BIRTH AND INFANCY0 – 3YRS

Growth• The term ‘growth’ is used to describe a change in the quantity of some variable. Eg. A child may get taller

• The word ‘growth’ does not explain what has happened – only that height has increased

Development• The term ‘development’ describes changes which might be complex and qualitative as well as quantitative

• The word ‘development’ is used to describe most intellectual, social and emotional change, where complex factors interact to create different patterns of change in different individuals

Birth• At birth a newborn baby (or neonate) has to take easily digestible food such as mother’s milk to grow

• Newborn does not have a fully developed brain but does have certain reflexes

Reflexes• Rooting Reflex

– Newborn baby will turn their head toward any touch on the cheek

– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NksbJQr5_xw• Grasp Reflex

– Baby will grasp your finger tightly if placed in the palm of their hand

– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FV-qWSVNFt8• Startle Reflex

– If startled baby will throw their hands and arms outwards, arching the back and straightening the legs

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTz-iVI2mf4&feature=related

• Walking Reflex– If held upright with feet touching the ground,

they baby will make movements as if trying to walk

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LT1tGMXFk5s

• Babies have the physical ability to recognise and interact with people

• Babies prefer the sound of human voices to other sounds and soon learn to recognise their mother’s voice

• Babies are helpless when it comes to muscle co-ordination and control

• Babies cannot hold up their head, roll over, sit up or use their hands to move objects deliberately

Ability to lift head slightly 0 – 1 month

Ability to pass an object from one hand to another

6 months

Ability to roll over 6 months

Ability to crawl 9 – 10 months

Ability to stand alone 12 months

Average ages for development

Summary of Physical Development Birth – 2 yrs

• At birth the brain is 25% of its adult weight, the body only 5%.

• By two years the brain is 75%, and the body 20% of adult weights.

• Neonate is born with variety of reflexive behaviors.

• Infant sleeps twice as much as adult.

Growth

Language Development

Age The development of languageAround 3 months

Infants begin to make babbling noises as they learn to control the muscles associated with speech

Around 12 months

Infants begin to imitate sounds made by carers such as ‘ma-ma’ and ‘da-da’

Around 2 years

Infants begin to make two word statements such as ‘cat goed’ (meaning the cat has gone away). The infant begins to build their vocabulary (knowledge of words)

Social Development2 months May start to smile at human faces

3 months Will respond when adults talk

5 months Can distinguish between familiar and unfamiliar people

Infants make their first relationships as they form an emotional attachment to carers. In the later stages of infancy, infants will play alongside other children (parallel play)

Emotional DevelopmentBowlby (1953) argued that infants have an in-built need to form an attachment with a carer. The quality of this attachment may affect emotional development for the rest of the child’s life.

• Ainsworth (1978) and Marris (1996) argue that the quality of our early attachment influences the assumptions we make about our self and others.

• Infants who are securely attached will grow up with the emotional resources needed to cope with uncertainty if life.

• Infants who are insecurely attached may have a reduced ability to cope with stress and major life events