and prospective parents. It was wonderful to see so many pregnant mothers and fathers so eager to set out with their children on the right path!

The following is a brief taster of the principal issues that Dr. Montanaro covered. She suggested that if parents could focus on getting it right in these particular areas then they would be giving their child the best possible start:
The child should not be separated from the mother at birth or at any time during the first weeks of life.

Dr Montanaro talked about the first 4-6 weeks of the child's life as being a symbiotic period when it is beneficial to both child and mother for the child to stay close to the mother. For the child, the mother is his (or her) only point of reference when he comes out of the womb and he needs to stay close until he becomes oriented to his new world. There is a special bond between child and mother that is like a magnetic bond that should not be broken. The mother should hold the baby close to her body and dress, bathe and feed him herself. The child is then able to learn trust in his new environment because he feels secure. In the home there should be a special place for dressing, a place for sleeping and a place for feeding and the child should ideally be present with the mother in all her daily activities.
The child should have freedom of movement.

Many new-born babies are swaddled and placed in a cradle or basket so that they are not able to move, in an attempt to mimic the safe and sheltered environment of the womb. However, even in the womb the child is free to move. Dr Montanaro said the greatest gift that the mother can give to the child is to put him on the floor on a mat that allows free movement. The baby should not be cooped up - he must be free to move. Ideally, at night he should sleep on a low bed on the floor with no bars. Even a very small baby can slither from the bed onto the floor and be set free to explore, using all of his senses. If we can prepare the home by removing the things we don't want the child to touch, when he starts to crawl he can then explore, using all of his senses. When he can walk he should be allowed to walk whenever possible rather than being strapped into a push chair where he is prevented from doing the very thing he has been working so hard on for the first year of his life!
Mothers should not put pacifiers (dummies) into the child's mouth in the mistaken belief that it is providing comfort.

At two months the child's larynx is in the right position to make vowel sounds and by five months he can make consonant and vowel sounds and is able to make those wonderful first sounds that we interpret joyously as 'mama' and 'dada'. If we put a pacifier in his mouth we will prevent him from practising those early sounds and this could well delay language development. By the same token, when a child puts his thumb in his mouth he is also unable to practise the sounds he should be making. If we can give him something to do with his hands - like a ball that is small enough for him to grasp in both hands, he will be less interested in sucking his thumb. The child needs 'work' for his hands and this work with his hands will help his mind to develop. As he grows and is able to walk we should continue to give him work for his hands by letting him join in the practical tasks of the household as often as possible - laying the table, washing up, cutting fruit etc - all of which he is longing to do! And during all these activities, we should be constantly talking to the child - not using baby language, but always the proper words for things and in full sentences. At this age children can learn 6 words a day if they are exposed to them and by the time they are 6 they could know 13,000 words!
Weaning should take place at the right time.

At 5 months the child is ready to start weaning and we should begin to give him the food of his environment, moving away from the food provided by the mother as it no longer has everything he needs. He should be given a spoon to use and a cup to drink from so that by the time he is 9 months weaning is complete. He should not be dependent on his mother's breast or worse still be put to bed with a bottle for years and years.
The above is only a small part of the issues that Dr Montanaro addressed. For those of you who would like to read more on this fascinating subject, Dr Montanaro's book 'Understanding the Human Being - The Importance of the First Three years of Life' Is available from the Montessori Society on www.montessori-uk.org. Dr Montanaro will also be giving the Assistants to Infancy Course starting at the Maria Montessori Institute in Hampstead in March 2005. For further information please contact the Maria Montessori Institute at or by telephone on 0207 435 3646