5: Normal development Flashcards
What are three factors which influence a child’s growth and development?
Genetics
Nutrition
Environment
What factor determines your potential to develop?
What factors actually “cause” development?
Genetics
Nutrition & Environment
What dietary problem can stunt a child’s growth and development?
Malnutrition
When can the environment affect a child’s growth and development?
Both before and after birth:
Smoking, alcohol and drugs
Diet; obesity
Lots of screen time may overstimulate
What is a developmental milestone?
Age when a new skill is developed
Are development milestones definitive?
No, vary between children
What is the median age?
Age by which 50% of the population should have acquired a skill
What is the limit age?
Age by which a skill has been acquired by 97.5% of children
(2 standard deviations)
What are the median and limit ages for walking?
Median age = 12 months
Limit age = 18 months
What are some normal variations of crawling?
Bottom-scraping
Commando crawl
Rolling
Torpedo crawling
If a child is born prematurely, how does this affect their expected developmental milestones?
If 3 months premature for example, normal milestones will be 3 months earlier - ADJUSTED AGE
Development is a ___ process.
continuous
Development is dependent on the maturation of what?
Nervous system
In which vertical direction does nervous system maturation occur?
Does it occur from medial to lateral or the other way round?
Cephalocaudal
i.e from head to toe
and laterally
so trunk THEN limbs
What are the four areas of development?
Gross motor
Fine motor and vision
Language and hearing
Social behaviour and play
Which area of development is most focused in the first year of life?
Gross motor
At which median age should a baby be smiling socially?
What is the limit age?
6 weeks
8 weeks
Narrow window as a lack of smiling indicates cognitive problems
What are important gross motor milestones that you should probably know?
Head control - 3 months
Sitting properly - 6 months
Crawling - 9 months (child may be cruising as well)
Walking - 12 months (limit age is 18 months)
Running - 18 months
Stairs (one at a time / alternating) - 24 / 36 months
Hopping - 48 months
At what age should a child be talking?
18 months
(same time as running)
What are some primitive reflexes which must be lost before motor development can occur?
Sucking and rooting
Palmar and plantar grasp
ATNR (Fencing reflex)
Moro reflex
Stepping and planting reflexes
What do the sucking and rooting reflexes aid?
Breastfeeding
What reflexes involve the hands and feet and are lost in infants at around 6 weeks?
Palmar and plantar reflexes
What is ATNR?
Asymmetrical tonic neck reflex
Fencing reflex
When baby’s head rolls to side (e.g on an unstable surface), limbs on that side extend and flex on the opposite side
What is the Moro reflex?
When baby’s head tilts back (as if they’re falling), upper limbs ABDUCT and then ADDUCT (making a grabbing motion in front of them)
What do babies tend to do with objects?
Try to eat them
Which area of development is most closely linked with cognitive development?
Language and hearing
At which age should children be able to regard their own hands in the midline?
3 months
What is the general progression of fine motor skills?
Regard of own hands
Grasping
Building towers
Drawing
At which age may children be speaking words?
18 months
(Limit age for walking and median age for running)
Failure to reach which social and play development milestone is a strong indicator of a cognitive disorder or learning difficulty?
Smile (6 weeks)
When should children be able to smile socially?
Median age is 6 weeks
Limit age is 8 weeks
As infants age, they become more (friendly / anxious) around strangers.
Why?
more anxious
Thought to be protective - ‘stranger danger’
