Module 4 - Infancy to Toddlerhood

• Birth weight of a Filipino newborn

  2.8 to 3kg (6 to 6.6lbs)
• Weight loss in first few days of life


  Infants typically lose about 5 percent of their body weight as they eliminate waste & get used to feeding
• The weight loss is temporary
• Infant growth in first 2 years

  1. 4 months old - Usually doubles in weight

  2. 1 year old - Tripled its birth weight

  3. 2 years old - The weight increased quadrupled
• Head size at birth


  In the womb, the head makes up about 50% of our entire length. At birth, it makes up about 25% of our length. By age 25, it compromises about 20%.
• Dendrites


  Branching extensions that collect information from other neurons, will undergo a period of exuberance
• Synaptogenesis


  The formation of connections between neurons (connections between neurons are synapses), continues from prenatal period
• Synaptic Blooming and Pruning


  Synaptic Blooming is a period of rapid neural growth, followed by Synaptic Pruning where neural connections are reduced thereby making those that are used much stronger
• Myelin Sheath


  A coating of fatty tissue around the axon of the neuron
• Neural activity in the Cortex


  By age 2, most of the neural activity is occurring in the Cortex, or the thin outer covering of the brain involved in voluntary activity and thinking
• Development of the Prefrontal Cortex


  • It is the least developed at birth, but as it matures the child is increasingly able to regulate emotions, plan activities, strategize, & have better judgement. Maturity continues throughout childhood, adolescence, and into adulthood.

  
• Lateralization


  Process where different functions become localized primarily brain hemisphere
• Neuroplasticity


  Brain's ability to change (physically & chemically), to enhance adaptability to environment & to compensate for an injury
• Motor Development Reflexes


  • Rooting
  • Gripping
  • Toe Curling
  • Moro or startle
  • Galant
• Gross Motor Skills


  Voluntary movement, use of large muscle groups, typically large movements of the arms, legs, head, and torso. These skills begin to develop first.
• Fine Motor Skills


  More precise movements (use smaller muscle groups) of the hands, fingers, & wrist
• Development of Fine Motor Skills


  1. 4 months: infant can reach for an object (first with both arms and within a few weeks, with only one arm)

  2. Grasping an object involve fingers & palm, but no thumbs

  3. 9 months: infant can watch a moving object, reach for it as it approaches, & grab it
• Newborn Vision


  Cannot see > 8 to 16 inches away, difficulty keeping a moving object within their gaze, detect contrast more than color differences
• Development of Vision


  1. 2 or 3 months: Seek more detail when exploring an object visually, show preferences for unusual images over familiar ones

  2. Between 2 and 4 months: Discrimination between colors as well as do adults

  3. About 2 months: Sense depth as binocular vision develops

  4. By 6 months: the infant can perceive dept perception in pictures
• Newborn Hearing


  Infant's sense of hearing is very keen at birth, newborns prefer their mother's voices over another female when speaking the same material
• Development of Hearing


  1. 1 month: Distinguish between very similar sounds & familiar and unfamiliar voice

  2. 7-8 months: Some of this ability will be lost as a child becomes familiar with the sounds of a particular language
• Newborn Touch & Pain


  Sensitive to touch and temperature, highly sensitive to pain, responding with crying and cardiovascular responses
• Newborn Taste & Smell


  Can distinguish between sour, bitter, sweet, and salty flavors & show a preference for sweet flavors, prefer the smell of their mothers
• Bed-sharing or co-sharing


  A decision made based on family customs, environmental conditions, and culture
• Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)


  Identified when the death of a healthy infant occurs suddenly and unexpectedly, and medical and forensic investigation findings are inconclusive
• Accidental Suffocation & Strangulation in Bed


  Suffocation by soft bedding, another rolling on top of or against the infant while sleeping, an infant being wedged between two objects
• Breastfeeding your child does not increase your child's IQ
• A baby that is given formula drink instead of their mother's breast milk has the same effect on the baby
• Benefits of Breastmilk


  Helps to develop the baby's growth & cognitive development, helps the baby's build a strong gut called microbiota & it increases the bond between mother & child
• Object Permanence


  A critical milestone during the sensorimotor period, the understanding that even if something is out of sight, it still exists
• Stranger Anxiety


  Around the same time children develop object permanence, a fear of unfamiliarity people. Babies may demonstrate this by crying & turning away from a stranger, by clinging to a caregiver, or by attempting to reach their arms toward familiar faces such as parents.
• Infant Memory


  Rather fleeting and fragile, older children and adults experience infantile amnesia, the inability to recall memories from the first years of life. Infants older than 6 months of age can retain information for more extended periods of time. Part of their learning is attributed to joint attention, or the ability to focus on objects or individuals in social interactions.
• Newborn Communication


  • Intentional Vocalization
  • Elaborate Vocalization
  • Intentional Vocalization
  • Gesturing
  • Understanding
  • Holophrastic Speech
  • Language Error
  • First Worlds and Cultural Influences
  • Vocabulary Growth Spurt
  • Two-word Sentences & Telegraphic (text message) Speech
  • Infant-directed Speech
• Temperament


  The innate characteristics of the infant, including mood, activity level, and emotional reactivity, noticeable soon after birth

  
• Three General Types of Temperament


  • Easy Child
  • Difficult Child
  • Slow-to-Warm-Up-Child
• Goodness-of-fit


  A caregiver's ability to work well and accurately read the child, meaning their styles match and communication and interaction can flow
• Parenting is bidirectional


  Not only do parents affect their children, but children also influence their parents. Child characteristics, such as temperament affect parenting behaviors & roles.
• Harlow's Surrogate Mother Experiment


  Harlow took infant monkeys from their biological mothers, gave them two inanimate surrogate mothers, confirming that babies have social as well as physical needs
• John Bowlby's Attachment Theory


  Integrated object relations theory with evolutionary perspective, infused knowledge of ethology, studied childhood directly & not rely on distorted retrospective accounts from adults
• Three Stages of Separation Anxiety

  1. Protest

  2. Despair

  3. Detachment