Healthi Kids brings global infant mental health lessons home
A dance program in Switzerland. A storytelling program in rural Lesotho. Infant Toddler Play Days in Rochester.
At the World Association for Infant Mental Health's 19th World Congress, held October 2-6 in Toronto, Healthi Kids team members discovered how communities are using different approaches to help babies and young children build strong relationships with the adults who care for them, and shared their own. The approaches varied across cultures and continents, but they all shared a common understanding: healthy development begins with connection.
The congress brought together approximately 1,500 researchers, clinicians, policymakers, advocates, and others working to support infant and early childhood mental health. Over five days of presentations, workshops, and conversations, the Healthi Kids team learned how early childhood professionals around the world are strengthening the relationships and environments that allow babies, young children, and their families to thrive.
“It was a great opportunity to be in the same room with people from around the world, all working on the same things in their own communities and cultures,” said Anna Laurenza, MPH, early childhood project coordinator. “There were very clinical, research-heavy presentations alongside presentations about making connections through movement, dance, book sharing, and storytelling. It was inspiring to see so many different approaches to infant mental health.”
Presentations from Uganda, Bangladesh, Australia, China, New Zealand, the United Arab Emirates, to name a few, demonstrated how communities are using culturally relevant activities to build relationships between young children and their caregivers.
“We’re holding Infant Toddler Play Days here in Rochester, and somewhere else, they might be using dance, nursery rhymes, movement, or another activity to create those connections,” Laurenza said. “There are all these different things happening around the world, but they are all working toward the same goal of setting young children up for a lifetime of strong mental health and well-being.”
Helping families navigate a world filled with screens
One subject connected conversations Healthi Kids had been having in Rochester with what the team learned in Toronto: the growing presence of screens in the lives of babies, young children, and caregivers.
Before attending the congress, the team had heard concerns from pediatricians and other community partners about the need for more public education and practical guidance. Presentations in Toronto reinforced those concerns while helping the team think more deeply about how to respond.
“If I had to name one takeaway that is making me think about our future work, it is that we need to do something more around screen time,” said Stephanie David, early childhood policy director. “This is something pediatricians and other partners have encouraged us to take on, and the conference helped make it clear that it is time.”
According to the 2025 Common Sense Census, children from birth through age 8 average nearly 2½ hours of screen media use each day. Forty percent have their own tablet by age 2, and 58% have one by age 4. One in five families reports using mobile devices during bedtime, mealtimes, or to help children regulate their emotions.
For the Healthi Kids team, however, the answer is not to blame families or insist that parents create completely screen-free homes. Caregivers use devices while balancing work, household responsibilities, stress, limited childcare, and their own need for a break. Families need realistic guidance and alternatives that fit into daily life.
“It’s not that parents don’t realize that too much screen time may not be good for their baby,” David said. “The question parents have is, ‘How do I entertain my baby otherwise?’ That is where I think our Infant Toddler Play Days can really come in. We can help caregivers build the skills to engage in responsive play and show them simple things they can do at home that make a difference, even when those things seem small.”
The congress also encouraged attendees to look beyond the screens in children’s hands and consider how adult screen use can interrupt the responsive, back-and-forth exchanges that help babies feel safe, connected, and understood.
“One of my biggest takeaways was that a major predictor of children’s screen time, and their relationship with screens, is parental screen time,” Laurenza said. “If a parent is playing with a child and then, during a lull, picks up a phone and starts scrolling, the child doesn’t understand what the phone is being used for. The child simply sees that the screen has become more important than the interaction.”
Some of the guidance offered by presenters was remarkably simple.
“You can say, ‘I’m checking the weather to see if we should go outside,’ or, ‘I’m checking what time the doctor’s appointment is,’” Laurenza said. “Giving it a name helps the child understand why you are picking up the phone, rather than leaving the impression that whatever is on the phone is more important than your time together.”
Healthi Kids hopes to incorporate lessons like these into future Infant Toddler Play Days. In addition to sharing accessible information about screen use, the events will demonstrate simple ways for caregivers to interact with babies and young children without screens, including singing during everyday routines, sharing books, playing peekaboo, moving to music, exploring textures, and following a child’s gestures, sounds, or attention.
“We don’t need zero screens,” Laurenza said. “We need moderation and an understanding of how to use screens in the right way.”
The goal would be to give parents, caregivers, early educators, and others working with young children realistic tools they can use at home without expensive toys, complicated activities, or guilt.
“If a caregiver says, ‘I don’t know how to entertain my baby,’ we can show some simple things to do during playtime, mealtime, or bath time that will make a real difference,” said David in reference to the importance of play and early relationships, which were recurring themes throughout the conference.
Caring for the caregiver
The conference also reinforced that infant and early childhood mental health cannot be separated from the health and well-being of caregivers.
Several sessions focused on caregiver support and maternal mental health, subjects that connect directly with work Healthi Kids and its partners are pursuing in the Finger Lakes region. Insights will help the team consider how maternal mental health, caregiver support, and early childhood development can be addressed together.
“The research validated the work we do and reminded us that early relationships are critical to development,” David said. “But it also made clear that we have to care for the caregiver. If the caregiver is not well, that affects the infant or young child. Caring for the caregiver is extremely important in all of this.”
This focus on caregiver well-being also provides important context for conversations about screen use. Helping families create more opportunities for screen-free interaction requires an honest understanding of the pressures caregivers face and the support they need. Caring for the caregiver is part of creating the conditions in which healthy early relationships can grow.
Healthi Kids’ work on a global stage
The congress was more than an opportunity to listen and learn. It also gave Healthi Kids and its partners an opportunity to contribute Rochester’s experience to an international conversation.
A poster presentation titled “Into the Hands of Parents: Developing a Collaborative Parent IECMH Training Model” shared an infant and early childhood mental health training model created with parents, rather than simply for them.
Parent Engagement Specialist Erick Stephens co-developed the presentation with Healthi Kids Parent Leader Legion Johnson and Leah Elliott of the Society for the Protection and Care of Children’s Mary Ellen Institute.
The project began with the recognition that knowledge about infant mental health often exists only within clinical and professional spaces, reaching parents indirectly, incompletely, or only after a family is experiencing a crisis. The training model translates professional concepts into accessible language, real-life examples, reflective discussion, and practical caregiving applications.
Most importantly, parents were positioned as co-developers of the training, not simply as recipients. Their perspectives helped ensure the material reflected the questions, relationships, experiences, and pressures that shape family life here in our region.
The presentation reflected one of the strongest messages Healthi Kids encountered throughout the congress, and a principle it tries to live by in all its work: people who are directly affected by programs and systems should help shape them. Parents bring essential expertise about their children, families, and communities, and their knowledge is critical to making infant mental health information useful in everyday life.
Affirmations and aspirations
The congress affirmed Healthi Kids’ emphasis on early relationships, responsive play, parent leadership, and caregiver support. It also challenged the team to build on that work in areas where families and partners are asking for more help.
“The research validated that our work is important, but it also supported us in growing that work in new ways,” David said. “It gave us new tools and resources to share with parents, partners, and early childhood professionals, and it sparked ideas for what we can do next.”
Team members connected with infant and early childhood mental health professionals from across New York State, shared information about their work, and discussed opportunities for future collaboration. Those conversations helped place Rochester’s efforts within a broader network. While communities may be using different activities, programs, and cultural traditions, they are asking many of the same questions: How can families form strong early relationships? How can professional knowledge reach parents in useful and accessible ways? How can communities support caregivers as they support young children?
The approaches may look different in Switzerland, rural Lesotho, and Rochester, but each reflects the same commitment to helping babies and young children thrive through strong, responsive relationships. Healthi Kids returned from Toronto with new ideas, stronger connections, and a renewed commitment to turning global learning into meaningful support for children, caregivers, and families here at home.