write an essay in 9 hours
Chapter 5 - Infancy: Physical Development
Rathus, S. (2015)
Childhood: Voyages in Development
Below this slide is a notes area. Be sure to “grab” onto the bar of the notes area and pull it up so that you can see the notes for each of the slides. The notes are required reading and can help you learn more about the content each week. Please contact the instructor immediately if you cannot see the notes!
As you read through the presentation, be sure to also take a peek at the notes below the slides. All references in this presentation are references to the Rathus textbook unless otherwise stated.
Textbook reference: Rathus, S. (2013). Childhood: Voyages in development. 5th Edition. New York: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
Growth Charts
This CDC website provides information about the World Health Organization growth charts.
This CDC resource outlines the differences in methodologies used to develop CDC growth charts and WHO growth charts.
Learn more here about using WHO charts.
The growth charts referenced in the textbook are dated with the year 2000. In 2006, the World Health Organization (WHO) released growth charts that describe the growth of children being raised in optimal environments. To learn more about these growth charts (and to see them yourself), visit this link or the URL in the reference below.
There is also a link to a resource that explains the difference in how data was collected for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) growth charts and the WHO growth charts. As you can see, the WHO charts are based on children who were breastfed. The data was also longitudinal for the WHO charts. Furthermore, there were more factors for exclusion from the WHO growth charts than the CDC charts.
As you look at these resources, think about them yourself. What could be the impact of using one type of growth chart over another for an infant? To learn more, check out this resource about why using the WHO charts for infants is recommended and how breastfeeding as the standard plays a role in the use of these charts.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2015, April 15). Differences in methodologies. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpao/growthcharts/who/methodology/differences.htm
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2010, September 9). Growth charts - WHO growth standards are recommended for use in the U.S. for infants and children 0 to 2 years of age. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/growthcharts/who_charts.htm
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2015, April 15). Using the WHO growth standard charts. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpao/growthcharts/who/breastfeeding/index.htm
*Pediatricians use percentiles, our text uses curves
Physical Growth and Development
Failure to thrive (pp. 154-155):
FTT: “A disorder of impaired growth in infancy and early childhood characterized by failure to gain weight within normal limits,” (p.154)
Many reasons- feeding problems most prominent
Attachment issues may cause problems
Underlying health issues.
Treatment and Interventions needed
Another discussion in this section is a discussion of failure to thrive or FTT. FTT is “a disorder of impaired growth in infancy and early childhood characterized by failure to gain weight within normal limits” (p. 154). There could be a lot of reasons for this, but feeding problems are always a part of it. The effects of FTT can be profound and may affect cognitive functioning, behavior, and emotional development. Attachment issues could be a part of FTT. Some infants with FTT have an underlying health issue. As the textbook points out, treatment could be complex because there could be a number of interventions needed.
Marasmus is “a form of FTT that is characterized by wasting away due to a diet low in essential nutrients” (p. 155). Proper nutrition in the first year of life is imperative. If a woman is not making enough milk or if formula feeding is inadequate, marasmus could occur.
Interestingly, once a problem is lifted, canalization may occur. This is, “the tendency of growth rates to return to genetically determined patterns after undergoing environmentally induced change” (p. 155).
Marasmus: “a form of FTT that is characterized by wasting away due to diet in low essential nutrients,” (p.155)
Proper nutrition in the first year of life is imperative. If a woman is not making enough milk or if formula feeding is inadequate, marasmus could occur.
Catch-up growth (Canalization):
Once a problem is resolved, “the tendencey of growth rates to return to genetically determined patterns after undergoing environmentally induced change,” (p. 155).
Infant brain development
PBS The Secret Life of the Brain. The Baby Brain.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MS5HUDVNbGs
EXTRA INFO
Development of the Brain and Nervous System
This video is just under an hour in length. It is not required, due to its length, but is highly recommended!
From “Present” mode, double click on the above video to play it in this slide. You may view it in YouTube, too, where you may access captions. The URL for the video may be found below.
I highly recommend that you watch the video above if you have the time and are interested in infant brain development. The video goes into some of the topics we will be learning about in future weeks, such as language, cognitive, and social development, but it also relates to the information we are learning this week about brain development. The video shows images of the child’s brain and how different experiences light up the brain. It goes into right and left brain thinking, too!
KSPS Public TV (2015, September 14). Born to learn [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/JL1FTHZWYGg
EXTRA RESOURCES
Nutrition: Fueling Development
Focus in textbook is on breastfeeding (pp. 155-161).
Many more topics and resources!
Resources on toddler nutrition
Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Infant Feeding Guide
A whole book for free in PDF or ereader format!
I do not want to diminish the information in the textbook. In the nutrition section there is a detailed discussion of the benefits of breastfeeding. I encourage you all to read through the information on feeding provided in the textbook.
This might seem like the shortest section in the presentation, but it has a wealth of information for you. The resources provided here are just a few of the resources that are out there about infant feeding. This is by no means an unimportant section. That being said, I am not expecting you to read all of the resources provided. I do encourage you to glance at them and know what information is out there. Then, if and when you need the information, you will know where to look. There is a lot to consider when it comes to feeding infants. Breastfeeding or formula-feeding is one thing to consider. After that, infants are introduced to solids. How and when solids are introduced is important to consider. There are health and safety issues to consider as children start to eat solids, too!
To give you more information about feeding during the first two years, I found a bunch of resources for you. They are all linked in the slide above or below for you.
The infant formulas and feeding resource provides information about different types of formula and how to feed and infant formula (cleaning, storing, etc…). Since many babies are fed formula, knowing more about it may be helpful.
Breastfeeding may have many benefits, but there is a lot more to breastfeeding than just knowing its benefits. This resource from Womenshealth.gov provides a variety of information organized in six different areas (e.g., learning to breastfeed, breastfeeding challenges, pumping and storing…).
I would never expect you to read all of the resources on this page, but I wanted to share a link to a huge list of resources on infant nutrition. The resources are on a variety of topics including things such as newborn nutrition and even vegetarian infants.
I don’t want to leave out our toddlers! Just like the above resource list on infant nutrition, I found a list of resources about toddler nutrition, too!
Last, but not least, if you want to really get into the topic of infant feeding, there’s an entire free book for you at this WIC site! You can download the entire guide, certain chapters, or even check out the entire book in ereader format here!
References:
Office of Women’s Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2014). Breastfeeding. Retrieved from http://womenshealth.gov/breastfeeding/
United States Department of Agriculture (2015). Infant nutrition. Retrieved from http://fnic.nal.usda.gov/lifecycle-nutrition/infant-nutrition
United States Department of Agriculture (2009). Infant nutrition and feeding: A guide for use in the WIC and CSF programs. Retrieved from https://wicworks.fns.usda.gov/infants/infant-feeding-guide
United States Department of Agriculture (2015). Toddler nutrition. Retrieved from http://fnic.nal.usda.gov/lifecycle-nutrition/toddler-nutrition
US National Library of Medicine (2015). Infant formulas: MedlinePlus. Retrieved from https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002447.htm
Motor Development: Video
Babyproofing a home is critical! This video explains a few things that can help keep infants safe.
From “Present” mode, double click on the above video to play it in this slide. You may view it in YouTube, too, where you may access captions. The URL for the video may be found below.
In the beginning of the chapter, we read the author’s principles of infant development. One of the things mentioned is that babies oftentimes are more mobile than we expect and babyproofing can sometimes come too late! This video highlights some of the things to consider when babyproofing a home. It may help save a child’s life or prevent an emergency room visit.
BoysTownHospital (2014, November 20). Babyproofing your home - Boys Town Pediatrics [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/_KMVyFNJvFY
Sensory and Perceptual Development (pp. 170-180)
Hearing
Habituation: “Infants who are normally exposed to backdrop of moderate noise levels become habituated to them and are not likely to awaken unless there is a sudden, sharp noise,” (p. 175).
Hearing is another area of perceptual development that develops quickly in the infant period. Hearing is important for language development. In fact, when I have worked in infant and toddler programs, I have spent a lot of time talking with infants about the sounds in the environment and seeing if they can tell from where sounds are coming. What can infants hear? “As infants mature, the range of the pitch of the sounds they can sense gradually expands to include the adults’ range of 20-20,000 cycles per second” (p. 175). Habituation is an interesting thing to consider. A lot of new parents talk with their friends about how their babies are sleeping. Some babies can learn to sleep with noises around if this is a part of the baby’s life from the beginning. “Infants who are normally exposed to backdrop of moderate noise levels become habituated to them and are not likely to awaken unless there is a sudden, sharp noise” (p. 175). Infants have been found to discern the difference between sounds like “bah” and “pah,” too. It is fascinating to consider that infants are born ready to learn all of the languages in the world. What they hear determines the sounds and languages they will eventually learn to produce!
by paying attention to what your child is communicating to you.
with your child using descriptive words to build his vocabulary.
by encouraging your child to respond to your words and actions.
Thirty Million Words Project: http://thirtymillionwords.org /
Sensory and Perceptual Development (pp. 170-180)
Perception v. Sensations
Sensation: “Stimulation of sensory organs...and teh transmission of sensory information to the brain,” (p.170).
Perception: when the brain makes sense of the sensations, creating “a mental map of the world,” (p.170).
Preferences are something that is discussed quite a bit. Figure 5.16 is pretty interesting to consider. By about 2 months of age, infants show a preference for human faces. Why is this? What do you think? Figure 5.17 is also pretty interesting. Where does an infant look when looking at a face? Age plays a role!
Depth perception is interesting, too! By using a pretend cliff, where plexiglass will prevent an actual fall, crawling infants were observed to see if they would crawl off the cliff. “8 out of 10 infants who had begun to crawl refused to venture onto the seemingly unsupported surface” (p. 172). When younger infants were placed face-down on the cliff, their heart rates decreased, which likely means that they are interested in what is happening. However, older babies who can crawl have an increase in heart-rate in the same situation, indicating a likely fear response.
Size constancy is the ability to know that something doesn’t change in size just because it is closer or farther away. If you sit very close to a television, it may look huge. However, it may seem tiny across the room. This section of the textbook discusses how infants in early infancy can understand this! Shape constancy is a similar thing: infants by about 4 or 5 months of age know something stays the same shape even if viewed from another angle (e.g., the plate I am looking at on the table is sort of an oval because I am sitting to the side, but I know it’s a circle!).
Vision Acuity
Peripheral vision is also not great at birth, but is about that of an adult by 6 months.
At birth: not great 20/600. See best when being held to nurse or eat from bottle.
At 6 mo: 20/50 vision
At preschool they may reach adult levels.
Visual preferences
Depth perception
Perceptual constancies (size and shape)
Visual Preferences
By about 2 months, infants show a preference for human faces.
WHY?
Depth Perception
Visual Cliff
“8 out of 10 infants who had begun to crawl refused to venture onto the seemingly unsupported surface” (p. 172).
Perceptual constancies (size and shape)
Size Constancy: the ability to know that something doesn’t change in size just because it is closer or farther away.
Shape constancy: infants by about 4 or 5 months of age know something stays the same shape even if viewed from another angle
Taste: An extra!
“A Closer Look: Real Life” (p. 176-177)
Exposing Infants early to vegetables can help.
Have infants try foods, “once a day for 10 consecutive days,” (p.176). Can result in infants eventually eating more of that food!
Motor Skills
California Infant/Toddler Learning & Development Foundations
The information in the textbook provides some excellent information about the development of motor skills. If you care for an infant or toddler, however, you may want more details about:
skills children exhibit at different ages
examples of how children may move their bodies at different ages
behaviors you may expect at different ages
materials you may want to provide to infants to help with motor development
experiences you may want to provide for infants
The links in the slide above (or in the reference list below) highlight what you may expect infants to do at around 8 months, 18 months, and 36 months. The California Infant/Toddler Learning and Development Foundations are designed for caregivers so that they know how to best support infant development. Looking at the above resources may help paint a picture of different ages during the infant and toddler period and help you know what to expect.
References:
California Department of Education (2015). Foundation: Fine motor. Retrieved from http://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/re/itf09percmotfdfinm.asp
California Department of Education (2015). Foundation: Gross motor. Retrieved from http://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/re/itf09percmotfdgrom.asp
California Department of Education (2015). Foundation: Perceptual development. Retrieved from http://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/re/itf09percmotfdperd.asp
Video: Supporting development
Watch this video to learn a few things that we can do to support infants and toddlers in their development.
From “Present” mode, double click on the above video to play it in this slide. You may view it in YouTube, too, where you may access captions. The URL for the video may be found below.
EarlyChildhoodVideos (2013, February 1). Supporting physical development in infants and toddlers [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/3_1Dbg2555A