physical development in infancy Flashcards
Babinski reflex
when you stroke the midline of a foot, the toes should span out. Almost like a tickle response, but tests for; neurological systems and muscular development
what does it mean when a baby doesn’t have a good babinski reflex
- we are immediately concerned for the baby
- is a highly canalized behavior and when we don’t see it, it is a sign that something is seriously wrong.
planar/plantar reflex
when the digits are grasped with our hands, and the toes or fingers wrap around our hand
planar/plantar reflex is?
- a basic reflex that a healthy baby should be born with
- tells us the baby is healthy, and no matter what it is if a infants fingers wrap around our hand we have a biochemical response to it
rooting
when something touches their face or near it. What happens is the baby tries to continue to move around until they find the source of the movement. Should be moving in any directly (maybe blindly)
rooting is important for?
important for all mammals
- can be an attempt to find something to suck on
moro
- a survival mechanism
- is a full body startle response, and is typically measured using falls
- a nurse may hold onto the baby with one hand, the other hand slightly below the baby, over and isolet and then drop and catch them to check for this response
- is a full body startle response, and is typically measured using falls
moro is what?
- if the baby is born early you may not see it at first. However, if a baby is born on time and you don’t see it right after birth you should be concerned
what does the moro reflex look like
- the head will turn first and the mouth opens away then closes. Also to then see if they can grasp onto something will all of their limbs.
the sucking relfex
- have the need to serve as a self-seeking or self-regulating mechanism. The babies have to coordinate their lips, tongue movements, and be able to figure out how to swallow and breathe all at the same time.
- these all have to be done at the same time to suck effectively
what happens is sucking doesn’t occur
- the baby is safer is other mothers or caretakers are also around
- we want to assess this early. If they can’t suck they may later have speech problems.
rage reflex
done by covering a babies face partially in a controlled scenario and location. Is a full body response, but the head, legs, and arms, are flailing uncontrollably and without coordination.
without the rage reflex what will happen
- without this you are more likely to have sleep apnea, more likely to choke, more likely to roll onto your stomach and either not being able to breathe or flip over, second hand smoke which effects the fetus in utero.
with rage reflex what does it cause to decrease
a decrease in the risk for sudden infant death
self-regulation
‣ Being able to regulate their own behavior. Can been assessed in the first few days after birth. This can often predict later behaviors. Often tested right after birth because they are already mad. So what you do is just step back and watch. Waiting to see if they can calm themselves down, or if they need help calming down. ◦ May provide respiratory stress - just putting your hand on their chest to calm them. to an infant this provides warmth, and slight pressure (like using a weighted blanket). Physiologically this support will slowly start slowing down the heart rate. ◦ Sometimes they may need to be picked up and held. ◦ Often will need to be held, a tight swaddle, have a harder time being set down, or put down at night. * The Marshalls
self-regulation may do what
◦ May provide respiratory stress
- just putting your hand on their chest to calm them. to an infant this provides warmth, and slight pressure (like using a weighted blanket). Physiologically this support will slowly start slowing down the heart rate.
◦ Sometimes they may need to be picked up and held.
◦ Often will need to be held, a tight swaddle, have a harder time being set down, or put down at night. * The Marshalls
interactive behaviors
cuddliness
tracking
preference for faces
interactive behaviors -tracking
having a sibling say an infants name from across a quiet room, the baby should look in that direction. Then having the sibling keep moving and do it.
- tests motor skills and auditory abilities
interactive behaviors - preference for faces
- basic hard wired human behavior
- babies like to see faces, and they should be looking towards them. They will have a preference for a face over something like a ball at this stage
at infant age why do we not want to think about autism yet
because if someone develops autism it will not be properly represented at the infant age
interactive behaviors - cuddliness
- Babies that are cuddly in the beginning tend to be a healthy baby in terms or
muscle control and all other things.
◦A baby who’s cuddly may be one that people want to hold because they will
stay cuddling for a while. - Babies that are stiff (hypertonic) in their muscles will not be able to cuddle at first,
some parents may feel a sense of rejection from the baby. Especially in the NICU in
these it it’s important to find ways to hold them properly or swaddle them to help
them relax and cuddle.
cuddliness hypertonic versus hypotonic
◦May worry and cerebropalsy or other muscular issues
* (Hypotonic) the floppy babies
◦May worry about muscular dystrophy, but sometimes it is simply being premature or from birth trauma.
birth to one year stage of life
Growth goes pretty quickly. Not seeing a baby you typically see int he first year of life even for a couple of weeks they will look very different
age one to onset of puberty
In this stage until puberty it is more of a continuous consistent growth
Cephalocaudal principle
◦There is an axis on increased growth extending from the head toward the feet
- at first the head seems very big in proportion to the body, and is often why babies cannot at first hold their heads up
Proximodistal principle
◦The process in proximodistal from the center or midline to periphery direction. Development
proceeds from near to far - outward from central axis of the body towards the extremities
- meaning that a baby will gain control over their trunk and core muscles before developing fine motor skills in their hands and fingers; essentially, development moves from “proximal” (near the center) to “distal” (further away from the center) parts of the body
Cephalocaudal principle
The theory that there is an axis on increased growth extending from the head toward the feet
Proximodistal principle
◦ The process in proximodistal from the center or midline to periphery direction. Development proceeds from near to far - outward from central axis of the body towards the extremities
‣ Things closer in will develop quicker. Hands and feet will develop the slowest.
Size in brain development
- most of the size is already there, but some parts will get bigger through development
Dendritic branching in brain development:
- experience-expectant development
• Coming from parts of the brain that are hyper wired, ready for the experience knows it will happen. (Canalization) all members of our species should have it ready.
• Language -> is an important factor that we will focus on. In the development of a primary language the brain expects us to be exposed to a language
What is the primary part of the brain growing during the first year of life
- primarily the sensory sections develop
- don’t let them be in front of technology or tvs too often. Letting them crawl around, feel their food, carrying them, letting them explore is all part of brain development which will lead to better learning
Dendritic branching in brain development:
- experience-dependent development
• Parts of the brain where there are no other connections. the theory that we can learns things even if the brain isn’t wired for it.
• The development of a 2nd language, the brain is dependent on exposure to the environmental stimulus. Much harder to learn if we do not try to learn it until we have already reached adolescents.
gross versus motor skills
Gross - the entire body
- tend to develop quicker and form quicker more than fine motor skills
Fine - only the hands or specific
- tend to take much longer
Myelinization
‣ Goes into talking about the myeline sheath. Think of it as laying down a thin fatty layer to strengthen the quickness to which things change and develop, Once something is completely myelinated you may not even know it has happened.
• Also means that for infants to be healthy and be having good development, parents need to make sure that their babies diets are full of good, healthy fats, and proteins.
Motor skills: gross
‣ Uncoordinated activities
‣ Rhythmic motor activities
‣ Coordinated activities
Motor skills: fine
‣ Motor skills that develop slowly
‣ Tend to be a primary focus on hands
Infant nutrition: breast feeding versus bottle feeding
‣ Breast feeding seems to have a lot of benefits on the moms health, to be easier, to be more cost effective.
• Don’t judge for either one, a healthy baby is the best thing
- know that there could be many reasons why someone may not breastfeed, this may be because of health issues, a premature baby who can’t latch, an allergy for the mother, not enough milk, breast cancer, can’t because of job, or even because of health issues or something like postpartum depression
Infant nutrition: the effects on poverty
- bottle feeding can tend to be very expensive
- if a mom is in poverty during the prenatal period the baby will also be feeling the poverty due to the living circumstances.
