Infant/Toddler
Early Childhood Development (Infant and Toddler Periods)
Cognitive and Motor Development
Parenting/Parent-child Interaction
Services Available in Early Childhood Development (Infancy and Toddler Periods)
-Early childhood development proceeds via orderly processes, with milestones following each other in a predictable sequence
-The timing of each of the steps/milestones may vary a great deal from one child to the next
-Individual differences (i.e., differences in temperament) can be identified in the newborn period, and continue to be evident throughout this period, and later in childhood
-These individual differences are partly genetically based, but are also under the influence of parenting/environment
-Early childhood development is generally differentiated into several domains (language, social-emotional, cognitive, etc.), which are typically discussed separately
-Development along these different domains proceeds in concert, so that milestones across these areas of functioning converge to produce meaningful changes in the child’s ability to interact with his/her environment
-For example, children begin to crawl at the same time as their memory improves and their fear reactions increase. So that as they move around more and encounter unfamiliar and potentially dangerous objects, they recognize these as being unfamiliar (because of memory improvements which enable infants to know they have no recollection of previous encounters with these objects), and react with manifestations of fear (e.g., hesitation to approach, startle response, crying), thus getting attention of the caregiver(s)
Newborn:
-Emotions not specifically directed at caregiver(s); undifferentiated distress (i.e., can not tell if the infant is angry, scared, etc.)
2-4 Months:
-Social smile appears, recognized/reacts to caregiver(s), begins to develop basic self-awareness
-Negative emotions (e.g., fear, anger) can be differentiated
-Infants anticipate and protest, want to be included in social activities
6 Months:
-Infants continue to smile and laugh more
-Express emotions with the entire body
-Infants begin to show interest in interacting with other children
-Play with toys for longer periods of time
6-12 Months:
-More frequent/intense fear reactions, fear of strangers, and separation anxiety can be observed
-Increased self awareness and assertion, greater independence
-Attachment to the caregiver becomes very important, in so far as the development of secure attachment promotes exploration, self-regulation, and learning
15 Months-3 Years:
-Children begin to express likes/dislikes, says “no”, is eager to make choices and exercise independence
-Toddlers often become frustrated when they can not accomplish something, and frustration easily turns to anger
-Anger outbursts and temper-tantrums tend to become more frequent
-Children of this age enjoy routines, and are often frustrated by changes, especially sudden disruptions/transitions
-Interest in social interactions with other children continues to grow, and children often identify “special friends”; however, sharing is difficult
-Parallel play (playing alongside, but not necessarily engaging the other child) dominates
-Children this age enjoy a variety of play activities, and pretend play (e.g., dress up) becomes especially important
-Ability to follow directions improves, as a result of the development of attention skills, and self-regulation
Cognitive and Motor Development
Newborn:
-See best close up
-Fists closed, jerky movements
-Some distress may be due to inability to shift gaze away from objects (obligatory looking) until about 3 months of age
3 Months:
-Turns head to the sound of voice
-Enjoys visual stimulation
-Infant begins to differentiate strangers
-Starting to use hands for play once they open more
-Persistence in reaching
-Teething/chewing on objects
6 Months:
-Follows objects out of sight (as in peek-a-boo); improvement in attention shifting
-Purposeful/coordinating reaching for toys
-Mouth important in learning about objects
-Infant begins sitting
7-14 Months:
-Infants begin crawling, creeping, standing w/help and then independently, and finally walking
-Infants start using index finger to point; should be able to turn pages of a book
-Continued development of attention, especially in flexibility (i.e., infants are able to shift
attention or persist in orienting, depending on their interest in objects)
-Activity levels increase throughout the infancy period, as the child gains motor skills
15 Months-3 Years:
-Children’s attentional capacity and flexibility improves, memory also shows improvement, however, thinking continues to be concrete and “in-the-moment”
Newborn:
-Responds to voice by quieting and cries
3-5 Months:
-Reacts to intonation/inflection, listens to own vocalizations, which include babbles, coos, and gurgles
6 Months:
-Imitates sounds, uses vocalizations to express feelings; babbles several sounds in one breath
8-9 Months:
-Responds to own name
9-12 Months:
-Obeys some commands, recognized words as symbols and uses single words in a meaningful way
12-18 Months:
-As the child approaches 18 moths s/he should be able to name several common objects
-At this time pronunciation will not be perfect, but it should be close (i.e., understood by others)
15 Months-3 Years:
-Despite considerable variability, most children use single words by the time they are 15 months of age, and use meaningful speech by the time they are 3 years of age
Parenting/Parent-child Interaction
-Different aspects of parenting become more/less important during different developmental periods
-In the infancy period sensitivity (accurate understanding of infants’ cues) and responsivity (appropriate responding to these cues) on the part of the caregiver(s) are of utmost importance
-Sensitive/responsive parenting leads to more reciprocal/synchronous interactions between infants and parents, and secure attachment to the caregiver
-During the toddler period parental limit-setting becomes more important, as the primary goals of socialization focuses on gaining the child’s compliance
-Warm parenting and consistent/appropriate limit setting have been linked with greater compliance/cooperation on the part of the parents
-Infants’ temperament also influences the nature of parent-child interaction; in general, children who display more negative emotions and are not as capable of regulating their emotions/behavior make positive and reciprocal interactions more challenging to achieve
-Goodness-of-fit between parental demands/expectations and child’s reactivity and regulation is also of primary importance, especially for social-emotional development in early childhood
-That is, infants whose temperament is more closely matched with their caregivers’ approach to parenting demonstrate more adequate social-emotional development/adjustment and fewer behavior problems
-Parental guidance in problem solving (facilitating the child’s effort in solving problems, such as those encountered in puzzles, games, etc.) is also important in early childhood, leading to higher levels of regulatory capacity and cognitive functioning
-Parents who aid their children’s efforts without taking over or being intrusive, and maintain a positive stance despite their toddlers’ frustration, generally have children with more advanced cognitive and self-regulatory skills
-Parents also play a large role in early language development, and are more likely to have children with satisfactory/advanced development if they encourage vocalization, word use, model word/phrase use, and encourage pre-reading skills
Newborn:
-average 15 hrs./day (typically varies from 9 to 18 hrs.)
-6-8 sleep periods during a 24 hr. period
-longest periods of sleep initially occur during the day, with frequent waking at night
BABIES GENERALLY GET THE SLEEP THEY NEED, WITH LOTS OF VARIABILITY
First 1-2 months:
-longer stretches of sleep; fewer awakenings
-more alert time during the day
About 6 months:
-sleeping about 10 hours a night
-sleep patterns become more predictable
-infant able to go to sleep on his/her own
7-9 months:
-decreasing naps to 2 per day
-uninterrupted night sleep
Services Available in Early Childhood
Assessment:
-A variety of evaluation procedures are available for use in early childhood, depending on the nature of concerns
-Cognitive, motor, and social emotional development can be evaluated, and compared to norms obtained from large groups of infants/toddlers
-In addition, assessment techniques have been developed to address more narrow domains, such as sleeping and feeding
-Parent-child interactions can also be formally evaluated, providing indices of sensitivity, responsivity, reciprocity/synchrony of interactions, cognitive guidance, etc.
Parent Consultation/Classes:
-Educational interventions aimed at increasing parent’s awareness of developmentally appropriate expectations, individual differences/temperament, and the influence of parenting/parent-child interactions on developmental outcomes, are often effective in alleviating mild to moderate level concerns/problems
Dyadic/Individual Treatment:
-Because young children are relatively limited in their capacity for comprehension and self-
determination, parents need to take charge of making the necessary changes and participate in the treatment process
-Treatment approaches include parent-child interaction oriented interventions, wherein parents are taught to be more sensitive/responsive, provide more appropriate rewards, limit setting, and/or guidance in problem solving
-Individual treatment for young children typically involves play therapy, although more teaching-oriented approaches may be used for addressing cognitive/language deficits