A three-year-old who refuses to get dressed on their own, even though they were doing it the week before. A six-year-old who cries every evening when it’s time to do homework. These everyday situations can be unsettling because it’s not always clear whether they’re part of a normal phase or a sign that needs to be taken seriously. Supporting a child’s development starts with learning to recognize these small changes and adapting your response without overreacting.
Newborn screening and the health record: two practical tools for monitoring development from birth
Developmental monitoring begins long before a child’s first words or steps. In France, newborn screening was expanded as of September 1, 2025: three additional rare and serious diseases are now detected in the first few days of life. This involves a blood sample taken at the maternity unit, which can lead to early care when needed.
The health record has also recently been updated. In 2026, the Ministry of Health announced changes designed to better organize the preventive care milestones to follow throughout childhood. This document remains the common thread connecting parents, the family doctor, and specialists. Checking it before every medical appointment can help you spot a missed checkup or an overdue vaccination.
You can find Carnet de Bébé’s advice for children to complement this monitoring with practical guidance tailored to each age group, from infants to young children.
Recognizing developmental disorders in children: the signs that really matter
Most parents wonder at some point whether their child is developing at the right pace. The problem is that online developmental charts show averages, and a child can fall outside the average without there being cause for concern. What matters is not so much the exact age at which a skill is acquired, but whether progress is being made over several weeks.
ADHD and attention disorders: what the HAS recommends
Recommendations on ADHD published by the French National Authority for Health (HAS) in September 2024 clarified an important point about the process. A diagnosis can now be made by a trained doctor, not just a hospital specialist. The HAS recommends prioritizing non-medication interventions, including school accommodations, parent guidance, and rehabilitation.
In practice, when a teacher reports recurring attention difficulties, the first step isn’t to look for a pediatric neurologist (waiting times often exceed several months). Start by making an appointment with your family doctor, who can refer you for an appropriate assessment.
Signs to look out for by age
- Before age 2: no babbling, no eye contact, or no response when their name is spoken at a normal volume. Any one of these signs on its own is not enough to draw conclusions, but several together warrant prompt medical advice.
- Ages 3 to 5: language skills that lag well behind those of other children the same age, intense daily tantrums that don’t ease despite a consistent routine, or a persistent refusal to play with other children.
- From age 6: ongoing difficulties learning to read or write, constant restlessness that prevents the child from finishing a simple task, or regular sleep problems.
Early identification makes it possible to put support in place before difficulties become entrenched. The HAS emphasizes this in its 2025 recommendations concerning children in care, advising that a health assessment, including mental health, be carried out within a month of the start of a protective measure.
Screens and child development: setting limits that work over time
Discussions about screens and child development are often alarmist, but the reality is more nuanced. The risks to cognitive development should be kept in perspective as long as screen use is supervised.
The key factor isn’t simply the amount of screen time, but the context in which it’s used. A child watching an educational video with a parent who comments and asks questions is in a very different situation from a child left alone with an algorithm-driven stream of content.
A few principles that work in practice:
- No screens during meals or in the hour before bedtime. These are the two times when the effects on sleep and family communication are best documented.
- Choose content together rather than letting autoplay make the decisions. A four-year-old can’t tell an advertisement from a cartoon.
- Replace a total ban—which can lead to frustration and lying in older children—with a negotiated weekly allowance. The child learns to manage a limited resource, which is a valuable skill in itself.
Building a child’s confidence and independence: start with real-life situations
Self-confidence can’t be commanded. Nor is it built by mechanically repeating positive affirmations. It develops when a child succeeds at something they thought they couldn’t do, and an adult acknowledges that success without downplaying it or making too much of it.
A simple example: a five-year-old setting the table for the first time. If they break a glass, the parent’s reaction can shape what happens next. Saying, “It’s okay, we’ll clean it up together,” keeps the door open. Saying, “I knew you were too little,” can close it for a long time.
Offering limited choices instead of open-ended instructions works well for children aged 3 to 7. “Do you want to wear your blue coat or your red coat?” gives a child a sense of control without overwhelming them with options. This approach can also reduce habitual resistance because the child gets to take part in the decision.
Every child’s temperament shapes how they develop independence: some are eager to do things on their own from an early age, while others need support for longer, without this necessarily indicating a delay. The goal isn’t to tick boxes, but to respect each child’s individual pace while maintaining a framework that gently encourages them to take the next step.
From newborn screening to setting limits on screen time, the guiding principle remains the same: observe before acting, make use of the monitoring tools already available, and adjust your approach when it stops working.
