Transcript
Alexis Newman
Human Growth & Development
6 October 2018
Early Childhood: Infancy
A child is always growing. The most significant growth period, however, is infancy. During infancy, the baby will learn to crawl, walk, speak, and so much more. In this research paper, we will go over changes of the brain, body, motor skills, and abilities during infancy.
In the first few weeks of a newborn’s life, they don’t move much. However, they do have reflexes. The main reflexes are the eye blink and the stepping reflex. Newborns who demonstrate the stepping reflex are more likely to walk earlier than newborns who don’t demonstrate the stepping reflex. Reflexes are important to watch for as a parent. Seeing reflexes in a newborn is a sign of a healthy nervous system. For example, newborn who have damaged the sciatic nerve do not show reflexes. The child should have a physical exam if reflexes are not seen. Normally, these reflexes will disappear as the infant grows.
Crying is a normal part of being a newborn. Sometimes, it’s difficult to tell why the infant is crying. There are three distinct cries that can let a parent know what is wrong with their infant. There is the basic cry, the mad cry, and the pain cry. The basic cry starts softly and gradually becomes more intense; it usually occurs when a baby is hungry or tired. The mad cry is a more intense version of the basic cry. The pain cry begins with a sudden, long burst of crying followed by a long pause and gasping. Even at such a young age, these tiny humans have already figured out how to communicate with their parents/caretakers. When the parents respond to the cries, they are unknowingly teaches their babies to communicate.
Newborns spend most of their day asleep. They sleep anywhere from sixteen to eighteen hours a day. In most cases, infants have a four-hour sleep cycles, sleeping for three hour and staying awake for one hour. Sleep patterns will regulate to day-night sleep cycle at around 6 months old. Parents can finally rest because their child should now be able to sleep ten to twelve hours straight.
Some parents may not mind staying up with their child, however. Many new parents become paranoid to leave their infants to sleep because of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) which is when a healthy baby dies suddenly for no apparent reason. Approximately two of every thousand babies in America die from this unknown tragedy every year. Scientist have no idea what causes SIDS. They do know a few factors though. A baby is more likely to die from SIDS if they were born premature or with a low birth weight. It is suggested that babies sleep on their backs instead of their stomachs. Since this was campaigned in 1994, SIDS death rates have been cut in half.
Though infants have a lot in common, everyone is not alike. They each have their own temperament which is a consistent style or pattern of behavior.
