Consult the guide


Foreword

The arrival of a baby is a delightful and transformative milestone for all parents. Whether it’s your first child or not, you’ll have many questions and situations to deal with, and lots of decisions to make for the well-being of you and your baby.

From Tiny Tot to Toddler has been an invaluable source of information for over 40 years. It’s provided free of charge in print and online to all new and future parents in Québec.

This guide reflects the reality of families like yours. It will help you develop a sense of competence, independence, and self-confidence. It contains clear, accurate information based on science and the experience of healthcare professionals. And since being a parent isn’t always easy, you’ll also find encouragement, examples, and helpful tips.

It’s a privilege for Institut national de santé publique du Québec to produce this essential guide. We hope it will provide you with answers and reassurance as you embark on your new adventure.

Happy reading!

Pierre-Gerlier Forest
President and CEO
Institut national de santé publique du Québec

Nicole Doré,
Danielle Le Hénaff

Nicole Doré and Danielle Le Hénaff, authors of the original text, wrote, updated, and developed Mieux vivre avec son enfant de la naissance à deux ans from 1977 to 2001.

Emilie Audy, Specialized Scientific Advisor, Editor-in-Chief

Marie-Ève Bergeron-Gaudin, Scientific Advisor

With the collaboration of
Danielle Landry
Élise Jalbert-Arsenault

Scientific Coordinator
Julie Laforest

Editorial Assistant
Nadine Maltais

Administrative support
Louise Allard

Coauthors
Nicole April, Chantale Audet, Emilie Audy, Christiane Auray-Blais, Lucie Baribeau, François Beaudoin, Céline Belhumeur, Amélie Blanchet‑Garneau, Julie Boissoneault, Luce Bordeleau, Marie‑Andrée Bossé, Nicole Boulianne, Amélie Bourret, Lise Brassard, Marie‑Ève Caty, Brigitte Chaput, Isabelle Charbonneau, Catherine Chouinard, Aurore Coté, Rosanne Couture, Gabrielle Désilets, Cécile Fortin, Denis Gauvin, Christian Godin, Édith Guilbert, Julie Guimond, Anne Harvey, Élise Jalbert‑Arsenault, Julie Laforest, Mélissa Lafrenière, Danielle Landry, Josée Laroche, Richard Larocque, Julie Lauzière, Johanne Laverdure, Michel Lavoie, Sylvain Leduc, Lyse Lefebvre, Céline Lemay, Anne Letarte, Patrick Levallois, Chantal Levesque, Sylvie Lévesque, Michel Lévy, Nadia Maranda, Andréane Melançon, Jean‑Claude Mercier, Caroline Morin, Christina Morin, Réal Morin, Laurie Plamondon, Julie Poissant, France Poliquin, Marie‑Claude Quintal, Faisca Richer, Hélène Rousseau, Marie‑Josée Santerre, Isabel Thibault, Lucie Thibodeau, Diane Tousignant, Lucie Tremblay, Roch Tremblay, Jean‑Jacques Turcotte, Mylène Turcotte, Pascale Turcotte, Hélène Valentini, Annie Vallée, Raymond Villeneuve.

Translation
Anglocom

Cover photos
Audrey Lebrasseur: La garçonne culottée photographie (C1),
Mireille Lewis (C2) and
Jérôme-Nicolas LeBel (C4).

Graphic design and computer graphics
Sophie Charest
Florencia Torres

Photo calibration
Atelier Photosynthèse

Printing
TC Imprimerie Transcontinental

Doré, Nicole; Le Hénaff, Danielle. From Tiny Tot to Toddler: A practical guide for parents from pregnancy to age two. Québec, Institut national de santé publique du Québec, 2024. 808 pages.

We would like to warmly thank all of the individuals and organizations who help make the guide possible; your individual contributions are vital to this collective work. Given the challenge of naming our many collaborators, we apologize if we forgot to mention your name, and we thank you all the more!

Individuals
Catherine Arpin, Sophie Arpin, Stephani Arulthas, Sarah Baribeau, France Bilodeau, Isabelle Bilodeau, Christina Blais, Liette Boucher, Isabelle Boucoiran, Annick Boulais, Mélanie Boulet, Yolaine Bovar, Annie Brodeur-Doucet, Nicholas Brousseau, Guillaume Burigusa, Catherine Caron, Stéphane Caron, Christiane Charette, Elisabeth Codsi, Mellissa Collin, Valérie Cortin, Manon Cyr, Pierre-Maurice Damas, Albert Daveluy, Isabelle Demers, Gaston De Serres, Maude Desjardins, Stéphanie Desmecht, Jean-Philippe Drolet, Nathalie Drouin, Andrée-Ann Dufour, Isabelle Dufresne, Gabrielle Durette, Audrée Elliott, Raphaèle Ferland-Verry, Dominique Fortier, Genevieve Fortin, Mylène Francoeur, Pamela Fredes Zuniga, Léa Gamache, Larissa Gaudreault, Anne Gosselin-Brisson, Catherine Gravel, Marie-Hélène Guay, Carole Gulglielmo, Barbara Harvey, Yun Jen, Yolaine Labbé, Caroline Laberge, Denis Laliberté, Amélie Landry, Caroline Landry, Jessica Lara-Carrasco, Geneviève Leclerc, Andréanne Lefort, Suzanne Lepage, Geneviève Mailhot, Marie Marquis, Linda Massé, Heather McMillan, Manon Méthot, Annie Montreuil, Tierry Morel-Laforce, Sébastien Morency, Anne-Sophie Morisset, Annie Ouellet, Julie Pelletier, Roxane Pelletier, Nathalie Péloquin, Lina Perron, Nancy Pilote, Éric Poulin, Ghislaine Reid, Kim Robbio, Elizabeth Robinson, Anne-Marie Rouillier, Maryse Saint-Gelais, Marie-Ève Saint-Laurent, Dina Salonina, Onil Samuel, Fanny Savage, Claudia Savard, Stéphanie Sicard-Thibodeau, Karah Stanworth-Belleville, Étienne Tardif, Stéphanie Thibault, Julie Tranchemontagne, Mylène Trottier, Gisèle Trudeau, Mathieu Valcke, Louise Valiquette, Isabelle Veilleux, Marie-Pier Veilleux, Gäelle Vekemans, Catherine Vézina, Nancy Wassef.

Groups
The regional coordinators in charge of distributing From Tiny Tot to Toddler at the Directions de santé publique of the CISSS and the CIUSSS: Thank you for your unconditional support; without you the guide would not make its way into the hands of Québec parents..

Organizations
Health Canada, Info-Santé, Lifesaving Society, Ministère du Travail, de l’Emploi et de la Solidarité sociale, Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec.

Parents
Throughout the year, we get comments from parents who take time to write us or come talk to us at events we attend. We’d like to thank each and every one of them for helping us improve the guide, meet the needs of parents, and stay up to date with their concerns.

Parents-photographers
We also wish to thank all the other parent-photographers whose pictures appear in the guide. Thank you for letting us into your day-to-day life by sending us your colourful pictures. We greatly appreciate your generosity.

This publication is made possible through the financial contribution of the Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux.

 


Using the guide

The content of the guide is not intended as medical advice

The content of the guide is for information purposes only. The information is not necessarily adapted to your specific situation. This guide is not intended in any way to replace medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment, or a recommendation of preventive or curative treatment. If you are unsure, consult your health professional or Info-Santé (8-1-1). For emergencies, call 9-1-1.

Integrity of the information

The information in this guide is based on the knowledge available at the time of printing. Since knowledge is constantly evolving, it is possible that certain sections of the guide do not reflect the latest changes.

This guide is only intended for parents residing in Québec

The instructions in this guide may not be suitable for situations outside Québec.

Liability disclaimer

The From Tiny Tot to Toddler guide is a collective work to which many professionals have contributed. The Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ), its managers, administrators, employees, physicians, and the contributors to the guide are not responsible for how the information in the guide is consulted or used. Therefore, they cannot be held liable for the texts or any other information conveyed through the guide.

Links to other websites

Several websites are suggested in the guide as additional resources on the subjects discussed. The sites are managed by third parties, and the INSPQ is not responsible for their content.

Brand names of products described in this document are given as examples only.

Reproduction for private study or research purposes is authorized under section 29 of the Copyright Act. Any other use must be authorized by the Government of Québec, which holds the exclusive intellectual property rights for this document. Authorization may be obtained by submitting a request to the following address: [email protected]..

Information contained in the document may be cited provided that the source is mentioned.

The information published on the website is identical to the information published in the printed guide.

The information in this guide is based on the knowledge available at the time of printing. Since knowledge is constantly evolving, it is possible that certain sections of the guide do not reflect the latest changes.

Last updated: