Peer-reviewed article
Caregiver–infant and toddler interactions during diapering: Caregiver responsiveness and child well‐being and involvement
Deborah E. Laurin, Shannon Stark Guss, Diane M. Horm ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study observed 144 diaper-changing interactions between 31 caregivers and 74 infants and toddlers in 30 U.S. classrooms. Researchers found that caregiver responsiveness during diapering was significantly linked to both child involvement and well-being. Caregiver encouragement was also associated with child well-being. The findings suggest that how caregivers interact during routine care activities, not just health practices, matters for children's development.
Key points
- Caregiver responsiveness during diapering was significantly related to both child involvement and child well-being
- Caregiver encouragement was significantly associated with child well-being but not child involvement
- Study based on observations of 144 diapering cycles across 30 infant and toddler classrooms
- Diapering interactions represent important moment-to-moment proximal processes in caregiver-child relationships
- Training on diapering in infant care settings typically focuses on health concerns but should also address caregiver-child interaction quality
Limitations
This is a correlational study without a comparison or control group, so it cannot establish that caregiver responsiveness causes better outcomes. The study only observed diapering interactions in one U.S. Midwest city, limiting generalizability to other contexts and countries.
Abstract
The findings of this empirical research provide new information about the importance of caregiver interactions during care routines, specifically diaper changing, in supporting infant and toddler involvement and well-being. This correlational study involved observations of 144 separate diapering cycles by 31 caregivers with 74 infants and toddlers in 30 infant and toddler classrooms in a U.S. Midwest city. Based on these observations, caregiver responsiveness was found to be significantly related to both child involvement and child well-being. Another feature of caregivers' behavior, caregiver encouragement, was significantly associated with child well-being, but not child involvement. The study results suggest that caregivers' behaviors, specifically responsiveness and encouragement, during diapering are vital proximal processes in the moment-to-moment interactions between a caregiver and child. Thus, responsiveness and encouragement in care routines should be emphasized in infant care settings and be a focus for caregiver professional development, including pre- and in-service training. Although training related to diapering is often restricted to health concerns, the findings suggest that specific caregiver-child interactions during this care routine may support or hinder children's well-being and involvement in the moment. Caregiver responsiveness to children's cues in this context may enhance children's opportunities to practice involvement in bidirectional relationships and support children's well-being.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
- Intervention
- Caregiver responsiveness and encouragement during diaper-changing interactions
- Population
- 74 infants and toddlers (age not specified) in 30 infant and toddler classrooms, cared for by 31 caregivers in a U.S. Midwest city
Key finding
Caregiver responsiveness was significantly related to both child involvement and child well-being during diapering