Physical Development In Infancy Flashcards
2 Patterns of Growth in Infancy:
- Cephalocaudal pattern (top to bottom)
- Proximodistal pattern (from center going outwards)
95% of full-term newborns are _____ long and weigh between _____
18 to 22 inches; 5 to 10 pounds
Newborns lose 5 to 7 percent of their body weight in the first several days of life. They’re able to gain the weight back once they’ve adjusted to ______
Feeding (sucking, swallowing, and digesting)
Once newborns have adjusted to their feeding, they _____
They grow rapidly
- Gaining an average of 5 to 6 ounces per week in the first month.
- Doubled birth weight by 4 months
- Tripled birth weight by the first year.
Infant grows 1 inch per month in the first year of life. What happens to growth in the second year?
Growth slows considerably in the second year
The infant’s head should be protected from falls or other injuries and should never be shaken
This syndrome occurs when a baby’s brain swells and hemorrhages
Shaken Baby Syndrome
A newborn’s brain is _____ of its adult weight, while by 2 years old it is about _____ of its adult weight
25%; 75%
Area of the brain farthest from the spinal cord
Forebrain
- It covers the forebrain like a wrinkled cap
- Has two hemispheres (left and right hemisphere)
Cerebral cortex
Each hemisphere has __________, which work together but serve different functions
Four lobes
Function of lobe:
- Voluntary movement
- Intentionality or purpose
- Thinking
- Personality
Frontal Lobe
Function of lobe:
- Vision
Occipital Lobe
Function of lobe:
- Hearing
- Language processing
- Memory
Temporal Lobe
Function of lobe:
- Registering spatial location
- Attention
- Motor control
Parietal Lobe
It is the specialization of function in one hemisphere
- Left hemisphere specializes in:
- Right hemisphere specializes in:
- Both hemispheres specialize in:
Lateralization
- Left: Speech and grammar, more logical
- Right: Humor and use of metaphors, more creative
- Both: Complex functions
These send electrical and chemical signals in the brain
Also handle information processing
Neurons
Changes in Neurons
Carries signal away from the cell body
Axons
Changes in Neurons
Carries signal towards the cell body
Dendrites
Changes in Neurons
- Encases the axons
- Helps electrical signal travel faster down the axon
- Provides energy to neurons and in communication
Myelin sheath
Changes in Neurons
Release chemicals and neurotransmitters into synapses
Terminal buttons
Changes in Neurons
- Tiny gaps between neuron’s fibers
- Where chemical interactions occur, which connect axons and dendrites and allow information to pass through neuron to neuron
Synapses
Neurons change in two very significant ways during the first years of life:
- Myelination: begins prenatally and continues after birth
- Connectivity among neurons increases, creating new pathways
Used Neuron Connections vs Unused Neuron Connections
Connections that are used become strengthened and survive, while the unused ones are replaced by other pathways or disappear.
Changes in Regions of the Brain
Peak occurs at 4 months, followed by a gradual decline until the middle to the end of the preschool years
Visual cortex and hearing and language
Changes in Regions of the Brain
It peaks at one year of age it is not until middle to late adolescence that the adult density of synapses is achieved
- In charge of higher thinking and self-regulation
Prefrontal Cortex
The infant’s brain depends on _____ to determine how connections are made.
Experience
After birth, the inflowing stream of sights, sounds, smells, touches, language, and eye contact help shape the brain’s neural connections.
Newborns sleep approximately _____ hours a day, but this could range from 10 hours to 21 hours.
18
By how old does an infant usually develop an adult-like sleeping pattern?
6 months
The most common infant sleep-related problem
Night Waking
Factors that Contribute to Night Waking:
- Excessive parental involvement in sleep-related interactions
- Intrinsic factors such as daytime crying and fussing
- Extrinsic factors such as distress when separated from the mother, breast feeding, and sleeping with parents in their bed
In this type of sleep, the eyes flutter beneath closed lids
REM Sleep
In this type of sleep, eye movement does not occur and sleep is more quiet.
Non-REM Sleep
Benefits of Shared Sleeping / Co-Sleeping:
- Promotes breastfeeding
- Quicker response to the baby’s cries
- Allows the mother to detect potentially dangerous breathing pauses in the baby
However, why does Task Force on Infant Positioning discourage shared sleeping?
- Bed sharing increases the risk that the mother will roll over onto her baby
- Increases the risk of sudden infant death syndrome
- Shared sleeping is more risky, especially if caregivers are impaired by alcohol, smoking, or being overly tired
- A condition that occurs when infants stop breathing, usually during the night, and die suddenly without an apparent cause
- Highest cause of infant death in the US
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)
American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has recommended that infants be placed to sleep _____ to reduce the risk of SIDS.
On their backs
It is a high risk for SIDS because it impairs the infant’s arousal from sleep and restricts the infant’s ability to swallow effectively
Sleeping on stomach
Prone Sleeping
Risk factors for SIDS:
- Less likely in infants who use a pacifier to sleep
- Low birth weight
- Infants with siblings who have died from SIDS
- Infants with sleep apnea
- African American and Eskimo infants
- Lower socioeconomic groups
- Passively exposed to cigarette smoke
- Infants who sleep in soft bedding
- Less common in a bedroom with a fan
- Infants with abnormal brain stem functioning involving the neurotransmitter serotonin
Nutritionists recommend that infants consume approximately _____ per day for each pound they weigh
50 calories
Improved motor skills:
Change from suck and swallow to _____, and being fed by others to _____
Chew and swallow; self-feeding
At 1 year old, infants are able to sit independently, chew, and swallow a range of textures. Infants need to have a diet that includes:
A variety of foods – especially fruits and vegetables.
Benefits of Breast-feeding:
For the child:
▪ Fewer gastrointestinal infections
▪ Lower respiratory tract infections
▪ Protects against wheezing in babies
▪ Less likely to develop otitis media
▪ Less likely to develop atopic dermatitis
▪ Less likely to become overweight or obese in childhood, adolescence, and adulthood
▪ Less likely to develop type 1 diabetes in childhood and type 2 diabetes in adulthood
▪ Less likely to experience SIDS
For the mother:
▪ Lower incidence of breast cancer
▪ Reduction in ovarian cancer
▪ Small reduction in type 2 diabetes
▪ Lower incidence of metabolic syndrome
Women less likely to breastfeed:
- Full-time outside of the home
- Mothers < 25
- Mothers without a high school education
- African American mothers
- Mothers in low-income circumstances
Circumstances wherein mother should not breastfeed:
- Infected with HIV or other infectious diseases
- Active tuberculosis
- Taking any drug not safe for the infant
Caused by severe protein-calorie deficiency and results in a wasting away of body tissues in the infant’s first year.
Deficiency of all macronutrients — protein, carbohydrates and fats
Child is skinny and frail all throughout
Marasmus
Caused by severe protein deficient
Child is skinny but has a bloated stomach
Kwashiorkor
