Maltreatment during the first three years of life is of utmost concern. Not only are the numbers of harmed infants and toddlers staggering, maltreatment during this vulnerable period alters children's development in such a way that it robs them of reaching their full human potential. As an infant-toddler child-care provider, you are a "first responder" to this national crisis, playing a key role in the early identification of maltreatment and unhealthy patterns of development. You can be a gateway to healing.

In Trauma-Sensitive Care for Infants, Toddlers, and Two-Year Olds, discover practical advice and strategies to nurture harmed children and start them on the path to healing.

• Create spaces that communicate safety.
• Provide predictable routines.
• Nurture connectedness and attachment.
• Use rhythm to support brain development.
• Nurture healthy social-emotional development.
• Use play to encourage self-regulation and self-confidence.
• Care for yourself so you can care for children.

Sorrels, Barbara

Barbara Sorrels, EdD, is executive director of The Institute for Childhood Education in Tulsa, Oklahoma, a professional-development and consulting firm for those who live and work with children. She has more than twenty years of child care, kindergarten, and elementary teaching experience, as well as more than five years' experience teaching graduate and undergraduate students at the university level.

Dr. Sorrels holds a doctorate in early childhood education from Oklahoma State University, a master's degree in Christian education from Southwestern Seminary, and a bachelor's degree from the University of Maryland. She and her husband have two daughters and one new granddaughter.