Katrina Jensen is a pediatric nurse with Intermountain Children’s Health and shares how parents and caregivers encourage emotional wellbeing in kids
Salt Lake City, UT (PRUnderground) June 18th, 2026
Well-child checkups for infants or toddlers can help parents know how their child is growing and developing physically or reaching developmental milestones. But it’s also a time for pediatricians to check in with parents and their child to see how they’re feeling emotionally.
“At Intermountain Health a well-child checkup includes not just height and weight measurements or checking your infant or toddler’s motor skills, but it’s a time to ask how the family is doing, as they navigate the change of becoming new parents or adding a baby to their family,” said Katrina Jensen, a pediatric nurse with Intermountain Health Children’s Health.
During well-child checkups, Intermountain Health pediatricians can screen for social, emotional, and behavioral health concerns, even for infants and toddlers under age three – as is recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Behavioral health concerns can impact or delay a child’s physical developmental milestones.
“Helping your child learn to regulate their emotions is important, and especially before entering a more formal setting like daycare or a classroom. Identifying behavioral health conditions early and giving parents tools to connect and interact positively with their children can help tremendously. Behavior disruptions are challenging for the parent and teacher,” said Jensen.
“Early childhood mental health is deeply related to parental mental health, mostly because at this stage of development parents are very important in co-regulating their child,” Dr. Quang-Tuyen Nguyen, associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Utah and a pediatrician at Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital.
“Our pediatricians can screen for maternal mental health concerns, family needs, and what are called the social determinants of health: things like economic stability, food insecurity, access to education, safe housing, transportation, and having social connections, which all play a major role in the health of children,” said Jensen.
“Scientific studies are validating what parents already know, which is that positive parent-child relationships really matter in a home and can help a child flourish and improve their resiliency,” said Dr. Nguyen.
“A high level of family connection helps soften the impact of adverse childhood experiences. Children are naturally going to push their boundaries; this is a sign of their growth. But how we support, nurture, and provide guidance, expectations, and limits goes a long way in supporting how they manage their curiosity, drive, impulse control, and relationship with self and others,” added Dr. Nguyen.
“Brain development, nurturing interactions, and small moments during every day interactions can make a big difference,” said Laurel Miller-Jones, senior project manager for the Early Learning Project at Envision Utah.
Five Simple Tips to Boost Your Infant and Toddler’s Brain Power and Emotional Health
- Look in their eyes – Children use their eyes to learn. Give them eye contact. See what catches your child’s eye and talk about it. Smile, chat, hug, or make funny faces!
- Follow their lead – Young children learn best when you follow their lead. Tune into your child’s words, sounds, ideas, and movements! Then respond with your own words and actions.
- Chat with your child – Children’s brains light up when you talk, sing, or make sounds back and forth with them. Chat about your day, what’s around you, or the food you’re eating, or make fun sounds together.
- Take turns – Children learn from taking turns when you play, talk, or explore. After they take a turn, then take your turn. Then repeat.
- Ask questions to encourage learning – Children’s brains grow strong when you help them stretch their learning further. Ask your child a question that starts with what, when, where, how, or why!
Intermountain Health has a long-standing partnership with Envision Utah and is providing an app called Vroom to families for free for three years. Vroom is an app for your phone that includes prompts and ideas to maximize your interactions with your child during the time you already have with your child.
Your child’s pediatrician can connect you with this app and free resources to help your child learn to manage their emotions. For more information visit the Children’s Health Wellness and Prevention page at intermountainhealth.org
About Intermountain Health
Headquartered in Utah with locations in six states and additional operations across the western U.S., Intermountain Health is a nonprofit system of 34 hospitals, approximately 400 clinics, medical groups with some 4,600 employed physicians and advanced care providers, a nonprofit health plan called Select Health with more than one million members, and other health services. Helping people live the healthiest lives possible, Intermountain is committed to improving community health and is widely recognized as a leader in transforming healthcare by using evidence-based best practices to consistently deliver high-quality outcomes at sustainable costs. For up-to-date information and announcements, please see the Intermountain Health newsroom at https://news.intermountainhealth.org/. For more information, see intermountainhealth.org/ or call 801-442-2000.
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