Infancy

1. Infancy

2. Nature Vs. Nurture What roles do nature and nurture play in the development of an infant? • Babies are born with certain innate behaviors and responses. Some of these behaviors begin as normal newborn reflexes, most of which disappear within the first year. However, the behaviors aren’t gone for good; they merely morph into childhood and adult behaviors.

3. Reflexes • Grasping Reflex- a response to a touch on the palm of the hand. • Rooting Reflex- If an alert newborn is touched anywhere around the mouth he/she will move its head toward the source of the touch

4. Reflexes - Sucking. In infancy, the sucking reflex is essential for eating, but it’s also a way for a baby to comfort himself. Ever wonder why older kids suck their thumbs and why some adults chew pens or smoke? They’re just soothing their nerves. - Startling. Every now and then, an infant will “startle”—that is, he’ll tense up, thrust his arms out to the side, and make a fearful face, almost as though he’s falling. Adults have a similar type of reaction when they’re faced with true danger. - Gaze aversion. How can you tell when a baby has had enough of your goo-goo-gaa-gaa-ing? He’ll avoid making eye contact with you, a behavior that’s referred to as gaze aversion. Surprise, surprise—adults do the same thing to indicate boredom or displeasure.

5. Skin Colour • A baby's skin coloring can vary greatly, depending on the baby's age, race or ethnic group, temperature, and whether or not the baby is crying. Skin color in babies often changes with both the environment and health.

6. Size of the Infant • Just like adults, newborns come in a range of healthy sizes. Most full-term babies (born between 37 and 40 weeks) weigh somewhere between 5 pounds 8 ounces (2,500 grams) and 8 pounds, 13 ounces (4,000 grams)

7. Size of an Infant • Size of Parents • Multiple Births • Birth Order • Gender • Mother’s Health • Nutrition during pregnancy • Baby’s Health

8. Birth Defects • Birth defects are defined as abnormalities of structure, function, or body metabolism that are present at birth. Major birth defects are abnormalities that lead to developmental or physical disabilities or require medical or surgical treatment.

9. Continued • Birth defects can be caused by genetic, environmental, or unknown factors. For most birth defects, the cause is believed to be an interaction of a number of genetic and environmental factors. • EXAMPLES:

10. SIDS (Crib Death) • Sudden infant death syndrome is the unexpected, sudden death of a child under age one in which an autopsy does not show an explainable cause of death. • Unknown causes, which makes it the most frightening • Infant shows no sign of pain/struggle • Most deaths due to SIDS occur between 2 and 4 months of age • one out of every 2,000 in Canada each year • 3 Babies a week are affected by SIDS every week in Canada

11. RISK Factors • African-American infants are twice as likely and Native American infants are about three times more likely to die of SIDS than Caucasian infants. More boys than girls fall victim to SIDS. • smoking, drinking, or drug use during pregnancy • poor prenatal care • prematurity or low birth weight • mothers younger than 20 • tobacco smoke exposure following birth • overheating from excessive sleepwear and bedding • stomach sleeping

12. How do the various domains influence development during infancy? • Physical: crawling to walking • Cognitive: language development • Socioemotional: emotions, socialization, attachment, and independence, beginnings of personality.

13. Physical Development Cephalocaudal- means to develop from head to tail. This happens in the first 2 years of life, primarily Examples: brain/head development earlier coordination than in arms and legs; head larger relative to rest of body, lower parts of body must do more growing to reach adult size. Proximal Distal- means to develop from the inside out (not internal, but closest to the center) Example brain/spinal cord (central nervous system) and organ systems in trunk develop before arms and legs.

14. Maturation • - Psychologists have called internally programmed growth maturation. Maturation is as important as learning or experience, especially in the first years. Unless a child is persistently underfed, severely restricted in his/her movements, or deprived of human contact and things to look at. Maturation will occur on a regular schedule for most babies.

15. Nutrition Importance of Nutrition: Stunted Growth and Poor Immunity: Without the right nutrition, infants and young children are more likely to suffer from stunted growth. Up to 27 percent of children under age 5 in developing countries are underweight, and being underweight can lead to a lifetime of short stature. Brain Development: What you feed your child may influence her brain development. According to 2008 research published in the "Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine," infants and children who receive poor nutrition are less likely to do well on learning, thinking and memory tests when they become adults.

16. Continued Overweight: Poor nutrition can also mean getting too much of the wrong types of food. The risks start as early as infancy. Babies who are overfed and gain excessive weight may be at greater risk of weight problems when they become children. Habit Setting: Small children can't understand the significance of proper nutrition, but left to their own devices, they will choose whatever is tasty whether or not it is good for them. Children who don't get the right amount of the right nutrients before they enter school may have already established habits that set them up for a lifetime of unhealthy eating

17. Infant Development

18. How do the infant’s sensory and perceptual systems develop? • The newborn’s world is not a blooming, buzzing confusion. Newborns can see and may be able to differentiate red and white, but an adult-like colour system does not appear until two months of age. Infants only two days old looked longer at patterned stimuli, such as faces, than at single-colour discs.

19. Perceptual Systems • All three perceptual constancies such as size, shape and brightness are present in infants by three months of age. Infants as young as six months have depth perception. Infants develop expectations about future events in their world by the time they are three months of age

20. Intellectual Cognitive Development Object Permanence- This is a giant step in intellectual development. The child realizes that people and objects are independent of his/her action. This new scheme, might be expressed: “Things continue to exist even though I cannot see or touch them.” Representational thought- Now children can represent things in their mind. “Thinking with actions”

21. What is the process of cognitive development during infancy? • According to Piaget, sensorimotor intelligence develops through six, successive stages, each characterized by a somewhat different way of understanding the world:

22. Stage One (birth to 1 month) Reflexes – sucking, grasping, staring, listening • • Stage Two (1–4 months) Acquired adaptations – assimilation and coordination of reflexes • • Stage Three (4–8 months) Awareness of things – responding to people and objects

23. • Stage Four (8–12 months) New adaptation and anticipation • • Stage Five (12–18 months) Active experimentation • • Stage Six (18–24 months) Mental combinations – considering before acting.

24. Intellectual Cognitive Development Schemes- Constructions, or plans for knowing and understanding the world. Assimilations- We try to fit the world into our scheme. Accommodations- We change our scheme to fit the characteristics of the world.

25. Separation Anxiety why does It happen? • Separation anxiety is a normal emotional stage of development that starts when babies begin to understand that things and people exist even when they're not present – something called "object permanence.“ • Babies can show signs of separation anxiety as early as 6 or 7 months, but the crisis age for most babies peaks between 10 to 18 months. 

26. How do infants learn to speak and understand a language? • What was your first word?

27. language • At birth: From the very start, the baby is learning the power of communication: He cries, you make him feel better. Your response to his noise-making lays the foundation for language. • At 2 months old: The baby can respond to your cues. So when you say sweet nothings while looking into his eyes, he can gaze back and coo in return. He's making a connection between what he hears and what he does with his mouth. And the high-pitched, singsong way you probably speak keeps your baby riveted so he can start to decipher sentences and words.

28. Language continued At 6 to 8 months old: Get ready for all the adorable babbling! Your baby makes vowel sounds now, and will add consonants, too. Within months he may imitate the sounds he hears when you speak. Encouraging baby talk Give everything a name. At bath time, for instance, say, "This is the shampoo," as you reach for it. Your baby will build her vocabulary. Read together. At first she won't understand what you're saying, but you'll stimulate her senses and build a lifelong love of books.

29. Be silly. Games like "so big" or peekaboo reinforce listening, turn-taking, and imitation -- prerequisites for conversation. • Sing. Babies naturally love music, and singing is a great way to introduce a range of sounds. • Babble back. When your baby says "goo goo," say something similar in return, like "Hey, boo boo, how are you?" The play on sounds makes language fun. Before you babble on, pause to let her "talk" so she gets a feel for the rhythm of real conversation.

30. Your child will probably say his first word right around his first birthday (what a nice present for Mom!). Most early words are repeated: You say "spaghetti" and she says "geddy." By 16 months, she'll be able to say a handful of words -- an average of 50 for girls and 30 for boys. (Boys tend to develop speech about a month or two later.)

31. - The infant usually progresses into saying labels or commands, that sound like words ( Baa (ball)) • Late in the first year, the strings of babbles begin to sound more like the language that the child hears. Children imitate the speech of their parents or siblings. This is how the children learn to speak in their native language.

32. By the time a child is two they have a vocabulary of about 50 words, and have began expressing themselves by joining words together. From about 18 months to 5 years of age children are adding 5-10 words a day to their vocabulary • Telegraphic speech- they leave out words but get the same message across.

33. Temperament and Personality

34. What do Temperament and Personality mean? What do temperament and personality mean? - Researchers who study adult personality have also searched for the basic temperamental dimensions that underlie personality in humans everywhere. Through a series of statistical calculations they have found what are called the “big five” dimensions of temperament:

35. • extroversion: the tendency to be outgoing, assertive, and active • agreeableness: the tendency to be kind, helpful, and easygoing • conscientiousness: the tendency to be organized, deliberate, and conforming • neuroticism: the tendency to be anxious, moody, and self-punishing • openness: the tendency to be imaginative, curious, artistic and welcoming of new experiences

36. Basic temperaments of babies • Because temperament is fundamental in determining the kind of individuals we become and how we interact with others, many researchers have set out to describe and measure the various dimensions of temperament. According to the researcher's initial findings, in the first days and months of life, babies differ in nine characteristics:

37. • Activity level: Some babies are active. They kick a lot in the uterus before they are born, they move around a great deal in their bassinets and as toddlers, they are nearly always running. • Rhythmicity: Some babies have regular cycles of activity. They eat, sleep, and defecate on schedule almost from birth. • Approach-withdrawal: Some babies delight in everything new; others withdraw from every new situation. • Adaptability: Some babies adjust quickly to change. Others are unhappy at every disruption of their normal routine.

38. • Threshold of responsiveness: Some babies seem to sense every sight, sound and touch. For instance, they awaken at a slight noise or turn away from a distant light. Others seem blissfully unaware, even of bright lights, loud street noises, or wet diapers. • Quality of mood: Some babies seem constantly happy, smiling at almost everything. Others seem chronically unhappy, they are ready to protest at any moment. • Distractibility: All babies fuss when they are hungry but some will stop if someone gives them a pacifier or sings them a song. Others will keep fussing. Similarly, some babies can easily be distracted from a fascinating but dangerous object and diverted to a safer plaything. Others are more single-minded, refusing to be distracted. • Attention span: Some babies play happily with one toy for a long time. Others quickly drop one activity for another.