Children

1. 5 Children Physical Development In Infancy

2. How Do Infants Grow and Develop Physically? Patterns of Growth • Cephalocaudal: size, weight, and feature differentiation gradually work from top to bottom • Proximodistal: growth starts at center of body and moves toward extremities

3. How Do Infants Grow and Develop Physically? Changes in Proportions of the Human Body During Growth

4. How Do Infants Grow and Develop Physically? Height and Weight • Average North American newborn is 20 inches and 7½ pounds • Birth weight doubles by 4 mos; triples at end of first year; First year growth averages 1 inch per month • 1½ times birth length at end of 1st year • Average 2-year-old • 26 to 32 pounds and 32 to 35 inches tall • Growth rate considerably slower in second year

5. How Do Infants Grow and Develop Physically? Brain Development • Extensive growth in uteroand infancy • Shaken baby syndrome: brain swelling and hemorrhaging • PET and MRI scans may harm infant • EEG shows brain activity spurt from 1½ to 2 years of age

6. How Do Infants Grow and Develop Physically? The Human Brain’s Hemispheres

7. (body sensations) (voluntary movement and thinking) Prefrontal cortex (vision) (hearing) How Do Infants Grow and Develop Physically? The Brain’s Four Lobes

8. How Do Infants Grow and Develop Physically? Brain Development • Neuron: info processing nerve cell • Axons and dendrites • Myelin sheath: layer of fat cells • Encases and insulates most axons • Myelination continues into adolescence • Synapses: tiny gaps • Neurotransmitters

9. At birth 1 month 15 months 24 months 3 months How Do Infants Grow and Develop Physically? The Development of Dendrite Spreading

10. How Do Infants Grow and Develop Physically? Brain Development • “Blooming” and “pruning” • Synaptic overproduction peaks about 4 months after birth • Prefrontal cortex overproduction peaks about 1 year of age • Adult density achieved in adolescence • Heredity and environment affect timing

11. 70 60 50 40 Synaptic density 30 20 10 0 6000 10,000 100 200 300 400 500 600 800 1000 1500 2000 3000 4000 8000 Age in days (from conception) How Do Infants Grow and Develop Physically? Synaptic Density in Human Brain from Infancy to Adulthood

12. How Do Infants Grow and Develop Physically? Early Experience and the Brain • Environmental experiences important • Infant’s brain waiting for experiences • Early experiences and enriched environment • Brain heavier in weight with thicker layers • Brain develops more neural connections • Produces higher neurochemical activity • Impoverished environment • Depression is common

13. How Do Infants Grow and Develop Physically? Sleep • Newborn • Sleep varies from 10 to 21 hours each day • Preferred sleep times and patterns vary • 20% to 30% have sleep difficulties • Culture affects sleep patterns • Length of sleep periods related to sleeping arrangements and parental activities

14. How Do Infants Grow and Develop Physically? Sleep • Regulation of wake-sleep cycle reflects neurological maturation; cycles vary • REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep • Adults—fifth of sleep • Infants—half of sleep • May promote brain’s development in infancy

15. 24 16 14 12 10 Total daily sleep (hours) 8 6 4 2 0 6 mo 12 mo 18 mo 2 yrs 10 yrs 20 yrs 30 yrs 40 yrs 50 yrs 60 yrs 70 yrs 80 yrs 90 yrs 1-15 days Newborn Infants Children Adolescents Adults Older adults Sleep Across the Human Life Span

16. How Do Infants Grow and Develop Physically? Shared Sleeping • Culture and Sleeping Arrangements • Sharing bed common in many cultures • Crib/separate room common in U.S. • American Academy of Pediatrics discourages co-sleeping because of stress and SIDS risk

17. How Do Infants Grow and Develop Physically? Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) • Infant stops breathing, usually during night, and dies without apparent cause • Highest cause of infant death in U.S. • Highest risk is 2 to 4 months of age • Prone position reduces risk • Less common in bedroom with fan and infant who sleeps with pacifier

18. How Do Infants Grow and Develop Physically? Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) • Highest risks • Lower birth weight • Siblings with SIDS • Sleep apnea • Lower SES groups • Exposure to cigarette smoke • Placement in soft bedding • Abnormal brain stem functioning • African American and Inuit infants

19. How Do Infants Grow and Develop Physically? Nutrition • Healthy infants need • Loving, supportive feeding environment • 50 calories per day per pound of weight • Breast milk (nature’s food) • Gradual increase of chew-and-swallow • More fruits and vegetables, less junk food • Demand feeding becoming more popular • Poor dietary patterns can cause overweight

20. How Do Infants Grow and Develop Physically? Breast Versus Bottle Feeding • Breast milk • Fewer gastrointestinal infections • Lower respiratory tract infections • Reduces effects of asthma in first 3 months • Reduce risk of skin inflammation • May lessen likelihood of obesity • Lowers risk of childhood and adult diabetes • Less risk of experiencing SIDS • Claims of no link to allergy prevention

21. How Do Infants Grow and Develop Physically? Malnutrition in Infancy • Early weaning can cause deficiencies • Infants can develop • Marasmus:wasting away of body tissues in infant’s first year, severe lack of protein • Kwashiorkor: deficiency in protein; child’s abdomen, feet become swollen with water • If not fatal, effects are detrimental; lowest SES aided most by supplementary feeding

22. How Do Infants Grow and Develop Physically? Health • Immunization begins in infancy • Accident prevention • Increased monitoring needed in infancy • Asphyxiation: leading cause of death under 1 • Choking hazards: toys, chunky foods • Burn risks: sun, electrical, heaters, hot water • Other risks: car accidents, cuts, pet bites

23. How Do Infants Grow and Develop Physically? Caring for Children • Healthy Start Program – Hawaii • Home visits for families: newborns to age 5 • Unstable homes and poverty: • Substance abuse • Parental depression, low education, unemployment • Child abuse • Professional/medical support staff available • Effective results

24. How Do Infants Develop Motor Skills? Dynamic Systems Theory • Gesell revealed motor skill development • Maturation: unfolding genetic plan • Later studies: milestones not fixed • Perceptions and motivation lead to new motor skills or fine tuning • Nervous system maturation • Repeated “cycles” of actions • Nature, nurture, and environment interact

25. How Do Infants Develop Motor Skills? Reflexes • Built-in reactions to stimuli • Rooting: reaction to cheek/mouth touched • Sucking: automatic sucking object in mouth • Moro reflex: startle response causes back arching, rapid closing of arms and legs • Babinski reflex: toes fan, foot arches when sole is stroked • Grasping: when something touches palm • Some evolve into more complex actions

26. How Do Infants Develop Motor Skills? Gross Motor Skills • Milestones for large muscle activities • Development of posture • Learning to walk; locomotion, balance, and practice (crawling to walking) • Adapting to slopes • First year milestones: walks easily • Development in second year • Skilled and mobile: pull toys, climb stairs • Natural exercise: walk quickly, run stiffly

27. How Do Infants Develop Motor Skills? Milestones in Gross Motor Development

28. How Do Infants Develop Motor Skills? Cultural Variations in Guiding Infants’ Motor Development • Infants reach motor milestones in different cultures based on activity opportunities • Variations not large • Milestones reached within normal age ranges • Algonquin of Canada • Cradle boards • Jamaica • Baby massages and limb stretching

29. How Do Infants Develop Motor Skills? Fine Motor Skills • Finely tuned (coordinated) movements • Perceptual-motor coupling necessary • Finger dexterity (thumb and forefinger) • Two types of grasps: Palmar and Pincer • Wrists and hands turn and rotate more • Experience and exercise have impact

30. Infants’ Sensory and Perceptual Development What Are Sensation and Perception? • Sensation • Occurs when information contacts sensory receptors – eyes, ears, tongue, nostrils, and skin • Perception • Interpretation of sensation

31. Infants’ Sensory and Perceptual Development The Ecological View • People directly perceive information in the world around them • Perception allows human-environmental interaction and adaptation • Affordances: opportunities for interaction offered by objects; enhanced by previous experiences

32. Infants’ Sensory and Perceptual Development Studying Infant Perception • Head movement indicates some vision • Visual preference method: Fantz measured length of gaze and patterns of preference in “looking chamber” • Habituation: decreased responsiveness • Dishabituation: recover habituated response • Tracking: applied to vision and hearing • High-amplitude sucking, videos, computers

33. Infants’ Sensory and Perceptual Development Visual Perception • Visual acuity and color in newborn • Perceiving patterns – patterns preferred • Perceptual constancy – size, shape • Depth perception • ‘Visual cliff’ study and visual expectations • Binocular cues by age 3 to 4 months • Vision: influenced by nature and nurture

34. Infants’ Sensory and Perceptual Development Other Senses • Hearing: begins in womb • Infancy changes: volume, pitch, localization • Touch and Pain • Smell: present shortly after birth • Taste: may exist before birth • Intermodal perception: exists in newborns • Perceptual motor coupling

35. 5 The End