Physical Development During the First Year

1. Chapter 8 – 1 Continued Physical Development During the First Year

2. Development – Hearing • When does a baby’s hearing develop? • In the womb (during the 4th month of pregnancy) • In the womb, babies respond to sounds with altered heart rates or with changes in activity levels

3. Development – Hearing • Newborns respond to the tone of a voice rather than to the words. • A soothing, loving voice calms them • A loud or angry voice alarms them

4. Development – Hearing • Not only do voices calm or excite infants, but also other noises. • Quiet, musical sounds – calming • Loud, high-pitched sounds – Exciting or frightening • Within weeks, babies recognize the voices of people in their world • By 3 months of age, babies cry out and listen for someone to walk towards them or their room.

5. Development - Hearing • Signs of Hearing Problems: • A newborn isn’t startled by a sharp clap of the hands • A 3-month-old never turns toward the source of sounds • A baby is not awakened by loud noises • A baby does not respond to familiar voices • A baby does not pay attention to ordinary sounds

6. Development – Hearing • Why is it important to detect hearing problems as early as possible? • Hearing is essential for language development • Attaching meaning to words that are heard is the first step in learning how to speak. • When should you have your babies hearing checked? • 6 months of age

7. Development – Hearing • Babies who are born premature or babies that have frequent ear infections are most likely to have hearing problems.

8. Development – Hearing Some Things a Baby with Normal Hearing Should Be Able to Do:

9. Development – Smell • Since the baby is surrounded by amniotic fluid until birth, the sense of smell doesn’t have much chance to develop. • 10 days old – a newborn can distinguish their mother by smell

10. Development – Smell • It is also known that babies can tell the difference between their mother's breast milk and that of other mothers. Infants as young as three or four days show signs of contentment and pleasure at the scent of breast milk because it symbolizes the fact that their mother takes care of them. • Studies have shown that babies are comforted by familiar scents. If you bring a blanket or stuffed animal that smells like you to a doctor’s office visit, your child might be less fussy with the doctor. • This also helps to explain why babies are comforted by being held by their mothers. They might be comfortable in the arms of other family members every so often, but they will be calmed instantly when picked up by their mother. This is largely tied to smell, particularly since it starts to occur as soon as the baby is born.

11. Development - Smell • An infant gets plenty of exercise with their smelling sense. • What are some of the smells that a baby smells on a daily basis?

12. Development – Smell • Within two weeks of age – some babies show disgust to certain smells (example: deodorant, cigarette smoke) • Within one year of age – babies begin to differentiate the smells of different foods. • This is also a large part of how they decide which baby foods they enjoy; taste is second to how that baby food smells.