Physical Development of Infants Child Development Patterns of

Physical Development of Infants Child Development

Patterns of Physical Development • The pattern of development begins before birth during the prenatal stage. • Head leads in development – Control of head movements • Raise their head to see an object • Next arms and hands • Legs and feet slowly

Patterns of Physical Development cont. • Near to Far • Development begins close to trunk of the body and moves outward – Wave arms when they see an object – Later – development of more precise hand finger control • Can reach and grasp for object with fingers

Patterns of Physical Development cont. • Simple to Complex – First develop large muscle groups • Legs, neck, arms, and torso – Strengthen and gain control over muscles • Through exercise and movement (involuntary) – Learn increasingly complex tasks • Controlling head, rolling, reaching, crawling, and walking

Influences on Growth and Development • Heredity and Environment – significant role • Heredity – Baby inherits from parents • Environment (or “nature”) – More complex • • Nutrition Amount of stimulation Health Relationships

Developmental Milestones • Range of ages to determine the average which children acquire a certain skills. • To reach these milestones infants need to play and have good nutrition to build a strong body. • If a child become ill for an extended period of time and misses out on the play and nutrition it will take them longer to reach the milestones.

Heredity • We already know that our genes are a “blueprint” for the development of the human body that we get from our parents. – Eye and hair color, when teeth first emerge • Genes also influence larger traits like intellectual potential and artistic abilities – Nature also plays a role – if never given what is needed to develop a trait that trait won’t emerge.

Nutrition • Foods with essential nutrients – Key to child’s lifelong health – Coupled with proper amount of sleep • Growing and developing • Proper nutrition fuels development – Research show the affect of nutrition on growth and development. • Bone strength, brain development, and height

Nutrition cont. • Insufficient nutrition – Calories – Nutrients – Risk for illness – Delayed growth – Death

Health • Closely linked to other factors that influence growth and development – Healthy • Eat well – have energy to be active • Varied experiences to stimulate brain and aid in muscle development – Poor health • At risk of falling behind developmentally • Safe environment • Regular medical checkup and care

Experiences • Important key to development – Brain Development • Impacts all areas of development links – Quantity and variety of experiences – Infancy • Critical period – Failure to achieve normal brain development at this stage can have lifelong effects

Environment • Stimulating environment – Wide variety of thing to see, smell, hear, and touch • Toys (w/sound), colors, textures, music – A world with plenty of ways to use all senses provides wonderful opportunities for infant development – Experiences are stored in their brain and make associations • Highchair - food

Environment cont. • Lacking stimulation – Weaker connections in the brain – Delayed or slow development in other areas • born w/o language skills • Beginning from birth connections are made – Part of brain responsible for language – Enabling child to begin speaking » If not exposed to language » Not encouraged to speak – fewer connections to brain » Delay normal language development

Environment cont. • Other factors – Secondhand smoke • Poor health – – Respiratory infections Ear infections Asthma (prenatal smoking mother) » Low birth weight » Premature birth » Predisposed to having allergies

Growth during the first year • From birth to one year babies – Triple their birth weight – Increase in length by 1/2

Growth Charts (different for boys and girls)

Growth Charts • Different for boys and girls • Grow at their own rates • Watch for a steady pattern of growth – Sudden drops in weight could indicate health concerns

Weight • Weight gain best sign of good health • Most newborns lose 10% of birth weight in first 5 days of life • Begin to gain more steadily (& rapidly) – In first 6 months gains about 1 to 2 pounds per month – Average weight of a one year old is 20 – 22 pounds – Boys usually weigh more than girls during “babyhood”

Length Mesurement • In first year babies are measured laying down so it’s called length • After first year toddlers are measured standing so it’s called height

Length • Grow steadily in first year because bone growth is rapid during this time. • Not all babies grow at same rate • Boys slightly longer than girls • Heredity influences

Body Shape Proportion • Hold themselves in tightly curled position when first born. • Babies stretch out within the first six months and are skinny for the most part. • By three months babies look chubby like. • The size relationship between different body parts • Head and abdomen are larger – arms and legs are smaller and short • Head grows rapidly to accommodate developing brain. – Lose the chubbiness as they get longer and more active

Development during first year • Remarkable changes over the first year • Growth and development are quite rapid • During this time period it’s the easiest to see the obvious changes.

Vision • At first blurry • Within a week the newborn becomes increasing aware of their environment. • Focus on items 7 – 10 inches away • Follow an object passing in front of their face • At 1 month can focus on items 3 feet away • 6 months clarity and sharpness (adult level)

Vision cont. • First world is 2 dimensional (like a picture) • 2 nd month demonstrate depth perception (seeing 3 -D) – Significantly impacts children’s interaction with world • Track people as they move • Reach for objects – judging how far away

Vision cont. • Patterns and colors important – Prefer patterns with high contrast • Alternating stipes • Bull’s eyes • Simple faces • Eyes appear to be crossed • One eye may wonder – Improves by 4 th month

Hearing • Develops before birth • At birth can tell the general direction of the sound • Respond to tone – Soothing calms them – Angry voice alarms them – 7 month recognize parents voices – Premature & those with more ear infections have hearing problems

Touch • Rely on touch of others to teach them about their environment. • Meeting needs promptly builds trust • Touch become more important as baby grows – Textures • Soft blanket – scratchy whiskers on face – Grabbing objects • Toys - a variety of textures

Smell and Taste • At birth not much sense of smell – Within 10 days babies can distinguish mom from someone else. • Taste develops quickly – Two-week old can tell the difference between milk, water, sour, sweet, and salt • Babies taste everything when they explore! – keep play area clean!

Motor Skills • Muscle movement – Physical development over the first year • Born with reflexes – Instinctive automatic responses • Sucking • Grasping • Rooting ect. • 2 types of motor skills gross and fine

Grosse Motor Skills • Or large motor skills – Using large muscles • Legs • Shoulders – Gross motor skills deal with ability to make large movements • Jumping • Running