When I hung up my shingle more than 30 years ago, I had no idea about early brain growth. Like other baby doctors at the time, I assumed infants would naturally learn without any obvious efforts on our part and once school started, the real learning would begin.

But after completing my residency at the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada, one of the world’s busiest pediatric medical centres, it struck me that our culture goes about early infant development backwards. First, we allow massive brain development to occur, and then years later, we send our kids off to school.

Healthiest Baby was started to give parents the support and strategies they need to stimulate mental development during a baby’s most important months of learning.