The importance of self-regulation in practice

Knowledge of typical self regulation and the influence of sensory processing together with your assessment of the baby’s responses and the expertise of the caregiver provides the background for problem solving to support the infant to maintain optimal arousal and best performance in daily occupations.

Self–regulation is more accurately called co-regulation in infants. This reflects the two way process of cue reading and responses between infant and caregiver. There is gathering evidence that parent based interventions are most successful in supporting infant regulation.

The goals of intervention include:

• Helping parents develop awareness and confidence in their abilities to read cues and support the infant’s regulatory needs.
• Supporting the infant to achieve a quiet alert state for interaction and play.
• Supporting the infant to achieve appropriate state and transitions between states for occupations such as sleeping and feeding.

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