Parenting resources
Parents are the single biggest influence on a child's life, serving as caregiver, role model, teacher, and guide all rolled into one.
Our national parenting strategy: making a positive difference to children and young people through parenting, published in October 2012, was shaped by comments gathered from a diverse range of parents across Scotland. Some of the key messages received were published in bringing up children - your views.
The strategy promotes the importance of parenting and seeks to make it easier for parents to access high-quality support. Below are some of the resources we have produced to support parents.
Play, Talk, Read
Playing, talking and reading are vitally important to a child's wellbeing and mental development, particularly in the early years from birth to age five.
Through the Play, Talk, Read initiative, we are encouraging parents, grandparents and carers to interact with their young children in ways that will help them to be happier, learn more, and enjoy a better start in life.
Visit the Play, Talk, Read website.
Ready, Steady, Baby! and Ready, Steady, Toddler!
We worked with NHSScotland to develop both Ready, Steady, Baby!, for pregnant women and parents of children up to 12 months of age, and Ready, Steady, Toddler! for parents of children aged from 12 to 26 months.
These resources aim to improve the health and wellbeing of parents and their young children by providing information about pregnancy, childbirth, and early parenting.
Ready, Steady, Baby! is distributed free of charge to every pregnant woman in Scotland through midwives at their antenatal booking appointment, to build on the advice given by health professionals.
Ready, Steady, Toddler! is available to parents free of charge via their health visitor.
Email nhs.HealthScotland-Publications@nhs.net to order copies of either publication.