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Abstract

Background:

The first two years of life are critical for brain development. Experiences and exposures during this period can have long-term effects on an individual’s health. Therefore, we aim to develop a program for new parents in the Indian context to help them understand their developing infant’s needs and provide the best possible care grounded in traditional practices to ensure healthy developmental outcomes.

Methods:

The program was developed using the exploratory–confirmatory framework grounded in qualitative methods—(a) collection of empiric evidence base by conducting a thorough literature review, (b) tacit experience, and (c) focus group discussions with relevant stakeholders. Picture-based content (one picture per day for two years) was created, and the program was expert-validated. A web-based application was developed to make it available to parents, and the program was translated into three regional languages to improve its reach. A telephonic user feedback survey was carried out, and descriptive statistics were used to present the findings from the survey.

Results:

DOLPHIN stands for “Developing Opportunities of Learning for Parents to Help Infant Nurture.” Over 600 parents accessed the program. Feedback is positive in the domains of parental satisfaction and user-friendliness.

Discussion:

The program primarily focuses on ensuring appropriate sensorimotor stimulation and meeting the socioemotional needs of the growing infant through the first two years, emphasizing healthy nutrition and hygiene to ensure holistic development. Therefore, its approach is health-promotive and disease-preventive. It incorporates traditional child-rearing practices of India rich in stimulation, promoting secure attachment, and incidental learning: “readiness.”

Conclusion:

The DOLPHIN program demonstrates a promising approach to supporting new parents in nurturing their infants during the critical first two years of life. With positive feedback and a focus on traditional practices and evidence-based content, it holds potential as a health-promotive and preventive intervention for holistic child development in the Indian context.

Keywords

Child development early intervention web-based application technology

Key Messages:

The DOLPHIN program, an acronym for “Developing Opportunities of Learning for Parents to Help Infant Nurture,” is introduced as a promising initiative designed to guide new parents in understanding and meeting their infants’ needs through evidence-based and traditional practices, promoting holistic development.

The DOLPHIN program is highlighted for its health-promotive and disease-preventive approach, focusing on appropriate sensorimotor stimulation, socioemotional needs, healthy nutrition, and hygiene practices.

Incorporating traditional child-rearing practices enriches the program, fostering secure attachment and incidental learning for comprehensive child development in the Indian context.

Infants of the human species are inherently dependent on their parents from birth. During the first two years of life, there is a remarkable progression in brain development, growth, and neuronal pruning. Infant brain development and social, emotional, and cognitive growth are contingent upon establishing a nurturing bond with a primary caregiver, typically a parent. Cumulative empirical findings from developmental psychology, neurobiology, and animal epigenetic investigations underscore parental support’s indispensable role during the initial biennium in orchestrating salutary trajectories of child development and enduring prognostic implications.¹

Parenting behaviors are of critical significance in shaping the behavior of human infants, both in the present and the future. Within the parent–infant dyad, infants undergo their initial social encounters, thus establishing blueprints for their expectations of others and their ability to meet societal expectations.² Conventionally, mothers have assumed a greater share of childcare duties than fathers. Nevertheless, research indicates that paternal involvement in caregiving and parenting is dynamic, adapting to the developmental stages of a child, with the paternal role becoming particularly influential during infancy or early development.^3,4

In India, where approximately 26 million babies are born every year,⁵ the Indian Academy of Pediatrics recently released a consensus statement on early childhood development (ECD), ensuring a comprehensive approach to address the needs of this substantial population. It emphasizes active caregivers’ involvement in adopting an age-appropriate approach to enable a supportive environment with a disclaimer that the “consensus statement is prepared for assisting pediatricians by current scientific evidence and guidelines for acting in ECD as a whole; however, many areas are still not clearly defined.”⁶ Given the scarcity of resources leading to a demand–supply gap in the Indian context and an increasing need to create awareness, we set out to create a self-help resource to empower parents with the knowledge and tools necessary for nurturing healthy and well-rounded child development. The primary objective of our research was to develop an evidence-based web-based application for new parents in the Indian context to promote their awareness of typical developmental milestones, thereby identifying any deviations if present early. The secondary objectives were to improve parenting skills and promote parent–child bonding.

Methods

Target Age of Children

The period of infancy is arbitrary. The term derives from Latin words, in + fans, which means non-speaker.⁷ Bowlby theorized that birth to 2.5 years is the critical period for the development of attachment.⁸ It is also evidenced that deficits in ECD cannot be effectively repaired when interventions are done after 24 to 36 months of age.^9,10 Therefore, based on the objective of the study, which was to develop a web-based program for parents to ensure healthy developmental outcomes, and the availability of relevant literature, the target age range of children for the parenting program was determined to be 0 months to 24 months.

An exploratory–confirmatory framework grounded in qualitative methods was used to develop the program. The series of iterative steps included the following: (a) literature review; (b) tacit experience; (c) focus group discussions (FGDs) with relevant stakeholders; (d) thematic analysis; (e) inductive program development; (f) expert validation; and (g) web-based application development.

Literature review: A comprehensive literature review was conducted to gain insights into research on child development and lay a foundation for the subsequent development of the program.

Tacit experience: Tacit experience plays a pivotal role in qualitative methodology. It involves unspoken, deeply ingrained knowledge and perceptions that researchers bring to their interactions, enriching the depth of qualitative data. The researchers had a combined experience of over 50 years in the field of child development.

Focus group discussions (FGDs): FGDs were conducted with developmental pediatricians, child mental health experts (including child psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, speech therapists, and occupational therapists), and caregivers. The objective was to identify essential theoretical constructs that could serve as the cornerstone for program development.

Thematic analysis: Thematic analysis is a qualitative research method that systematically identifies, analyzes, and reports patterns or themes within a dataset. Researchers use this approach to distill and interpret the meaning and significance of qualitative data, such as interview transcripts or text documents. It helps uncover key insights and generate a deeper understanding of complex phenomena. Thematic analysis was used to study and understand the content derived from FGDs.

Inductive program development: Researchers gathered data and analyzed it, looking for patterns to inform the development of a framework for the parenting program and, subsequently, its web-based application, considering the users’ needs and preferences.

Expert validation: Feedback and input from a panel of experts were sought to refine and enhance the program’s content and structure. Expert recommendations were incorporated to ensure content validity and appropriateness.

Web application development: A hybrid web application-based service was developed to make it accessible to parents. The program was translated into three regional languages for the expansion effort. A thorough back-translation process complemented this to ensure accuracy and maintain the program’s effectiveness in diverse linguistic contexts. A telephonic user feedback survey was carried out, and descriptive statistics were used to present the findings.

Ethical Considerations

Approval to conduct the study was obtained from the Institutional Research Committee. The parents were provided with written and verbal explanations of the purpose and procedures of the study. Written informed consent was taken from all the parents. Anonymity and confidentiality were maintained.

Results

DOLPHIN stands for “Developing Learning Opportunities for Parents to Help Infant Nurture.” This unique program is designed for new parents to help them understand the various stages of child development by providing daily activities for the first two years of life. The results are presented under the following sections.

The DOLPHIN Framework

The DOLPHIN framework was derived based on the findings from thematic analysis of FGDs’ content. Table 1 elaborates on the themes and subthemes.

Table 1.

Themes and Subthemes Derived from Thematic Analysis.

Themes	Subthemes
Fostering secure attachment	Early bonding Responsive caregiving Cultural influences on attachment practices
Neuroscience insights	Harnessing the neuroplastic potential Neural foundations of bonding “What mechanisms underlie social connections?”
Theoretical foundations of child development	Environmental influence on child development “How does a child think as one grows?” Role of culture and social interactions on child development

Hence, the DOLPHIN program was guided by the three scientific domains of attachment theory, neuroscience, and child development, with these three pillars firmly grounded in the context of sociocultural factors, as illustrated in Figure 1.

Figure 1.

DOLPHIN Framework.

The DOLPHIN Program

The DOLPHIN program was developed by incorporating principles of attachment theory, neuroscience, and theories of child development strongly rooted within the framework of sociocultural influences based on the data that emerged from the FGDs of various stakeholders. A step-up approach was devised for parents to engage with their growing child through play-based activities tailored to their developmental needs. The two years were divided into four six-month phases. The initial phase emphasized sensorimotor activities, the second phase accentuated interactive play, the third phase incorporated educational materials, and the fourth phase prioritized collaborative play. It is crucial to emphasize that parents should continue the fundamental principles and activities from the previous stage when transitioning to the subsequent phase. Figure 2 illustrates an outline of the DOLPHIN program.

Figure 2.

The Step-Up Approach to the DOLPHIN Program.

The DOLPHIN Activities

Child development follows a linear progression, with a range of normal developmental variations. Activities were identified and distributed over a specific period to align with the child’’ developmental stage. These activities were contextualized to the child’s sociocultural background, creating simple messages for the caregivers. Table 2 demonstrates the DOLPHIN program by illustrating 20 activities—five activities for each phase.

Table 2.

Sample Activities from the DOLPHIN Program.

Week/Day	Activity	Message
Phase I: Sensorimotor play
W2 / D2	Tickle game	Play with {child}’s tummy every time you change diapers. Gently tickle, pinch, and rub the tummy once the diaper is changed while talking to {child}.
W2 / D5	Clipping baby nails	Babies usually have sharp nails when they are born. It is always better to trim them to avoid {child} from scratching {gender} delicate skin. Use special nail clippers/scissors meant for babies. The best time to trim a baby’s nails is when {child} sleeps or after a bath. Sit comfortably in a well-lit area and take your time with the clipping. Clip the nails while holding the palms/feet firmly. You can use an emery board/sandpaper to smoothen the cut edges. In case you nick {gender} delicate skin, do not panic or be too hard on yourself. Just rinse it well with water and press cotton/tissue over the cut for a couple of minutes till the bleeding stops. Avoid wrapping a bandage or putting any antiseptic cream on the skin as {child} may put{gender} hands in {gender} mouth.
W5 / D3	Calming music	{mom}, today, play the music/sounds that {child} has been enjoying these past few weeks. This will help {gender} calm down and take comfort in familiar sensations.
W6 / D1	Social smile	Around week 6, {child} will be able to give {gender} first social smile…so look out for it! A social smile is an intentional gesture of warmth and love meant just for you and those people {child} is familiar with. Interact with {child} as much as possible, make eye contact, and smile often. Soon {gender} will be smiling back at you. If {gender} smiles looking at you while you are holding {gender} or talking to {gender}, make sure to smile back every time.
W6 / D3	Texture play	{child} will love different textures—so try and place things with lots of textures around {gender} or hand them to{gender} one by one so {gender} can explore them slowly. For example, a clean sponge, a bath loofah, a hand towel, smooth toys, a soft teddy bear, etc. remember that the things you use are big enough not to be a choking hazard for your little one.
Phase II: Interactive play
W25 / D5	Standing practice	${dad}, hold {child} upright on the floor and gently make {gender} stand on {gender} feet while holding {gender} firmly. Try to shift ${him} left and right, so {gender} transfers {gender} weight from one foot to another. Gently lift {child} and place {gender} back on the floor, like a small jump.
W26 / D3	It is raining game	Babies love when things fall and make a noise. Place a few things like spoons, balls, wooden blocks, etc. in {child}’s bed/highchair, and he will happily throw them down to make noise.
W37 / D5	Hi-bye greetings	{dad}, spend the day teaching/mastering waving hi and bye with {child} and saying those words. You can also include other action words such as good night, flying kiss, hug, for I love you, etc. It is important for {child} to associate actions with words.
W38 / D1	Spoon feeding	As {child} is increasingly comfortable with solid foods, {gender} is probably already comfortable eating when spoon-fed. Ensure the spoon is made of soft material with no sharp edges. You can also give {gender} a spoon during meal time and let {him} experiment with scooping up the food using the spoon. It will be messy, but it is important for {gender} motor development and hand-eye/hand-mouth coordination.
W38 / D3	Point it to me	Take turns pointing to familiar objects in the room you have explored together. Now it is {child}’s turn to point things out to you in the room when you have pointed and named things to {gender}.
Phase III: Educational play
W53 / D2	Listen to your baby	As much as you need to talk to {child}, it is equally important to listen when {gender} has something to say. Encourage {gender} to babble and make use of words at every possible opportunity. You can respond with expressions of surprise, delight, questions, etc. to make {gender} continue to talk. {gender} will love the attention and try to tell you more. Make sure {gender} looks at your face during this interaction.
W69 / D3	Row the boat	Sit with {child} right in front of you. Pretend the floor is a river, and you are rowing a boat. Sing the “rowboat” rhyme and scoot around with {child}, making rowing action with your hands.
W70 / D3	Scribbling	Give a crayon to {child} and a sheet of paper. Let {gender} spend time doodling/scribbling on the paper. You can even hold {gender} hands and make {gender} draw a line, circle, wavy line, etc., so {gender} hands get used to the movement required for drawing basic shapes. {gender} can also use pencils, sketch pens, etc.
W78 / D4	Zoo tales	Read a board book about animals to {child}, use funny voices, ask questions, and have {gender} show you the animals in the pictures to make it a fun learning time together.
W78 / D6	Trip to zoo	Take your {child} to the zoo for adventure and animal discovery.
Phase IV: Collaborative play
W79 / D3	Sort by size	Place a box of toys/items in front of {child} and ask {gender} to sort them by size—small, medium, large, very large.
W80 / D4	Coloring a picture	You can either use a coloring book or print out pictures that can be colored. Ask {child} to color the pictures with crayons or colored pencils. It is ok if {gender} does not have the control yet to color within the lines.
W82 / D2	Noodle fun	Prepare some plain noodles with a little salt and give them to {child} during mealtime. Let {child} explore the texture and flavor and figure out the best way to eat the noodles by {gender}self.
W91 / D1	Exploring flowers	Give {child} a big flower and show {gender} how to open it up and explore by peeling various parts of the flower. Use more flowers if needed.
W100 / D2	Kitchen adventures	By this age, toddlers are very comfortable playing make-believe games. Have fun with your {child} by playing make-believe in the kitchen with toy pots, pans, and food—pretend to cook and eat together!

The DOLPHIN Pictorial Messages

Pictures were created to convey the message more effectively to the caregiver, and one message a day was sent to the caregivers who subscribed to the DOLPHIN program. Figure 3 illustrates four prototypes (original pictures are not provided here due to copyright considerations)—one for each phase.

Figure 3.

Sample Images from the DOLPHIN Program.

The DOLPHIN Application and User Feedback Survey

DOLPHIN is constructed as a hybrid web application. It operates on cloud infrastructure, utilizing artificial intelligence to support caregivers’ child-raising journey. It offers age-appropriate daily activities to meet the growing children’s developmental needs, weekly quizzes, and red flag alerts (related to child development once every six months) to parents. A total of 657 users subscribed to the “DOLPHIN” program. A telephonic survey was carried out. Of the 657 subscribers, 305 (47.4%) users could not be contacted. About 96.9% (n = 341) of the 352 users who were contacted found it useful and user-friendly, and only 3.1% (n = 11) had a neutral response. Few caregivers (n = 5; 1.4%) were seeking additional therapies for their children, and few users (n = 5; 1.4%) faced/encountered technical issues in getting updates due to changing phone numbers.

Discussion

Children should be supported by an environment that addresses their developmental needs. Literature suggests that a child’s developing brain requires nurturing support,¹¹ encompassing elements such as quality healthcare, nourishing nutrition facilitated through responsive feeding,¹² engaging experiences supported by positive, responsive parenting (involving timely, consistent, and suitable interactions involving play, communication, and affection), initial learning offered by parents and extended family members,¹³ and an environment of safety and security. The DOLPHIN program, firmly rooted in attachment, neuroscience, and child development principles, offers parents activities to ensure their child’s holistic development. The three theories are elaborated as follows.

Attachment theory: Attachment is a strong biological instinct. Bowlby suggested that all infants attach to their caregiver, even if the care is harsh. However, the quality of attachment varies. Responsive caregiving leads to secure attachment, while inconsistent or neglectful care results in insecure or disorganized attachment.¹⁴ The initial secure attachment pattern was viewed as a significant developmental pathway, as confirmed by longitudinal research.¹⁵ This emphasizes the crucial role of one’s early environment in molding future behavior.

Neuroscience: Brain development relies on experience-dependent mechanisms that either enhance or diminish neural activity, leading to the survival of active neurons and the pruning of unused ones, especially during early life, a growth period unmatched in later years.¹⁶ Leveraging the brain’s neuroplasticity during the early years is pivotal for fostering robust child development.¹⁷ This malleability allows for the creation of strong neural pathways that underpin vital skills and abilities,¹⁷ including the neurobiology of attachment, which forms the foundation for secure relationships and emotional well-being throughout life.¹⁸ The bond with the primary caregiver influences the infant, resulting in neurobiological alterations that can impact emotional responses, reward processing, and perceptions later in life.¹⁸ An integrated understanding of the brain basis of child development and parenting has profound implications for mental health by shedding light on the neurological underpinnings of healthy parent–child relationships and potential interventions. Science has also started unraveling the influence of environmental factors and the quality of parenting on genetic expressions that extend across multiple generations.¹⁹

Child development: Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems model highlights the importance of different contexts in child development. It emphasizes that individuals are shaped by their immediate environments (microsystem), broader social contexts (mesosystem), cultural and societal norms (exosystem), and historical factors (macrosystem), all of which play a crucial role in understanding the complexity of human development.²⁰ Children progress through distinct stages of cognitive development, each characterized by unique ways of thinking and understanding the world. Children actively construct their knowledge through experiences and interactions.²¹ Caregivers play a crucial role in providing adequate opportunities for the growing child to learn. Vygotsky emphasized that social interaction is crucial for cognitive development.²² Vygotsky emphasized the caregiver’s role in guiding a child through the “zone of proximal development” through scaffolding.²² In contrast, Piaget focused on “readiness,” suggesting that children should be taught specific things only when they can.²¹ The activities in the DOLPHIN program progress along the natural course of development; however, they should be attempted based on a child’s readiness.

The program also educates and handholds parents through the fussy weeks, when infants may display increased irritability and fussiness, often associated with growth spurts or developmental milestones,²³ and general nutrition and hygiene practices as they play a pivotal role in fostering healthy development in early life and laying the foundation for lifelong health.²⁴ Neurodevelopmental milestones and behaviors in early childhood appear innate and universal when nutritional and health needs are met with a consistent sequence and timing.²⁵ However, it is essential for contingent loops of interactions to take place between parents and infants in order to ensure survival and appropriate development.²

Pictorial messages serve as a powerful tool for parental education and guidance, facilitating clear and accessible communication in the realms of parenting and child development. The DOLPHIN program provides parents with one pictorial message a day. They have been previously used as pictorial calendars to assist parents in engaging with their children and equip accredited social health activists and Anganwadi workers with the means to support parents and families in fostering healthy child development in the Indian context.²⁶

Parenting applications have proliferated globally, offering various digital tools and resources to support caregivers in their child-rearing journey. These apps often provide developmental guidance, parenting tips, educational activities, and family organization features, track baby care activities, record vaccination schedules, and even connect parents to online communities for sharing experiences and advice.²⁷ DOLPHIN is a parenting and baby development application that empowers parents with the knowledge of evidence-based, age-appropriate daily activities. It also has features like weekly quizzes and red flag alerts (once every six months related to child development).²⁸ This application also emphasizes fathers’ pivotal role in infant development, offering resources via visuals and activities. The literature shows that healthcare professionals create a few apps targeted at fathers.²⁹

The primary focus and features of some of these prominent parenting applications and the DOLPHIN app are presented in Table 3. It is essential to choose a parenting app depending on one’s specific needs and preferences.

Table 3.

Primary Features of Some Parenting Applications.

Application Name	Primary Focus and Features
Baby+²⁷	Provides information on baby care, tracks growth and activities, photo album, and sleep record.
Baby Center³⁰	Comprehensive parenting information, due date calculator; connect with parenting community.
Baby Connect²⁷	It tracks nap times, feedings, nursing sessions, and more. It allows users to upload baby information and photos and creates graphs based on logs.
Babygogo²⁷	Pregnancy till preschool; provides information on baby care and mother care, growth and development tracker; connects with parent community and experts.
Baby Sparks Development²⁷	Personalized age-appropriate developmental activities for babies.
Baby Tracker²⁷	It tracks baby activities such as feeding, sleep, and diaper changes. It allows users to make notes and set calendar reminders.
Bebbo³¹	UNICEF’s parenting app provides breastfeeding, baby weaning, learning, toys, and child protection tips. It also has interactive tools to help parents nurture their children’s development.
Cloud Baby Monitor²⁷	Baby monitoring and safety app for remote monitoring
Cozi Family Organizer²⁷	This parenting and family organizer app has a family calendar, to-do lists, and shared shopping/grocery lists. It helps coordinate family activities and schedules and allows making notes and sharing photos.
DOLPHIN²⁸	Provides science-based, age-appropriate activities to nurture parent–child bond, weekly quizzes, and red flags.
Glow Baby³²	It tracks a baby’s daily activities, such as feeding, diaper changes, and sleep patterns, for the first year of life and gives reminders to help parents establish healthy routines.
Kinedu²⁷	Provides age-appropriate activities and video guides for each activity to improve the skills of a child.
Nutri-baby Food²⁷	Meal planner app that provides customized diet plans for babies who have started eating solid food.
Parent Cue²⁷	Provides parenting tips and guidance.
Playfully Baby Development²⁷	Provides age-appropriate play ideas and developmental activities to help the baby achieve weekly milestones and build healthy parent–child bonds.
Sound Blubs Language Therapy²⁷	Provides activities, exercises, and fun games for effective speech development; gives a fun interactive learning experience.
Sound Sleeper White Noise²⁷	Provides soothing sounds to help babies fall asleep; enables them to maintain a healthy sleep routine.
Tinybeans²⁷	Allows parents to save baby photos, share them, and convert them into albums/yearbooks.
Winnie²⁷	Analyses available options and connects with daycare and preschools; connects to the parent community.

AI Baby Tracker, 2023³²; BabyCenter free app, 2023³⁰; Dolphin, 2023²⁸; Nagar, 2023²⁷; UNICEF, 2023.³¹

A pilot randomized control trial of a parenting app involving 79 parents of infants aged 0–6 months in the UK reported a higher app usage frequency correlated with greater parental self-efficacy outcomes.³³ The existing literature also indicates that evidence-based apps tend to be scientifically rigorous. However, they may not be as engaging or have intuitive user interfaces compared to commercial apps.³⁴ Therefore, our cross-sectional survey evaluated the utility and user-friendliness of the DOLPHIN app. Over half (n = 341) of the total sample (n = 657) found the app useful and user-friendly. Future studies could explore parental self-efficacy through comparable pre- and post-intervention assessments while addressing ethical challenges.

Strengths and Limitations

The DOLPHIN program is a culturally sensitive program developed by actively involving professionals and parents. It provides evidence-based, age-appropriate daily activities to parents so they can engage with their children consistently, fostering bonding and healthy development. It is easily accessible to parents from diverse linguistic backgrounds as it is translated into three regional Indian languages. Its interactive features, such as the weekly quizzes, engage parental learning. The red flag alerts raise awareness for early recognition of possible developmental delays and encourage early intervention. However, the DOLPHIN application also has some limitations. It does not track a child’s milestones or other baby care activities. It does not provide individualized activities or customization options to address specific problems. It does not provide access to experts or parent communities. The program’s effectiveness depends on parents’ willingness and ability to engage in the recommended activities, which may vary consistently. The program’s accessibility relies on internet connectivity and digital devices, which may exclude families with limited access to technology or the internet. We must note that 47% of the users could not be contacted; this could lead to a non-response bias. Therefore, the study results need to be interpreted with caution. While describing the general profile of the user base can help contextualize our findings and provide a clearer picture of the population utilizing our app, we had collected the contact numbers of subscribers solely for communication and engagement within the app. Future directions for our research include considering baseline and end-line assessments to measure the impact of application usage and enhance our understanding of the app’s effectiveness for the general public.

Conclusion

The DOLPHIN program offers a promising technology-based strategy to assist new parents in nurturing their infants through the crucial first two years of life. Rooted in traditional practices and evidence-based content, it has the potential to serve as a holistic health-promoting and disease-preventive intervention for comprehensive child development in the Indian context, fostering positive outcomes.

Footnotes

Acknowledgements

We extend our heartfelt gratitude to Mr Karthik Krishnamurthy for his invaluable contributions to the DOLPHIN web-based application development.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.

Declaration Regarding the Use of Generative AI

None used.

Funding

The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.

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DOLPHIN: A Mixed-Methods Study of a Parenting App to Nurture the First Two Years of Life in the Indian Context