Neuroscience shows that infants and young children regulate emotion from the outside in. Before the prefrontal cortex matures, children depend on their caregiver’s external regulation (co-regulation) to regulate their internal states—body sensations, emotions, and moods. Through your calm or reassuring voice, steady presence, soothing holding or touch or rhythmic movement, empathic attunement, and practical support their nervous system can shift from threat to safety — activating the parasympath