This informal CPD article ‘Anyone for Tennis? Serve and Return as a tool for baby brain development’ was provided by Caroline Porter of Foxstones Training and Learning, an organisation who provide bespoke training, consultation, advice and support to professionals in the public, community and voluntary sectors.
If you were asked to think about key developmental milestones that a baby or infant experiences what might your first thoughts be? Perhaps you would consider first words, starting to crawl, being introduced to solids following weaning or those exciting first steps. All of these are obviously hugely significant but what about those developmental markers that indicate that an infant is beginning to build relationships? Being a successful and productive human being in society involves the ability to form relationships, to connect and communicate. Whilst learning to speak is one aspect of communication and relationship building it is just one part of the process.
The early days of baby development
How do babies learn to connect with others? When do they begin to be curious about what other people, particularly their main caregivers, are trying to communicate to them? How do they tell their caregivers what they want or need before language has developed?
Babies are incredible and their brains develop at an amazing rate. There is so much going on developmentally in the early weeks and months and we now understand how much of this is encouraged and impacted by the relationship they have their parents or other significant caregivers.
There is a growing momentum and focus in the UK around our understanding of the first 1001 days of a child’s life. This period from conception to roughly the second birthday is a time of rapid and significant growth, not just physically but also mentally, emotionally and relationally. Helping parents and professionals who work with and support families to understand the brain activity at this time is crucially important but can feel overwhelming as the concept of brain development and neuroscience can feel intimidating to some.
The serve and return concept
To support this, The Harvard Center of Child Development provided a number of easy to understand metaphors which enable conversations about this complex topic in a more accessible way (1). One of the most engaging and helpful metaphors is that of “Serve and Return”. We can all picture a game of tennis, one player serving and the other player returning the ball. Although for the players hitting an ace might be their preference, for us as spectators the most exciting aspect is when a good rally takes place with a continuous period of play back and forth. This is exactly what we want to see in parent-infant interactions too, a back and forth, gaining momentum and demonstrating focus, cue-reading and atonement between the two participants.
Serve and return metaphor
Crucially in the context of infant development we want the serve to be initiated by the baby. This may include a cooing sound, making eye contact, reaching out, pointing at an object etc. The care giver would notice this attempt at interaction and respond appropriately. That may be responding with words, replicating the eye contact or using “marked mirroring”, copying the child’s movement or facial expressions, including ones that suggest particular emotions such as feeling sad or worried. In these interactions the infant learns so much; they feel seen and heard, they get the chance to see or hear what they look like and crucially they feel safe knowing that the adult “gets them”. The mirroring from the care giver is marked in the sense that it is obvious and potentially exaggerated.
Serve and return can be playful and fun. It can become a game as the child begins to see that they can influence the adults behaviour and response. It can also support the development of verbal language as they caregiver may label or name what is happening, in effect offering a “running commentary” on the activity.
History and the ‘Still face theory’
As far back as 1978 (2) when Dr Edward Tronick et al undertook “The Still Face Experiment” we began to understand what happens for infants in the absence of “Serve and Return” interactions or when the parent (in this experiment the infant’s mother), withdraws her response and becomes expressionless after a period of interaction. The findings were staggering. Dr Tronick and colleagues saw a range of responses from the infants; confusion, wariness, hopelessness and withdrawal.
This encourages us to reflect upon and consider why understanding the lack of Serve and Return is so crucial and also what some of the reasons for the absence might be. For some caregivers it may be due to a lack of understanding of how crucial it is, or not really considering that even very young children can communicate in such a sophisticated way. For some it may be due to “Overload”, another of the metaphors developed by the Harvard Center, which helps to describe the burden of pressure and stress some new parents may be experiencing. This could include mental health challenges during the perinatal period. Lack of sleep, money worries, relationship pressures, poor housing etc, can all contribute. It can be hard for parents who feel overloaded to pick up on and respond effectively to babies’ cues.
The Still Face theory is now over 50 years old. Of course, at the time of its development we didn’t have mobile phones. We might consider how the prevalence of phones and other digital devices may also shape the interactions and responsivity babies come to experience from their caregivers.
Final thoughts
Whatever the reason for an absence of Serve and Return the crucial aspect is that we respond. From a CPD perspective this is about encouraging practitioners who come into contact with parents and their babies to notice it, talk about it and support parents to develop the skills and confidence to practice it. Some parents can feel embarrassed and uncomfortable in making silly noises or pulling faces so our support may involve modelling this ourselves too.
The rewards are unquestionable. Good “serve and return” supports healthy baby brain development resulting in happier, healthier, emotionally regulated children who can build relationships with peers, teachers, friends and family. There are also rewards for parents too, who are supported to see the difference they are making and the value they bring. It can also boost parental mental health and wellbeing as the joy from a good “rally” with their child is easy to see.
So, as we approach the tennis season, let’s think about the benefit of those exciting, dynamic and highly watchable rallies and be reminded of how important interactions are to develop the skills needed for baby brain development and relationship building. Serve and Return really is Ace!
We hope this article was helpful. For more information from Foxstones Training and Learning, please visit their CPD Member Directory page. Alternatively, you can go to the CPD Industry Hubs for more articles, courses and events relevant to your Continuing Professional Development requirements.
References
- Harvard Center for Child Development: https://developingchild.harvard.edu/key-concept/serve-and-return/
- Tronick, E., Als, H., Adamson, L., Wise, S., & Brazelton, T. B. (1978). “Infants' response to entrapment between contradictory messages in face-to-face interaction”. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 17(1), 1–13.
