Early Years at Lightfull (0–6)
You’ve been noticing things for a while. Maybe other parents have a different version of bedtime. Maybe what other people call a tantrum doesn’t quite describe what happens at your house. Maybe your child is bright in ways that delight you and overwhelmed in ways that scare you, and the gap between those two is wider than the books prepared you for.
You don’t need a diagnosis to take what you’re seeing seriously. You also don’t need to dismiss it because they’re “still little.” Both can be true: your child is developing, and what you’re noticing is real.
I work with families of children aged roughly 0 to 6. The youngest are still figuring out language and sleep; the oldest are leaving Kindergarten 2 and heading into Primary 1. The work I do at this age is often parent-mediated — meaning I work with you on what’s happening at home and in school, more than I work directly with your child for hours at a time. That’s deliberate. It matches the developmental science.
What I commonly see at this age.
Some patterns I see often. None of these is a diagnosis on its own; what matters is the picture across context, intensity, and time.
- Sleep that hasn’t settled. Not the disrupted month after a new sibling or a move, but a pattern you’ve been carrying for a year — bedtime resistance that takes ninety minutes, multiple wake-ups well past the age the books said it would stop, anxiety about being alone that doesn’t soothe with the usual strategies.
- Big feelings that don’t recover the way they used to. Meltdowns that last forty-five minutes, that arrive over what looks like nothing, that leave the whole house wrung out. The standard “name the feeling, offer a hug, move on” repertoire stopped working some time ago.
- Sensory sensitivities that shape the day. Clothing tags, food textures, sounds, transitions. You’ve quietly built your household around what your child can tolerate, and the accommodation is starting to cost you.
- Separation difficulty past the typical age. Drop-off at preschool that hasn’t gotten easier across an entire term. Sleeping arrangements that no one in the family is happy with. The grandparents have stopped offering to help.
- Speech, language, or social concerns. Late to talk. Talks a lot but doesn’t quite connect with peers. Plays alongside but not with. Highly verbal but missing the social rhythm. These can mean many different things and benefit from careful assessment by the right person — sometimes me, often a speech-language therapist or developmental paediatrician first.
- Behaviour that’s outpacing your strategies. What worked at two doesn’t work at four. The advice from older parents and family doesn’t fit. You feel like you’re managing something rather than parenting it, and you’d like to feel differently.
- Early signs you can’t quite name. Sometimes parents come in saying “I just have a feeling.” That feeling deserves to be taken seriously, even when nothing on a checklist matches.
| What you’re seeing | What it might mean |
|---|---|
| Big feelings, long meltdowns, sensitivity to change | Often developmental, sometimes sensory, sometimes early ADHD signs |
| Constant motion, climbing on furniture, hard to redirect | Within range for some kids; concerning when paired with safety risk or family exhaustion |
| Trouble with peers, parallel play long past peers | Worth a developmental conversation; could be ADHD, autism, or both |
| Speech behind, comprehension fine | Often a separate path — speech-language assessment first |
| Sleep that’s never been easy | Often co-travels with ADHD and anxiety, but worth ruling out medical causes |
The case for waiting, and the case for not waiting.
Most children this age do not need a formal psychological assessment. Development is plastic, contexts change, and a child who looks like one thing at three can look quite different at five. If your child is broadly thriving and you have one or two specific concerns, watching carefully — with structured support if helpful — is often the right call.
The case for not waiting: when what you’re seeing is affecting daily life across multiple settings, when it’s been going on for more than a few months, when one or both parents is exhausted in a sustained way, or when school is flagging things that don’t square with how your child is at home. Early support is not the same as early labelling. The goal at this age is rarely to put a name on something; it’s to give you and your child the tools that fit what’s actually happening.
What working together looks like.
The first session is up to two hours, and it’s almost always with parents alone. We use the time to map what you’re seeing, when it started, what’s been tried, what’s working that you might not be giving yourself credit for, and what the next useful step is. For some families that next step is a more focused parent-mediated intervention. For some it’s a referral to a speech-language therapist, an occupational therapist, or a developmental paediatrician. For some it’s reassurance and a check-in in three months. None of these is a lesser outcome; all of them are useful.
If we agree on direct work, the most evidence-supported intervention I offer for behavioural and emotional concerns at this age is Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT). PCIT is a structured, time-limited programme — typically 12 to 20 sessions — in which I coach you through a wireless earpiece while you play with your child, building the skills that change the dynamic between you. It is one of the most rigorously studied behavioural interventions in child psychology, and it works best when the child is between two and seven.
For families where the difficulty is more diffuse or less behavioural, we work on structured parent training tailored to what your family actually needs. The goal across approaches is the same: leave you with capacity, not dependency.
A note on assessment at this age.
Formal psychological assessment in the early years is appropriate when the question is specific and the answer would change what you do. Examples: a Kindergarten 2 child whose teacher is raising autism concerns and the family wants clarity before Primary 1; a four-year-old with significant developmental delays where the school is asking for a learning profile; a child whose anxiety is substantial enough that we want to map it carefully before treating.
For many concerns at this age, a developmental paediatrician should be the first stop, not a clinical psychologist. If that’s where you should start, I’ll tell you, and I’ll point you toward people I trust.
Who I’m not the right person for.
If your child has significant feeding difficulties, primary speech-language delay, or suspected developmental delay where the question is “is this on track,” start with a developmental paediatrician (KKH or NUH have strong public-sector pathways) or a speech-language therapist. If your child has been hospitalised for a mental health concern, has self-harm behaviour, or you’re worried about acute safety, contact the Samaritans of Singapore (1767) or IMH (6389 2222) immediately, and we can talk after the acute concern is addressed. The clinical fit page has more on who I do and don’t take on, and which colleagues in Singapore I refer to.
I’m specific about who I work with. The worst outcome for everyone is starting work that should have started elsewhere first.
| What | How long | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| 15-minute meet & greet | 15 min | Free |
| Intake | 60–90 min | SGD 300/hr, pro-rated |
| Developmental assessment | 2–3 sessions + parent and preschool input | Package pricing — see /fees/ |
| Feedback session | ~90 min, written report walked through together | Included in assessment package |
| Ongoing therapy | 60–90 min per session | SGD 300/hr, pro-rated |
What this costs.
First consultation: SGD 600 (usually up to two hours, parents alone). This is where the conversation starts. Payment is due before each session.
Follow-ups: SGD 300 per hour, pro-rated. Sixty minutes is SGD 300. Ninety minutes is SGD 450.
PCIT: Standard PCIT runs 12–20 sessions to mastery. Each session is 60–90 minutes; fees follow the pro-rated structure above. We track progress against measurable behavioural targets, not against a session count.
Assessments: Comprehensive child or adolescent assessment from SGD 3,500. Full fee details are on the Fees page.
Not sure yet? Book a free 15-minute Meet & Greet to ask questions before committing. Book here.
If you’re worried but not ready.
One pattern I want to name explicitly: parents at this stage often hesitate because they’re not sure their concern is “big enough” yet. That hesitation is reasonable. Children change quickly; what looks like a problem on Tuesday can look different on Friday.
If you’re in that place, two things can be useful. The first is the screening tools page — the parent-report SDQ in particular can give you a structured way to look at what you’re seeing across emotional, behavioural, and social dimensions, with normative bands so you have something to compare against. It’s not a diagnosis; it’s a way to organise observations. The second is a 15-minute Meet & Greet, which exists exactly for this — not every conversation has to lead to becoming a client. Sometimes the most useful thing I can tell a parent is “what you’re seeing sounds within range; check back if it changes.”
If something on this page sounded like your family and you want to talk, the next step is small: a free 15-minute Meet & Greet. Book here.
Not every concern at this age is a diagnosis. Sometimes it’s developmental, sometimes it’s environmental, sometimes it’s both. If you’re still in figuring-out mode, start here.
A few free screeners
Self-completed, instantly scored, no email required. A starting point for a conversation, not a diagnosis.
- SDQ — Parent Report — emotional and behavioural strengths and difficulties for ages 4–17.
- SCARED — Parent Report — anxiety symptoms in children.