Age-related patterns of early childhood development practices amongst rural families in Burkina Faso: findings from a nationwide survey of mothers of children aged 0-3 years.

Opportunities for learning, especially through verbal interactions, appeared to be limited during the developmentally crucial first three years, most notably in the first year of life. The challenge for ECD intervention development in Burkina Faso will be finding ways to promote more responsive interactions at an early age and finding ways of mobilizing other family members to become more engaged in stimulating activities in the child's early years.