Trauma-Responsive Care for Infants and Toddlers in Child Care: A Training for Trainers Overview

This series provides rationale and guidance for implementing trauma-responsive care in child care settings that serve infants, toddlers, and their families. It is based on the following understanding of trauma:

“Childhood trauma occurs when a child experiences an actual or threatened negative event, series of events, or set of circumstances that cause emotional pain and overwhelm the child’s ability to cope” (Bartlett & Steber, 2019, para. 5). Young children are most vulnerable to the adverse effects of trauma and are at the highest risk for exposure to trauma. Trauma has the potential to negatively affect all areas of an infant or toddler’s growth and development and can have lifelong impacts.