Infant Physical Development Flashcards
What age should infants be able to grasp objects?
Physical development occurs at different times for all children depending on their unique characteristics, family’s values & culture, and access to available resources. However they are within similar timeframes
How do you best support physical development for children?
- Responsive care from loving adults
- Proper nutrition
- Appropriate and stimulating environments
Where do infants begin developing physically?
From the top down, starting with their heads and necks
What are the physical development milestones for a 2 months old child?
- Kicks both arms and legs while on back
- Briefly relaxes hands from fists for short periods
- Grasps adult finger
- Raises head and chest while lying on stomach
- Primitive reflexes present: Rooting and sucking
- Holds head up when on tummy
What are the physical development milestones for a 4 months old child?
- Holds head steady without support
- Maintains hold of a toy placed in their hands
- Swings arm at objects
- Brings hands to mouth
- Pushes up from ground onto elbows when lying on tummy
What are the physical development milestones for a 6 months old child?
- Rolls from tummy to back and may roll vice versa
- Pushes arms straight when on tummy
- Uses hands to support when sitting
- Supports weight equally on legs when standing with support
What are the physical development milestones for a 9 months old child?
- Moves into the sitting position without support
- Transfers items from one hand to the other
- Uses fingers as a ‘rake’ to pull food and objects towards self
- Sits without support
- Lowers body with control while using support
What are the physical development milestones for a 12 months old child?
- Pulls up to stand
- Walks or ‘cruises’ along furniture for support
- Drinks from a cup without a lid with adult support
- Uses ‘pincer grasp’ to pick up small items
What are the physical development milestones for a 15 months old child?
- Takes a few steps independently
- Feeds themself finger foods
- Squats to pick up an object from the floor and then stands up without support
- Makes marks on paper using crayon
What are the physical development milestones for a 18 months old child?
- Walks independently
- Drinks from a cup
- Tries to use a spoon
- Climbs on and off furniture independently
- Tries to kick a ball after observing an adult
What are the physical development milestones for a 24 months old child?
- Kicks a ball
- Runs
- Walks up and down stairs while holding on for support
- Eats with a spoon
- Turns doorknobs
What are the physical development milestones for a 30 months old child?
- Uses hands to twist and unscrew objects
- Takes off loose clothing alone
- Jumps off the ground with both feet
- Can turn book pages one at a time
What are the physical development milestones for a 36 months old child?
- Strings items onto a string such as large beads or macaroni
- Dresses self in loose clothing
- Uses a fork
- Pedals a tricycle
What are a child’s basic physical needs?
- Food (nutritious and age-appropriate)
- Shelter (protection from harm)
- Warmth (loving environment)
- Clean air and environment
- Health and dental care
- Activity and rest
What other influences affect infant & toddler physical growth and development?
- Prenatal care and development: genetic inheritances, exposure to drugs and alcohol
- Prematurity
- Temperament
- Family’s composition, lifestyle, level of education & housing
- Maturation
- Developmental delays or disabilities
What problems come with low birth weight?
Respiration difficulties, vision problems, feeding & digestive problems
What are gross motor skills?
The movement of large muscles in the body, sitting, crawling, walking and jumping
What are fine motor skills?
The coordination of small muscles in the hands and fingers, crucial for grasping, holding, and manipulating objects
How’s the development of gross motor skills for children from birth to 3 months?
- Limited control over their body movements
- Starts to develop head control
- Can lift their head while lying on their stomach
How’s the development of gross motor skills for children from 4 months to 6 months?
- Infants can roll over from their stomach to back and vice versa
- Begins to support some of their weight with their legs when held upright
How’s the development of gross motor skills for children from 7 months to 9 months?
- Starts to sit without support
- Crawl
- May pull themselves into a standing position using furniture
How’s the development of gross motor skills for children from 10 months to 12 months?
- Can stand alone briefly
- Start to walk with assistance or take first steps unaided
How’s the development of fine motor skills for children from birth to 3 months?
- More reflexive, like their grasp reflex
- Begin to open and close their hands
- Can swipe at objects
How’s the development of fine motor skills for children from 4 months to 6 months?
- Develops the ability to voluntarily grasp objects
- Start to reach for or explore objects with hands & mouth
How’s the development of fine motor skills for children from 7 months to 9 months?
- Improves ability to transfer objects from one hand to another
- May begin to show preference for one hand over the other
- Starts to develop the pincer grasp
How’s the development of fine motor skills for children from 10 months to 12 months?
- Refines their pincer grasp
- Begins to demonstrate more purposeful manipulation of objects (putting objects into a container and then taking them out again)
How do you support motor skills development?
- Provide safe spaces: use baby-proofing measures
- Encourage exploration: safe toys and objects of different textures, sizes, shapes to stimulate curiosity
- Active play: encourage movements
- Practice skills: Offer opportunities for practicing standing and walking
What kind of toys can help with developing fine motor skills?
Soft books or blocks
What parts of the brain help with motor skill development?
- Motor cortex
- Basal ganglia and cerebellum
What is the motor cortex?
Crucial for planning, controlling and executing voluntary movements. Walking and jumping, or writing and buttoning a shirt
What are the Basal Ganglia and Cerebellum?
Helps to make movements smooth & precise, plays a key role in balance, coordination and the learning of movement patterns
What parts of the brain help with sensory processing and integration?
- Sensory cortices
- Thalamus
What are the sensory cortices?
Responsible for processing sensory inputs from the sensory organs (eyes, ears). The visual cortex, auditory cortex, and somatosensory cortex (touch) interpret sensory information, allowing the brain to integrate its awareness of the surroundings
What is the Thalamus?
Acts as a relay station, directing sensory and motor signals to and from the cerebral cortex. It also plays a role in controlling consciousness, sleep and alertness
What is Neural Plasticity?
The brain’s ability to reorganise itself by forming new neural connections, allowing the brain to adapt to new experiences and learn from them
What are the types of Brain Plasticity?
Type 1: Structural Plasticity
Type 2: Functional Plasticity
What is structural plasticity?
The experiences or memories that change a brain’s physical structure
What is functional plasticity?
When brain functions move from a damaged area to an undamaged area
What is synaptogenesis and pruning?
Brain experiences a rapid increase in synaptogenesis, the formation of new synaptic connections. Unused connections are pruned away to make neural networks more efficient. This process is influenced by a child’s interactions with their environment
What is synaptogenesis?
The process of forming and strengthening connections between neurons in the brain
What parts regulate the hormone?
The hypothalamus and pituitary gland
What is the hypothalamus and pituitary gland?
they regulate the release of hormones that are essential for growth and development together
How does hormone affect physical development?
Growth hormone affect overall physical growth, while thyroid hormones are critical for brain development & metabolism
Why is the regulation of sleep cycles important?
Growth hormone is primarily secreted during sleep
What system manages emotional and social development?
The limbic system
What is the limbic system?
It regulates emotion and forms memories
How do emotional and social experiences influence physical development?
Indirectly by affecting behaviors such as exploration & play, which are important for developing motor skills & physical health
What are general signs of impaired physical development?
- Persistent toe walking: Walking on toes beyond the age of 2
- Difficulty in changing activities
- Lack of interest in age-appropriate toys: Not showing interest in toys that involve physical activity or coordination by expected age
What are signs of impaired physical development in infants? (birth to 12 months)
- A significant delay in reaching motor milestones, rolling over, sitting, crawling, walking
- Very stiff muscles (hypertonia) or very floppy muscles (hypotonia), which can affect their ability to move
- Reduced movement or activity, less kicking or waving, or using one side of the body more than the other
- Struggles with sucking, swallowing or chewing, which can lead to poor weight gain or growth
- Favoring one side of the body or adopting unusual postures might indicate discomfort or weaknesses
- Lack of response to visual or auditory stimuli could indicate sensory processing issues
What are signs of impaired physical development in toddlers? (1-3 years)
- Difficulty in walking, frequent falling, inability to climb stairs by the appropriate age
- Struggling with tasks requiring hand-eye coordination beyond the age where these skills usually develop
- Speech delays: More cognitive, however it can sometimes correlate with overall development delays
- Lack of engagement in social interactions or play
- Significant deviations from growth charts in terms of height, weight or head size might indicate nutritional, hormonal or developmental problems
How is sensory development important?
It plays a key role in how children understand and interact with the world around them, often overlapping and supporting the development of motor skills
How does vision develop for newborns to 2 months?
- Can see objects 8-12 inches away
- Limited focus (blurry)
- Primarily see high contrast colours (black, white, red)
How does vision develop for children aged 2 months to 4 months?
- Focus improves
- Beings to track moving objects with eyes
- Colour vision starts to develop, able to see a wider range of colours
How does vision develop for children aged 4 months to 6 months?
- Depth perception begins to develop
- Starts to grasp objects, coordinating vision with motor skills
What is depth perception?
The ability to see things in 3D and how far away they are
How does vision develop for children aged 6 months to 12 months?
- See more details
- Starts to recognise familiar faces and objects from a distance
- Eye-hand coordination improves, aiding in fine motor skills development
How does hearing develop for newborns?
- Can hear a wide range of sounds
- Can turn heads towards direction of sound
- Prefers human voices, especially caregivers
How does hearing develop for children aged 1 month to 3 months?
- Begins to distinguish between different sounds
- Might startle or react to loud noises
How does hearing develop for children aged 4 months to 6 months?
- Starts to turn their heads or eyes towards sounds
- May begin to babble, mimicking patterns of speech they hear
How does hearing develop for children aged 7 months to 12 months?
- Beings understanding basic words
- Can respond to their names
- Starts to imitate sounds
- May understand simple verbal commands
How does taste and smell develop in newborns?
- Can distinguish between sweet, sour, bitter and salty
- Shows a preference for sweet flavours - believed to be an evolutionary trait
How does taste and smell develop for newborns to 3 months?
Smell is also developed at birth. Newborns recognise and prefer the scent of their mother
How does children’s sense of smell develop as they grow?
- Taste and smell continue to refine
- Exposure to various flavours and scents can influence preferences and eating habits
How does sense of touch develop in newborns?
- One of the most developed senses at birth
- A critical means of communication and exploration for infants
How does the sense of touch develop for children in their first half of a year?
- Infants bond with their caregivers through skin-to-skin contact (breastfeeding)
- Starts to explore different textures, temperatures and shapes through touch
How does touch develop for children aged 6 months to 12 months?
Sensitivity to touch helps in developing fine motor skills, such as grasping and manipulating objects
How do we support sensory development?
- Provide a variety of stimuli: Different textures, colors, sounds, experiences
- Engage in interactive play: talking, singing, reading to infants
- Safe exploration: ensuring all objects within their reach are non-toxic and not a choking hazard
What is proprioception and vestibular sense?
Beyond the five senses, infants also develop proprioception (sense of body position) and vestibular sense (sense of balance and movement), which are crucial for motor development and spatial orientation
How is a child’s proprioception developed?
Develops as infants move and explore, helping them understand where their body parts are without looking
How is a child’s vestibular sense developed?
Develops through movement, including rocking, bouncing, crawling, aiding in balance and coordination
