Understanding

Infants

Who is an infant?

Infancy is often defined as the time between birth and twelve months of age.

Physical Development

Rapid growth and development during the first year of life.

Requires lots of sleep and food!

Physical Development

Age Motor Development

2 months Lifts head and chest when lying on stomach

4 months Sits with support; reaches for objects; plays with hands

6 months Grasps objects; rolls over; plays with feet

8 months Sits without support; thrusts arms and legs out and squirms to push self forward; pulls self up

10 months Crawls on hands and knees; walks with help of adult

12 months Stands, sometimes walks alone; picks up small objects between thumb and forefinger; begins self-feeding

Intellectual Development

Infants learn using their senses and motor abilities to gain information about the world

Piaget called this the sensorimotor period

Intellectual Development

At 9 months infants learn object permanence—the understanding that an object continues to exist even when out of sight.

Intellectual Development

Language development begins at infancy.

By 6 months children understand some spoken words

By 1 year children usually speak several words

Intellectual Development

Vocalization—sounds that imitate adult language.

When adults respond to vocalizations, infants begin to learn that wants and needs can be expressed through language.

EmotionalDevelopment

Bonding—forming a strong attachment to and preference for the primary caregivers.

Children develop a sense of trust or mistrust based on needs being met

The earlier they develop trust in others, the better their emotional health

SocialDevelopment

During the first year of life, children’s thinking is egocentric—they see everything form only their point of view.

Stranger anxiety—the fear of unfamiliar people. (starts around 9 months)

Takes several years of social experiences to help children be more social

In groups of two, look through magazines to find 3 pictures of infants.

For each picture, guess the age of the child by what the child is doing in the picture. Use the chart of motor skills to help you!

For example, if a child is shown crawling on hands and knees, a good guess would be 10 months old. Each picture needs to be for a different age range.

Use handout provided!

Assignment