Infancy and Toddlerhood

Physical Development
Physical development is when children develop gross motor skills, which is learning to use the
larger muscles in their bodies such as the bodys core, legs, and arms. This is then followed by
children developing fine motor skills, which is learning to use smaller muscles in their bodies
such as their fingers, toes, and eyes. Physical milestones involve both large-motor skills and fine-
motor skills. The large-motor skills are usually the first to develop and include lifting and
supporting their head independently, supporting their upper body with their arms, rolling over,
sitting up, and bearing weight on their legs when held in a standing position. Between birth and
age 3, babies learn to roll over, crawl, stand, walk, and run (Bowen, 2011). When placed on their
tummy, they just lay there in the beginning, but after a little while, they are able to raise their
head and chest because their muscles are getting stronger. In the beginning, they cross their eyes
quite a bit, but as their muscles strengthen, this decreases. They begin to follow objects with their
eyes, and they begin grasping at and batting at things that interest them.. Within the first three
months of life, they are able to open and shut their hands and bring them to their mouth. They are
able to grip stationary objects in their hands when placed in front of them, but whenever
something is dangled in front of them, they are only able to scratch at it or reach for it but not
able to grab it yet. They begin crawling and pulling up on tables and any other stationary object
they can grasp on to. They then begin walking, eating baby food, and feeding themselves snacks
because now they can grasp small solid foods. They begin to point at things they want (Cherry,
2013).
A child may show signs of Atypical Development if they are not attempting to reach for toys or
they are not making any attempts to sit up, crawl, or pull up by themselves. Some things that I
would recommend the family do is to implement more tummy time for the baby in order to help
him strengthen his muscles. In terms of sitting up, I would recommend to the family to continue
sitting the baby in a high chair for longer periods of time so that he can get used to sitting up.
Furthermore, I would encourage them to sit the baby on the floor with a boppy pillow or place
the child between their legs and play with him or allow him to play independently to build upper
body strength. In terms of crawling, I would encourage them to put the baby on the floor and
place bright toys, toys with lights, toys that make noise, or any toys that would catch the babys
attention near the baby in order to get the baby interested in them so that he can try to retrieve
them.
Language Development
Language is when a young toddler first begins to talk. it simply sounds like a bunch of rambling
and meaningless chatter, but it is really their modeling of the rhythm, tone, volume, and non-
verbal expressions they see in people and their environment. Language acquisition is a product
of active, repetitive, and complex learning. During the stages of early vocalization, babies start
off crying, and around 6 six weeks, they progress to cooing, which are both random acts of
noisemaking. They then begin babbling at around 2 to 3 months and by 5 months, they are
actively babbling with a sing-song or rhythmic quality, and by 10 months, babies are making 2-
syllable utterances (Piper, 2012). Comprehension begins at 7 months and slowly progresses.
Comprehension is when a child learns a word from listening, and they have a pretty good idea of
what it means. The second stage is word production, which occurs between 10 and 13 months. In
order to learn the relationship between sounds and objects, a child must hear, and then they must
make the association between the sound they hear and what it symbolizes. If a child hears only a
few words, are rarely read to, sung to, or talked with, they will not have normal language
development. In infancy and early childhood language acquisition, a child will begin with
phonology, which is sounds, and then they will progress to morphology, which are words (Piper,
2012). Their language skills are directly related to the number of words and complex
conversations they have with others. In order to learn the relationship between sounds and
objects- a child must hear, and then they must make the association between the sound they hear
and what it symbolizes. If a child hears only a few words, are rarely read to, sung to, or talked
with, they will not have normal language development. I would tell the parent to enjoy this
period in your childs development. Simply talk to them about what they are doing, seeing, and
hearing. Listen to your childs sounds and words, and make sure you respond so that they know
you are listening. Read stories together and make communicating fun. Keep in mind that children
learn at different rates. Some learn faster than others; therefore, do not compare your childs
language development to another child. However, if your child is still not progressing at a steady
pace, then they should speak to their pediatrician first, and second, I would encourage the parent
to work on some language acquisition skills such as allowing the child to spend more time
around other children, playing outside, and doing activities in the home.
A sign that a child may be developing Atypically in the interest area of language would be if a
child is not using single words like Mama and Dada. I would recommend to the family of that
child to talk to their child, read to their child, and encourage the child to use their words rather
than pointing. Another sign of Atypical development could be the fact that a child cannot follow
simple instructions. I would encourage the family to teach the child to make eye contact when
spoken to. I would also encourage them to give very simple directions, using few words, and
encourage the child to repeat the directions back when given to them.
Cognitive Development
Cognitive milestones are centered on a child's ability to think, learn and solve problems. An
infant learning how to respond to facial expressions is an example of cognitive milestones. Other
cognitive milestones include following objects with their eyes, grasping objects, transferring
objects from hand to hand, and beginning to make sounds that resemble one-syllable words
(Cherry, 2013). Concepts that children seem to learn at a very early age include solving problems
through means-end analysis, trial and error, or analogical reasoning. Solving problems through
means-end analysis is when a child knows what they are looking for, and they use previous
methods that have worked in the past, and they keep adding to it if the goal is not achieved with
the same operators as before (Anderson, 2005). For example, if a child is trying to get a smile
from a caregiver, they may look at the caregiver first, and if the caregiver does not smile at them,
they will smile at the caregiver, and if this still does not work, they may initiate random
movements to stimulate a smile from the caregiver. This can be considered brainstorming of
ideas that may or may not work, but it does allow them to simplify the problem and reduce the
number of solutions. Trial and error is a cognitive milestone that includes a child trying different
solutions, and they rule out the ones that do not work (Cherry, 2013). They may try a particular
solution on several different occasions, and when they feel like that approach is not successful,
they will eliminate it from their behavior, and they will not display it anymore to try and receive
the response they were looking for. This seems to work best when there are a limited number of
solutions to the problem. Children also use analogical reasoning at a very young age. Their
brains form patterns by association. They compare new information or concepts to something
they already know (Cherry, 2013). This seems to help them process and retain the new
information much easier.
A sign of Atypical development in the interest area of cognitive development can include a child
not being able to identify what familiar things are for or does not imitate or copy others. I would
encourage the family to continue to point to objects and tell the child what they are, and I would
encourage them to ask the child to repeat to them what the items are. I would also encourage the
family to point to pictures and talk about them when they read to the child. I would encourage
the family to play with the child and encourage the child to follow them and do what they do. I
would encourage them to perform a simple task and ask the child if they are able to perform the
task as well.
Social/Emotional Development
Social/emotional development is centered around many skills that increase self-awareness and
self-regulation. From the start, babies eagerly explore their world-and that includes themselves
and other people. Babies spend a lot of time getting to know their own bodies. Infants are
interested in other people and learn to recognize primary caregivers. Most infants can be
comforted by a familiar adult, respond positively to touch, interact best when in an alert state or
in an inactive and attentive state, and smile and show pleasure in response to social stimulation
(PBS, n.d). Babies are more likely to initiate social interaction, and they show a wider emotional
range and stronger preferences for familiar people. As they near age one, imitation and self-
regulation gain importance. Children become more aware of themselves and their ability to
make things happen. They express a wider range of emotions and are more likely to initiate
interaction with other people. At this stage, most children recognize themselves in pictures or the
mirror and smile or make faces at themselves, show intense feelings for parents and show
affection for other familiar people, play by themselves and initiate their own play, express
negative feelings, show pride and pleasure at new accomplishments, imitate adult behaviors in
play, show a strong sense of self through assertiveness, directing others, and begin to be helpful,
such as by helping to put things away (PBS, n.d).
A sign of atypical development may be if a child does not show interest in others or they choose
to be alone. Another sign could be if they cry all of the time when they are away from their
parents. I would encourage the family to take the child to the park or take the child around other
children so that the child can become more comfortable with other children. I would also
encourage the parents to take the child around other people. Take the child to the mall so that
they can get used to coming into contact with others or at least being around others without being
afraid or withdrawn. I would also encourage the family to talk to the child in a calm voice to let
them know that it is alright to interact with other people and children, and offer verbal praise if
they at least attempt the task of being in an environment with others.
Self Regulation
Precursors of self-regulation appear early in life. Very young babies show no evidence of
conscious self- regulation, but they do show primitive control of some aspects of their behavior
and reactions. Loud noises and voices will cause infants to turn away because of too much
stimulation. Children progress on to show awareness of social demands in their environment.
They are able to comply with simple requests from a caregiver, such as "come here" or "wave
bye-bye." They can voluntarily initiate, maintain, and stop behaviors, particularly when they are
interacting with someone they know well. During toddlerhood, children are able to show aspects
of self-control even when a caregiver is not immediately with them. Children in this period of
development may display temper tantrums. Parents can help a child through this period by
modeling appropriate behaviors, by putting rules and regulations in place and being consistent
about reinforcing the rules, not giving in to temper tantrums, and using scaffolding to provide
positive statements that redirects the childs attention to something other than the tantrum, offer
the child choices and allow them to make the decision to choose to do something else other than
engage in the tantrum., and talk the child through the behavior and encourage them to use their
words rather than their actions (Bojczyk & Shriner, 2012).
Factors that Influence
A social factor that may influence a child during this stage of development could be the fact that
the child is growing up in poverty and the family does not have enough money to provide
enough food for the child. As a result, the child is living in poverty and they suffer from poor
health and malnutrition which can negatively affect the childs development. A cultural factor
that may influence a childs development could be gender stereotyping. It may be in a childs
culture that boys are fed more than girls, and therefore, the girls are underweight and slower in
development than boys.
References
Anderson, J.R. (2005). Cognitive psychology and its implications (6th edition). New York:
Worth.
Bowen, Carolyn PhD. (2011). Typical Speech and Language Acquisition in Infants and Young
Children. Retrieved from: http://www.speech-language-
therapy.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=35:admin&catid=2:uncat
egorised&Itemid=117.
Cherry, Kendra. (2013). Developmental Milestones. Retrieved from:
http://psychology.about.com/od/early-child-development/a/cognitive-developmental-
milestones.htm.
PBS.(n.d). The ABC's Of Child DevelopmentDevelopmental Milestones For Your Child's First
Five Years. Retrieved from: http://www.pbs.org/wholechild/abc/index.html.
Piper, T. (2012). Making meaning, making sense: Childrens early language learning. San
Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education. Retrieved from: http://content.ashford.edu.