College of Public Health and Human Sciences

For infants and toddlers, emotions play an important role in enabling them to communicate their needs to their parents and caregivers. Although we don’t like to see children upset or having unpleasant feelings like anger, disappointment, or sadness, these emotions and others give us helpful information. This chapter explores how helping children learn to effectively express and manage their many emotions is an important part of development and grounded in the parent–child attachment relationship.