Infant

The quality of care an infant receives will influence every aspect of their future growth, their health throughout life, and their ability to form and maintain relationships. This section will being focused on ensuring a healthy life cognitively, physically and social emotionally for infants.

Cognitive:

Your infant is know in Piaget's first stage of cognitive development: Sensorimotor stage

- Birth to age 2

- Experiencing the world through through their senses

- Touching, grabbing, hearing

Language Development

Language is a big part of an infants life because they are constantly trying to vocalize themselves.  First they begin vocalizing by crying, then their frontal vowel sounds “ da da” (3 months), babbling milestone, 12-18 months earliest sounds, babble, repeat sounds then start single words. By 2 years old they know around 250 words. A large portion of their learning is hearing the sound and leaning how to say it. This is majorly influenced by the parents because they are a learning tool.

Physical:
From your infants head control to rolling over, from grasping to sitting and from crawling to talking, developmental milestones are major signs your baby is growing fast. These are major milestones your infant should be hitting and ways to ensure a healthy development:


Growth in Neonates:

• weight: 2.7 kg- 4.0kg
• Foreheads are high, noses are flat, seem chinless
• eyes are glossy blue/grey
• head accounts for 1/4 of the weight
• 50cm in length

Tummy time: It is important that you allow for your infant to play on its tummy each day. This helps build your baby’s head, neck and upper body strength. They need this strength for lifting their head and for movements they will do later on, like crawling and pulling up to stand.

Reflexes: Your infant is born with these for survival purposes, you can easily check to ensure these reflexes are being used

• Sucking Reflex: if you put something in its mouth, it will suck on it
• Rooting Reflex (looking for food): if you put your finger on the babies check they will turn their head towards that finger
• Gripping Reflex: They will grip, squeeze or hold onto your finger if you put it in their hand 
• Moro Reflex: When startled, the baby will abduct the limbs, then adduct and then usually cry

No startle reflex? Abnormalities in the moro reflex are usually discovered the doctor. If you notice a change between visits, you should contact your doctor immediately. If your baby doesn't react, it could mean damage to the or spinal cord or another injury. Only your pediatrician will be able to perform the test to find out what's going on.

Motor skills:

Infants are quickly using their gross and fine motor skills daily. To ensure they are developing properly, allow your child to pick things up, try to roll over crawl and walk. Congratulate them when they achieve these things and they will understand they are doing it properly. Some play toys and ideas for physical development are:

 push or pull toys, sports equipment, action toys and rockers (gross motor skills)  

Art supplies, patterning toys, stacking toys or manipulative toys (fine motor skills) 

Gross Motor Skills

Fine Motor Skills

0-6 months holds head steady moves arms and legs equally to reach rolls over, sits with support starting to crawl 7-12 months sits steadily without support crawls with ease, stands without support stands from sitting, squats bends over and picks something up walks with one hand held walks sideways 13-18 months Walks without support walk backwards walk up stairs, climbs kick a ball, throw a ball run, dance, act like animals balance 19-24 Months walks up stairs with alternating feet, without help kicks a ball with control throws a ball with control, speed and direction

0-6 months hands open most of the time bring both hands together uses all 5 fingers to get food/toy Grasps objects with the same 7-12 months pulls toys by string bangs 2 large blocks together picks up objects with thumb and index fingers transfers objects from  hand to hand   13-18 months puts small objects in/out of container unscrew lids unwrap candy holds think pencil 19-24 months colours with strokes going out of the lines

Social emotional: 

These are major milestones your infant should be achieving:

Emotional Development:

- They start to show emotions by crying (starts at birth)

-They have three different types of cries: caregivers distinguish

-Start to show a greater variety of emotions

-Become shy and fearful around strangers (Stranger anxiety)

-18 months they become independent

-need their parents love

How to ensurer proper emotional development:

Your baby needs lots of love, they can never be too spoiled as an infant. Having good attachment and love is important. Playing games using facial expressions is a great way to help with the use of emotions as an infant. Example: peek-a-boo, making different faces, playing with toys that have different facial expressions, using different tones in your voices.

Building on the relationship:

• Responding to crying: When you respond to the baby crying they fell more comfortable and safe. They start to recognize and trust you to rely on. Picking them up and loving them is they best thing to do, they can never be too spoiled.
• Play together: Playing builds a great relationship for  both you and the  baby. They feel loved, secure and it helps them lean about having strong relationships.

John Bowlby Attachment theory:

• Bowlby believed that attachment behaviors are instinctive and will be activated by any conditions that seem to threaten the achievement of proximity, such as separation, insecurity and fear
• Besides food, the next need for a child is a bond

Social Development:

-Physical maturity contributes to social development

-Cortex of the brain awakens at 3 months

-more interactions with the world

-healthy attachment

At six months They are developing ideas about who they are. They are also working out the difference between parents, caregivers, strangers, adults and children. They have positive and negative emotions and knows how to express them. They can let you know when they want help.

How to ensure development:
- go on walks, see and interact with the world
-have play dates
-allow family or friends to hold and play with them
-read stories that involve different characters


Overall:

To ensure proper growth and development allow for play time, loving time and proper eating. These three things will all help your infant grow tall and strong. Remember that you can never spoil your child, love is a powerful tool. Help them through their language development by reading and singing. Make funny faces and love them for their emotional development. Give the plenty of toys to discover for their physical development

• Play matching games with your toddler, like shape sorting and simple puzzles.
• Encourage him to explore and try new things.
• Help to develop your toddler’s language by talking with her and adding to words she starts. For example, if your toddler says "baba", you can respond, "Yes, you are right―that is a bottle."
• Encourage your child's growing independence by letting him help with dressing himself and feeding himself.
• Respond to wanted behaviors more than you punish unwanted behaviors (use only very brief time outs). Always tell or show your child what she should do instead.
• Encourage your toddler’s curiosity and ability to recognize common objects by taking field trips together to the park or going on a bus ride.