An American early childhood academic says fewer babies would be injured if they were allowed to make more of their own mistakes.
A conference in Christchurch on Saturday heard about a new approach to infant care under a system called Resources for Infant Educarers.
The RIE approach emphasises doing things with babies up to two-years-old more slowly, and making more space for infants to explore their environment on their own terms.
Janis Keyser, who teaches the system in California, told the conference the more carers leave babies to explore without imposing or intervening, the more confident they become, and the less likely they are to injure themselves.
