LEARNING OBJECTIVE

Learning Objective: Students will understand how a baby develops

physically in the first year. Also identify what influences development and care that babies need in the first year of life.

THE GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF A CHILD DURING THE FIRST YEAR OF LIFE IS DRAMATIC.

WHAT CHANGES ARE OBVIOUS FROM THESE PHOTOS?

GROWTH DURING THE FIRST YEAR

From birth to age one, babies typically triple their birth weight and increase their length by 50%.

Doctors judge this by using growth charts: shows the average weight and height of girls and boys at various stages. Doctors are more concerned that a baby is steadily

growing, versus meeting a certain weight or height at a certain time.

AVERAGE LENGTHS AND WEIGHTS0-12 MONTHS

WEIGHT One of the best signs of good health.

Initially a newborn loses about 10% of their weight, however after that they begin to gain rapidly.

Weight should triple by the end of year one.

One-year-olds usually weigh 20-22 lbs.

Boys usually weigh more than girls.

LENGTH

Bone growth is rapid during the first year.

The average newborn is 20 inches. A year later, they are about 30 inches.

Not all babies grow at the same rate and boys are usually slightly longer than girls.

Heredity plays a bigger part in height than weight.

BODY SHAPE

Babies change from holding their extremities close to their bodies and in a curled up position to stretching out. Legs and feet straighten out.

They look chubby by 3 months, but will lose some of this as they become more active.

When babies begin to practice standing, they lean forward slightly and have a protruding belly.

GROWTH AND STABILITY Neurons - Basic unit of nervous system;

receive and transmit messages Dendrites – receive messages Axons – transmit messages Neurotransmitters – chemical messengers Myelin – insulation of axon; enables efficient rapid

transmission of messages Myelination is part of the maturation process

Interconnections among neurons form: Knowledge Memory Physical abilities Senses

ANATOMY OF THE NEURON

GROWTH AND STABILITY:NERVOUS SYSTEM AND BRAIN GROWTH

At birth:

◦ Infants are born with between 100 and 200 billion neurons◦ Most neurons have relatively few connections to other neurons◦ As you grow the neurons form new connections.◦ Stronger connections equal more skill at a particular activity.◦ After birth, neurons increase in size◦ Pruning Down: Severing of unnecessary/unused connections.◦ Born with many more neurons than you will need.

DEVELOPMENT OF NEURAL CONNECTIONS

DEVELOPMENT OF THE BRAIN

Brain: Command center of developing organism

Structures of the Brain◦ Medulla: control of vital functions (heartbeat & respiration)

◦ Cerebellum: control of balance and equilibrium

◦ Cerebrum: depth of human learning, thought, memory, and reasoning Cerebral Cortex: upper layer of the brain (wrinkled surface

of the cerebrum)

STRUCTURES OF THE BRAIN

GROWTH AND STABILITY:BRAIN LATERALIZATION

Brain will begin to become more differentiated and specialized. Certain functions are located more in one hemisphere than the other. Becomes more pronounced during the preschool years.________________________________________________________ Left Hemisphere:

◦ Verbal- Speaking Reading Thinking Reasoning

◦ Processes information sequentially. One piece of information at a time.

Right Hemisphere: ◦ Nonverbal-

Spatial relationships Patterns/Drawing recognition Music Emotional expression

◦ Processes information holistically

SHAKEN BABY SYNDROMEShaken baby syndrome: a condition that occurs when someone severely shakes a baby, usually in an effort to make them stop crying.

Can lead to serious brain damage, cerebral palsy, blindness, fractures, neck or spine injuries, or even death.

SHAKEN BABY SYNDROME What to do if you are

close to the breaking point:

Put the baby down and go to another room to calm down.

Ask a friend or relative to care for the baby for a while.

Talk to someone.

Call a parenting hotline.

CHARACTERISTIC INJURIES OF SHAKEN BABY SYNDROME

Subdural hemorrhages (bleeding in the brain)

Retinal hemorrhages (bleeding in the retina)

Damage to the spinal cord and neck

Fractures of the ribs and bones

Shaken baby syndrome often causes irreversible damage.

In the worst cases, children die due to their injuries.

CHILDREN WHO SURVIVE MAY HAVE:

partial or total blindness hearing loss seizures developmental delays impaired intellect speech and learning difficulties problems with memory and attention severe mental retardation cerebral palsy

PRIMARY BEHAVIOR STATES State - refers to degree of awareness infants display to both internal

and external stimulation. Wakeful states - infants may be:

◦ alert and attentive◦ fussing ◦ crying

Sleep states include: ◦ Quiet sleep (infants’ eyes are closed and respiration is slow and

regular) ◦ Active sleep (infants eyes are closed, but move intermittently,

respiration is uneven, they may smile, frown, suck, sob, sigh etc). Transition states between sleep and wakefulness and between sleep

states. In the months following birth, the active sleep state accounts for about

½ of infants’ total sleep This gradually declines and by 6 months, only about 1/3. Different states produce different brain wave patterns, which can be

measured by an electroencephalogram (EEG) Newborns have highly irregular brain wave patterns, although they

start to become more regular by approximately 3 months old

ENSURING ADEQUATE SLEEP Sleep safety

Choose a safe bed

No fluffy blankets, pillows, or stuffed animals.

Place baby face up

Don’t allow baby to sleep in bed with adults.

FEEDING BABIES

birth to 6 months-breast milk or formula

6 months-solid foods can be introduced

12 months-most calories should come from solid foods, still drinking breast milk or milk.

Babies will eat through the night-about every 3 hours. When a baby weighs about 12 lbs., they no longer need a late-night feeding, as their stomachs are big enough to get them through the night.

BABY’S HEALTH

Teething: the process of the teeth pushing their way through the gums.

When teeth start to appear, they should be cleaned with a moist cloth.

MOTOR DEVELOPMENT IN INFANCY

Reflexes – unlearned, organized, involuntary responses that occur automatically in the presence of certain stimuli.

Most infant reflexes have survival value, or evolved because they had survival value at some point in history.

Some reflexes remain throughout the lifespan, others disappear.

Reflexes serve as good diagnostic tools for pediatricians because they appear and disappear according to a timetable.

REFLEXES

Rooting reflexSwimming reflexEye-blink reflexMoro reflexStartle reflexSucking reflexStepping reflexBabinski reflex

INFANT REFLEXES Asymmetric Tonic Neck

Place an infant on their back Baby’s head turns to one side, the limbs on the face side

extend while the limbs on the opposite side flex (fencer position)

Disappears at 2 months

LANDMARKS OF PHYSICAL ACHIEVEMENT: GROSS AND FINE MOTOR SKILLS

Fine Motor Skills Skills involving small muscles used in manipulation

Development of Hand Control At birth: grasping is reflexive 3 months: grasping becomes voluntary

Ulnar Grasp: 4 fingers and palm 9 to 12 months

Pincer grasp: use of oppositional thumb

LOCOMOTION: USE OF GROSS MOTOR SKILLS

Locomotion Movement from one place to another Requires gross motor skills

Skills using large muscles involved in locomotion Predictable sequence of activities

Roll over − Crawl − Walk Sit up − Stand − Run

Timing of milestones varies among infants Normal “range” versus exact age

MOTOR DEVELOPMENT MILESTONES IN LOCOMOTION

DEVELOPMENT OF THE SENSES

Sensation and Perception

Sensation: stimulation of sensory organs & transmission to brain

Perception: organization of sensations

I. Development of Vision

Visual Acuity and Peripheral Vision

◦ Neonates are nearsighted and have poor peripheral vision

◦ Visual acuity improves at 6 months are reaches adult levels by 3 – 5 yrs.

◦ Peripheral vision reaches adult levels by 6 months

Visual Preference

◦ At 2 months, show preference for human faces (especially attractive)

◦ By 3 – 5 months: differentiated reactions to emotional faces

Depth Perception

◦ Respond to depth cues by 6 – 8 months (coincides with crawling)

THE VISUAL CLIFF

DEVELOPMENT DURING THE FIRST YEARVISION

How far can an infant see?At birth: 7-10 inches1 month: 3 feet6 months: eyesight is almost fully developed, clarity and sharpness close to an adult

Babies first see the world two-dimensionally, but by the second month, the infant develops depth perception: the ability to perceive objects that are three-dimensional.

How would this change affect how they interact with the world?

DEVELOPMENT OF THE SENSES

II. Auditory Perception The ability to hear begins prenatally Infants can differentiate changes in melodies

and sounds (skill required to learn language) Can differentiate their mother’s voice from

others Infants are more sensitive than adults to high

and low frequencies, but not to the middle ranges

DEVELOPMENT OF THE SENSES

III. Smell and Taste Infants react to unpleasant smells and tastes from birth

Newborns can detect their mother’s scent (if breastfed)

Infants have an innate sweet tooth (they will suck harder on a bottle with milk that is sweetened)

DEVELOPMENT OF THE SENSESIV. Sensitivity to Pain and Touch Infants are born with the capacity to feel pain

Some of the basic reflexes require tough (e.g. rooting)

Children gain information regarding the world around them by touching (e.g. babies 6 months old put everything in their mouth)

JEAN PIAGET’S APPROACH TO COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

Cognitive development - an orderly sequence of stages.

Focus is on the change in understanding that occurs as a child moves through each stage.

◦ Four stages of cognitive development Sensorimotor Preoperational Concrete operational Formal operational

THE SENSORIMOTOR STAGE Sensorimotor Stage ( 0 to 2 years)

Developments demonstrated by sensory and motor activity.

Infants progress from responding to reflexes to goal oriented behavior. Mental representations and problem solving

6 Stages of Sensorimotor Development

Stage 1: Simple Reflexes (0 – 1 mo) Assimilation of new objects into reflexive responses.

Accommodation can serve to modify inborn reflexes through experience.

Stage 2: Primary Circular Reactions (1 – 4 mo) Coordination of certain sensory and motor schemes.

Repeat stimuli that first occurred by chance.

The focus is on infants own body.

Goal directed behavior begins to emerge

Transition from “look and see” to “look in order to see”

THE SENSORIMOTOR STAGE Stage 3: Secondary Circular Reactions (4 – 8 mo)

Repeated actions meant to bring about a desirable consequence on the outside world.

Infant begins to act on the world (“rattles” or shakes a rattle). Shift in focus and initial cognitive awareness of external world.

Stage 4: Coordination of Secondary Schemes (8 – 12 mo) Coordination of secondary schemes to achieve certain goals. Emergence of mental representations – object permanence

develops Object Permanence:

Recognition that objects continue to exist even when they are not seen.

First six months Out of sight, out of mind

By 8 – 12 months Will begin to look for objects that have been hidden.

Gain ability to imitate actions of others

DEVELOPMENT OF OBJECT PERMANENCE

Stage 5: Tertiary Circular Reactions (12 – 18 mo) Purposeful adaptations of established schemes to specific

situations. Overt trial and error in problem solving. Experimental quality to behavior (child conducting “miniature

experiments”.

Stage 6: New Means Through Mental Combinations (18 – 24 mo) The capacity for mental representation, or symbolic thought.

A mental representation is an internal image of a past event or object.

Mental trial and error in problem solving. Child gains the ability to pretend and to imitate someone who

is not currently present

INFORMATION PROCESSING / INTELLIGENCE Information Processing

◦ How children take in, use and store information◦ Development is dependent on memory◦ Three basic aspects of memory: encoding, storage and retrieval

Encoding – the process by which information is initially recorded in a form usable to memory

Storage – placement of material into memory Retrieval – the process by which information is located and brought into

awareness◦ Infantile amnesia – the lack of memory for experiences that occurred prior to

3 years of age Intelligence

◦ Individual differences in cognitive development can be measured.◦ Bayley Scales of Infant Development (evaluates infants development from 2-

42 months) Mental Scale Motor Scale Behavioral Rating Scale

◦ Measurement of infant’s intelligence is difficult and unreliable – association between most measures of infancy and adult intelligence is minimal.

◦ Can detect sensory and neurological problems and handicaps

BAYLEY SCALES OF INFANT DEVELOPMENT

THE ROOTS OF LANGUAGE Language is the systematic, meaningful

arrangement of symbols which provides the basis for communication

Language includes several formal characteristics:

◦ Phonology – the basic sounds of language (phonemes) that can be combined to form words or sentences. Ex: “a” in “mat” and “mate” are two different phonemes English language - 40 phonemes to make up the entire language

◦ Morphemes – the smallest language unit that has meaning. “s” for plural or “-ed” for past tense

◦ Semantics – rules that govern the meaning of words and sentences.

LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT Language Development in Infancy

◦ Infants display prelinguistic communication through sounds, facial expressions, gestures and other nonlinguistic means

Early Vocalizations

◦ Pre-linguistic vocalizations (babbling)

◦ Babbling – making speech-like, but meaningless sounds

◦ Starts at 2-3 months of age and continues until about 1 year

◦ Even deaf children “babble” – infants exposed to sign language will “babble” with their hands (vocal babbling and hand “babbling” activate similar areas of the brain – Broca’s Area)

Development of Vocabulary

◦ Receptive vocabulary grows faster than expressive vocabulary.

Understand many more words than they can produce

◦ First words are generally spoken between 10-14 months of age

◦ First words are typically holophrases, one-word utterances that stand for an entire phrase

“ma” might mean “Where’s Mommy”, “get me out of my crib Mommy” or “Mommy, give me back the remote!!”

LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT

By 15 months of age, the average child has a vocabulary of 15 words

Overextension◦ Using words too broadly, generalizing their meaning◦ Ex: “doggie” for dogs, cats, rabbits, squirrels, etc (anything

with fur and four legs) Underextension

◦ Using words too restrictively◦ “blankie” describes baby’s blanket, but refuses to call other

blankets “blankies”