Infant Development

The physical development of a baby in its first six months of life shows limited range of movement but the beginnings of an ability to respond to stimulus around them. They show their reaction to people, sounds and movement by turning their head toward whatever attracts their attention. They will watch an adult’s face whilst feeding, but have already begun to shows signs of recognition as they will smile when familiar people are around them either because they can see them

Babies born earlier, such as 25 weeks will need medical support in order to survive and are usually placed in incubator – designed to keep baby worm and free from infection. Premature babies are at a higher risk of developing, sight problems or learning difficulties.

Babies can start to grasp things in their hands and are able to feed for e.g. by latching onto the motherâ€TMs breast they can suckle. The colors can be recognized. Babies start to look at the environment. Recognize parents and enjoy repetitive activities. Babies have no any verbal language

Babies prefer the sound of humans interacting to other sounds and from this, they quickly learn to recognise and identify their mother’s voice. Babies form their first relationship through emotional attachments with their mother or main carer. The first year of a baby’s life is a period of incredible growth, and a baby’s brain goes through critical periods during which stimulation is needed for proper development. During the babies first years, visual stimuli or verbal language is necessary for areas of the brain to grow and without this growth, a child’s vision or speaking abilities might be impaired. Infants tend to have different cries for hunger or pain, as well as making other noises. These abilities show your child is gaining communication and pre-language skills. Infants from birth to 6 months will forget about objects they cannot see however they begin to explore objects they can see and grab by putting them in their mouths. They will also follow moving objects with their eyes and look around at nearby objects. Infants in this stage will turn to look at a source of sound. These developmental milestones show a baby’s brain is developing and they are gaining new skills. From 7 to 12 months, infants also learn the idea of cause and effect, and they might repeat an action that causes a

| At birth babies are born with reflexes – such as: * swallowing and sucking * rooting * grasping * startle reflexIn the first few months babies change considerably * gradually sleeping less * looking less curled up and startle less

The infant may not be awake at the time of the experiment or it could be during a nap time. Another variable could be infant discomfort based on needing to eat, change a diaper or other illness induced difficulties which cannot be controlled for well. These concerns could be controlled with preparing the caregiver to assure these needs are met prior to the study. Lastly, the parents or caregivers present are an extraneous variable as if they make sounds or have a response to the sounds presented; this could and probably will impact the infant’s responses. Parents will be encouraged to assure that they do not respond in any way to what takes place hence the need for no deception in this

At 6 weeks infants develop a social smile, at 3 month laughter and curiosity develop, at 4 months full responsive smiles emerge, from 4-8 months they develop anger, from 9014 months they develop a fear of social events, at 12 months the are fearful of unexpected sights and sounds, and at 18 months they are self-aware, feel pride, shame, and embarrassment. In the first two years, infants develop from reactive pain and pleasure to complex patterns of social awareness. Emotions in infants are produced from their body as opposed to their thoughts. Therefore fast and uncensored reactions are common in infants. During their toddler years, the strength of their emotions will increase.

Infant learning and brain development is fragile and contingent upon numerous intrinsic and extrinsic factors. The most critical time frame for infant brain development is from the second trimester to the first three months of life (Marshall, 2011). During this time, neural pathways are forming, areas of the brain are maturing, and brain development is rapid. From infancy until the age of 3 years, neural pathways are still being formed in response to stimulation and for this reason, it is extremely important for caregivers and parents to be aware of the many factors that can influence brain development in infants (Marshall, 2011).

When infants are born prematurely it affects their natural neurodevelopment, even more so when feedings are a set and regulated requirement. This is because when an infant is in utero, the central nervous system develops at a slow natural pace. Sucking reflexes for the fetus are still being developed. Infants born prematurely, have a disruption in this developmental milestone because preterm infants have not yet fully mastered their sucking reflex (Pickler et al., 2015). McClure also lends support to the findings that infants who are born 34-37 weeks have decreased flexor tone and less coordinated sucking and swallow synchronization (McClure, 2013). Furthermore, Pickler et al. stated that out of utero feedings need to have a more normative experience for infants to essentially help build neuronal networks in a more natural way. The pathways set for neurodevelopment are not only important for the neonate now, but for infant development later in life which include other cognitive functions such as thinking, organizational skills, and especially language (Pickler et al.,

Research has shown that the way the caregiver and infant interact has a significant effect on the maturation of the infant's nervous system,

Preterm babies, also known as premature babies are born before 37 weeks’ gestational age. These babies can vary in term of prematurity, from two to three weeks, to extremely preterm at over ten weeks. Goldberg and Devitto (2002, as cited in Leman, Bremner, Parke & Gauvain, 2012) stated prematurity is associated with low birth weight, putting infants at risk of long term issues such as faulty cognition, hyperactivity and perceptual disorders. Werner and Smith (1982, as cited in Leman et al., 2012) stated recent developments indicate high-quality care and extra stimulation can improve the prognosis of the infant. Parents provide this environment for the child, yet often they feel alienated and worried about caring for their premature infant, meaning stimulation is lacking. (Leman et al., 2012) Therefore, some say parenting interventions are essential for normal infant development. However, research is often conflicting with regards to interventions improving prognosis. Within the main body of the essay we will be discussing some parenting intervention schemes such as massage therapy and the use of family nurture interventions, which have overall supported the view that parenting interventions are effective. Whilst also touching upon research that indicates less positive results, including infant behavioural assessments and intervention programs.

I never worked with newborn/infants however, has a mother I can relate with the theory. As

In observing a normal newborn's behaviors and activities, reflexes play an important role. They help to identify normal brain and nerve activity. In my observation of Baby A, she demonstrated reflexes of rutting in finding the nipple of her bottle, sucking, head turning and grasping of my fingers. Although she was born full-term, she was quite small in stature and weight. She also showed alertness to senses of sight, hearing, taste and touch. Of course, at first, she slept most of the time while she was in my care, but as she aged, she became more active and alert. The key element to keeping Baby A happy was taking care of her physical needs first…diaper changes, feeding and burping. Although she is still very small in weight and height, she shows no sign of delayed development and is now a happy, healthy toddler.

Infants are very helpless and extraordinarily dependent. Their earliest behaviors are goal driven for gaining a caregiver to focus and engage reciprocity in their behavior (Sroufe, 2011). The infants task is to gain their survival needs and regulate fear and stress by creating contingent responses so that the world may be predictable and comprehensible (Sroufe, 2011). Regulating emotions can only occur in relationship with the parents; an infant is ill equipped to reduce arousal on their own (Seigel, date, Sroufe, 2011, cite.) The infants work is most effective when circumstances and contingent responses are anticipated and more challenging when they encounter unpredictability and transitions (Hughes, 2014).

Motor behaviors aimed at self-regulation include: leg and foot bracing, hand and foot grasping, putting hand to mouth, and non-nutritional sucking. State subsystem attempts at self-regulation include: Infant preserving energy by lowering the state of arousal or by energy release through strong lusty crying. Attention-interaction attempts at self-regulation include looking around and sustained social interaction. An infant’s success in these attempts is dependent on many factors including gestational age. Self-regulatory behaviors do not fully develop until the infant matures at about 40 weeks gestation. The more preterm an infant, the less self-regulatory behaviors that are available to the infant, and the more the dependent the infant is on