Nursery World - Social Interactions part 3: Understanding how self-regulation and co-regulation work together

What are co-regulation and self-regulation skills and how do they interact? Caroline Vollans reports

Self-regulation is something of a buzz term in the early years, and not without good reason. Learning how to manage powerful impulses and emotions is a critical part of child development. A babyis not born with the capacity to do this, it is something they have to learn. This makes self-regulation a fundamental aspect of the child’s emotional and social learning.

When children’s emotions are too difficult to bear, it affects their wellbeing and relations with others. We can all relate to this: our emotional lives and social interactions are intrinsically linked. Curiously, self-regulation is a term that we use mostly, if not exclusively, with reference to children. Aren’t we missing something important here?

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