Mod 3 - 4 Flashcards
Vision – Newborns are ___ sighted; can see _ to _ inches from their eyes.
They can detect…
nearsighted; 7 to 9 inches (18 to 23 centimeters), do not have peripheral vision
- Can detect movement; can track or follow movement first day after birth; prefer moving objects
– Visual accommodation – Refers to self-adjustments made by the eye’s lens to focus. Do newborns have visual accommodation?
– Newborn Convergence – Seeing an object up close with crossed eyes
- Perception of color
newborns barely have visual accommodation; see through fixed-focus camera; improves at 2 months
– newborns do not have the muscle control to converge their eyes on an object close to them; develops at 7 or 8 weeks of age
• Perception of colour is still unclear; by 4 months, infants see most colours; to stimulate senses, distinct black-and-white patterns should be used
• Infants placed in darkness will look around
Neonates respond to sounds of different amplitude and pitch (by turning head). They are more likely to respond to which type of pitch?
Respond more to high-pitched sounds than to low-pitched sounds; singing in low-pitch soothes neonate; prefer their own mother’s voice
Reason more sleep is needed in infancy
- Extra sleep of infants is likely necessary for the brain’s development, as the brain isn’t fully developed at birth
- Research suggests the brain requires certain amount of stimulation for the creation of proteins that are involved in the development of neurons and synapses
- Most neonates sleep about 16 hours per day
- Newborns go through different stages of sleep; typical infant has six cycles of waking and sleeping in a 24-hour period
Benefits of kangaroo care and massage
Preterm infants exposed to such stimulation gain weight more rapidly, show fewer respiratory problems, and make greater motor, intellectual, and neurological advances
Baby blues vs. PPD
postpartum depression and the baby blues share many symptoms, including mood swings, crying jags, sadness, insomnia, and irritability. The difference is that with postpartum depression, the symptoms are more severe (such as suicidal thoughts or an inability to care for your newborn) and longer lasting.
Treatment for PPD
- Social support and counselling is beneficial
- Drugs that increase estrogen levels or act as antidepressants can assist
- Postpartum mood problems are normal and due to hormonal changes following delivery and last about 10 days; not severe
What’s assessed by APGAR scale?
- Used to assess health of baby at birth
- Stands for “Appearance, Pulse, Grimace, Activity, and Respiration.”
- each one is scored 0–2; therefore, total score can vary from 0 to 10 – score 7 and above indicates baby is not in danger; score below 4 indicates baby is in critical condition and requires medical attention; most score 8 to 10
What are infant reflexes?
• Neural functioning of neonate is tested by ability to demonstrate a reflex; absence or weakness of a reflex may indicate immaturity (prematurity), slowed responsiveness (due to anesthetics), brain injury, or retardation
Rooting reflex
Baby turns head and mouth toward a stimulus that strokes cheek, chin, or corner of mouth; important for locating mother’s nipple in preparation for sucking; can be lost if not stimulated; replaced later by voluntary sucking
Moro reflex (the startle response)
Back arches and legs and arms are flung out and then brought back toward chest, with arms in a hugging motion; can be elicited when baby’s position is suddenly changed or when support for head and neck is lost; can be elicited by loud noises or sudden movements; lost within 6 to 7 months after birth; absence of Moro reflex indicates immaturity or brain damage
Grasping reflex (palmar reflex)
Refers to the increasing tendency to reflexively grasp fingers or other objects pressed against palms of hands; use four fingers (no thumbs); absence indicates depressed activity of nervous system due to anesthetics at childbirth; lost within 3 to 4 months; show voluntary grasping at 5 to 6 months
Stepping reflex
Mimics walking; demonstrated 1–2 days after birth; feet would press on a solid when held in arms; disappears 3–4 months of age; later develops into walking on tiptoe
Babinski reflex
Occurs when underside of foot from heel to toes is stroked; toes are fanned or spread; disappears end of first year where toes curl downward
Tonic-neck reflex
Is observed when baby is lying on its back and turns its head to one side; arm and leg on the side extend, while limbs on opposite side flex; aid baby in rolling later
SIDS recommendations
•Place baby on back, be on top of research, smoke-free environment, breastfeeding can protect baby, firm surface with no pillows, comforters, or bumper pads
what is Shaken Baby Syndrome?
- Also referred to as Abusive Head Trauma (AHT);
- Injuries sustained by an infant or young child who is roughly shaken; impulsive act out of frustration or exhaustion from caregiver ;Some children survive but with neurological deficit, visual impairment, and ongoing care issues, and others do not
- Under-reported due to misdiagnoses
what is Cephalocaudal development?
- first 2 years of life
- Development proceeds from upper part of head to lower parts of body due to the importance of brain regulation such as breathing; head develops more rapidly than rest of the body during embryonic stage
Describe Differentiation
• Physical reactions become less global and more specific as children mature; behaviours become more distinct and specific.
(Ex. Newborn’s response to stimuli such as a burn may include thrashing about, crying, withdrawing the burned finger, whereas toddlers may cry and withdraw finger but thrashing about as a response to the pain is gone)
what is FTT – Failure to Thrive?
Serious disorder that impairs growth in infancy and early childhood
• Unclear diagnosis
• Babies are irritable, refusal of breast, variable eaters, less often hungry
Describe the Two types of FTT
- Organic failure to thrive (FTT): A biological underlying health problem accounts for infant’s failure to obtain or make use of adequate nutrition
- Non-organic FTT: has psychological roots, social roots, or both
- Both cases do not make normal gains in weight/size
what is Canalization
Tendency to return to one’s genetically determined pattern of growth
Benefits of breastfeeding for child and mother
- associated with better neural and behavioral organization in infant
- Breast milk contains the mother’s antibodies and reduces infant’s coincidence of infection
- Breast milk enhances cognitive development
- Breast-fed infants are less likely to develop allergic responses and diarrhea
- Breast-fed infants are less likely to die of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)
FOR MOM:
• Reduces risk of early breast cancer and ovarian cancer
• Builds up strength of bones, which can reduce likelihood of hip fractures resulting from osteoporosis following menopause
• Helps shrink uterus after delivery and hastens post-birth weight loss
Benefits of formula feeding
Mothers bottle feed because they need to return to work; some mothers pump breast milk so others also can feed, like fathers
- Medical reasons, bottle is easier
Function of myelin
- leakage of electric current is minimized and messages
• Myelination – Process by which axons are coated with myelin; not completed at birth; myelination of brain’s prefrontal matter continues into the second decade of life; important in working memory and language ability
Function of cerebrum
- Two hemispheres that become more wrinkled as child develops - contributes to human learning, thought, memory, and language.
- Surface is the cerebral cortex; 1/8 inches (0.3 centimetres) thick; contains thought and reason; receives sensory information from the world outside and commands our muscles to move
Infant sequence of movement abilities - 16 weeks baby can
turn from stomach to side
Infant sequence of movement abilities - 20 weeks - 6 months (24 weeks) baby can
turn from stomach to back
Infant sequence of movement abilities - 28 weeks (7 months) baby can
sit up by themselves
Infant sequence of movement abilities - 32 - 36 weeks (8-9 months) baby can
begin to crawl
Infant sequence of movement abilities - Overlapping with crawling at about 32 - 36 weeks (8-9 months) baby can
standing - can remain in standing position by holding onto something. At this age they may also be able to walk a bit with support. About 2 months later, they can pull themselves up to standing position by holding on to objects
By 12 - 15 months or so, baby can..
walk by themselves, earning the name of toddler
at what age do parents worry if their child is walking?
18 months
By age 2, toddlers can
climb steps by placing both feet on each step. Run well, walk backward, kick a large ball, and jump several inches
Characteristics of newborn vision
• Newborns are extremely nearsighted, with vision beginning at 20/600; have poor peripheral vision and cannot see off to the side of more than 30 degrees
• Most dramatic gains made between birth and 6 months of age where acuity reaches about 20/50
• 3–5 years visual acuity as adults (20/20)
•Peripheral vision expands to 45 degrees by the age of 7 weeks; 6 months, same
as adult
- Infants seem to prefer complex visual stimuli over simpler stimuli. By the age of 2 months, they tend to show a preference for the..
- Newborns look at stripes longer than at blobs; by 8–12 weeks, most infants show distinct preference for
- human face.
- curved lines over straight lines
- longer fixations on faces, especially stimulus properties, not actual face; infants’ attention is at edges of objects (e.g., eyes, mouth, nose); attention is at movement and sharp contrasts in brightness or shape; later engage in social referencing
• Newborns can discriminate mother’s face from others (demonstrates learning)
Gibson and Walk (1960) are known for what study? describe
Visual cliff study
- identified age at which infants have depth perception; ability to crawl indicated in ability to perceive depth
