COMMUNICATION AND TEACHING WITH
CHILDREN AND FAMILIES
COMMUNICATION
HEALTH LITERACY
An individual’s ability to read, understand and
use health care information to make decisions
and follow instructions.
COMMUNICATION
The exchange of ideas between two or more
persons.
It can be:
 VERBAL-using words
 NONVERBAL-using actions such as
touch or eye contact or even a remote
system such as mail or e-mail.
2 MAJOR CATEGORIES OF
COMMUNICATION:
1. Nontherapeutic (casual, everyday
conversation)
2. Therapeutic (helpful and constructive
interchanges).
COMPONENTS OF GOOD
COMMUNICATION
THE ENCODER
- The encoder is the person who
originates a message.
- Such a person desires to share a
thought or feeling with someone else
and so originates the message.
THE CODE
- The code is the message that is
conveyed, as well as the medium or
system used to convey it.
THE DECODER
- The receiver (decoder) of the message
is the person who not only receives it
(hears it, reads it, views it) but interprets
or decodes its meaning (cognitive
processing).
FEEDBACK OR RESPONSE
- Feedback is the reply the decoder
returns to the sender to acknowledge
the message has been received and
interpreted.
THE DEVELOPMENT OF LANGUAGE
AT BIRTH
- One of the first responses an infant
makes at birth is to communicate. A first
cry is important because it signals the
infant is breathing well. It also
announces to the parents the birth is
real and stimulates the beginning of
parent–child interaction.
BY AGE 2
- Children have mastered language well
enough to be able to put together two-
word sentences (a noun and a verb).
PRESCHOOL AGE
- They not only have a vocabulary of
about 900 words but also can code them
into simple jokes or stories.
- They progress to a new phase in which
they originate new words for objects or
feelings (“cool” and “whatever” as
responses).
LEVELS OF COMMUNICATION
 First-Level: Cliché Conversation
- Pleasant chatting or comments such as,
“Have a nice day” between people who
do not intend their relationship to extend
beyond a superficial level.
 Second Level: Fact Reporting
- Fact reporting is simply stating facts
about oneself (“I’m 12; I’m in sixth
grade”).
 Third Level: Shared Personal Ideas and
Judgments
- When children know you well, they are
able to share ideas such as, “I always
wanted to be an astronaut” and
judgments (“This is too hard for me; I
need to learn a different way”).
 Fourth Level: Shared Feelings
- It is difficult to share feelings until you
truly trust one another, because feelings
are tenuous, fragile concepts, easily
destroyed and crushed by inept or
uncaring comments.
 Fifth Level: Peak Communication
- The fifth level of communication is a
sense of oneness, or being able to know
what the other person is experiencing
without it actually being voiced.

NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION
- Nonverbal communication involves a
variety of factors that are important as
accomplishments to effective
communication.
NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION CAN BE
EXPRESSED IN A VARIETY OF WAYS:
 GENERAL APPERANCE
- Children who have high self-esteem
tend to maintain good body hygiene and
care about their appearance while those
who are depressed may not feel the
effort involved in grooming.
 BODY POSTURE AND GAIT
- Children who feel good about
themselves usually assume an upright
body posture and walk rapidly and those
who’s depressed or insecure tends to
slouch and move more timidly and those
who are threatened tend to either draw
back or act aggressively.
 HUMOR
- Some people have a natural knack for
finding humor in any situation; others do
not instinctively have this quality and so
must cultivate it.
 DRAWINGS
- A useful nonverbal technique to learn
how a child feel about a frightening
experience is to ask them to draw a
picture of what happened or a picture of
themselves
 MUSIC
- The better the children feel about
themselves; the more they likely to
choose lively music; if they are sad, they
often choose a quieter, more comforting
type.
TECHNIQUES TO ENCOURAGE
THERAPEUTIC COMMUNICATION
 DISTANCE
- Although it is affected by cultural and
personal variables, the distance at which
you position yourself from the person
you are talking to can indicate your
feelings or the type of conversation you
want to have.
 GENUINENESS AND TRUTHFULNESS
- Genuineness is a quality of projecting
sincerity or being yourself.
 WARMTH
- Warmth is an innate quality, and some
people manifest it more spontaneously
than others. Basic ways in which warmth
is demonstrated are direct eye contact,
use of a gentle tone of voice, listening
attentively, approaching a child within a
comfortable space of 1 to 4 feet (closer
may be threatening; farther away may
be distancing), and using touch
appropriately.
 EMPATHY
- Empathy is the ability to put yourself in
another person’s place and experience
a feeling the same as that person is
experiencing.
 GESTURES
- Children vary a great deal in the
gestures they use to accompany their
spoken words. Be careful not to assess
emotion only by a child’s gestures; some
children wave their arms wildly
describing an everyday occurrence;
others would use that degree of
expression only when in extreme
distress.
 FACIAL EXPRESSION
- An important accompanying gesture.
Clenched teeth, frowns, and smiles are
easily interpreted by everyone. The
degree of pain a child is experiencing
may be more evident by facial
expression than words.
 TOUCH
- Touch is the most intimate and
meaningful of nonverbal techniques.
When words are inadequate, touch
rarely is. Learn to use touch such as
clapping a child’s shoulder or squeezing
 a hand to accompany reassuring words
or in place of words as a strong support
signal (I’m here; I understand; it’s all
right to be afraid).
 ATTENTIVE LISTENING
- No one likes to talk to someone who
does not appear to be listening or
responding. Good listening, therefore,
like speaking, is not passive but active.
 REFLECTING
- Reflecting is restating the last word or
phrase a child has said when there is a
pause in the communication.
 CLARIFYING
- Clarifying consists of repeating
statements others have made so both of
you can be certain you understood
them.
 PARAPHRASING
- Paraphrasing is restating what children
have said not only to assure them you
have heard correctly (as in clarifying) but
also to help them explain what they
have been trying to say in other words.
 PERCEPTION CHECKING
- Perception checking documents a
feeling or emotion reported to you.
 FOCUSING
- Focusing helps children to center on a
subject you suspect is causing them
anxiety because they comment about it
indirectly or else completely avoid it.
 SUPPORTIVE STATEMENTS
- Supportive statements let children know
you accept their behavior or at least
appreciate they have dealt well with
unfortunate circumstances.
 SILENCE
- Silence, however, is an effective
therapeutic technique. If you ask an
emotion-laden question (“Are you
worried?”) and the child does not
answer immediately, allow a period of
silence to pass. Because you do not
hurry to fill in the silence, the child is
likely to respond by hurrying an answer
(to fill in the silence)
 PROCESS RECORDING
- Process recording is a method to
examine how effective you are at
therapeutic communication. After your
next interaction with a child, take a few
minutes and write down in the left
column of a sheet of paper a statement
the child made to you. In the middle
column, write what you thought on
hearing the statement. In a third column,
write your response.
FACTORS THAT CAN INTERFERE WITH
EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION
 AGE AND DEVELOPMENTAL LEVEL
- Age and developmental levels are
important to communication ability
because they influence vocabulary and
reading ability so greatly
 INTELLECTUAL LEVEL
- Intellectual level, like age, affects
vocabulary and ability both to encode
and decode messages. It influences the
number of languages a child speaks,
reading ability, and the depth of
explanation a child is capable of
understanding.
 PHYSICAL FACTORS
- Physical factors such as speech
impairments and hearing or vision
challenges interfere with the
transmission and reception of
messages.
 TECHNICAL TERMINOLOGY
- Adults have heard common medical
words and so usually have little difficulty
understanding an explanation of one.
Children, in contrast, have not heard
many medical words.
 SHOWING DISAPPROVAL
- Parents and children do not come for
health care to be criticized; they come to
learn more about how to stay well or
recover from illness. If you criticize
them, they may not reveal any further
information to you because they do not
 want you to react in the same way you
did to their preliminary statements.
 NOT SHOWING APPROVAL WHEN
WARRANTED
- Giving children praise for what they do
well encourages them to tell you more
about themselves and to try other
things. If a topic is difficult for them to
talk about, saying that you realize it is a
sensitive topic helps them continue to
discuss it.
 GROWING DEFENSIVE
- If a child makes a critical remark,
therefore, it is easy to respond with a
defensive or protective comment rather
than a therapeutic one.
 CLICHÉ ADVICE
- Cliché advice (advice given from a
formula, not individualized to the
situation) is meaningless because it is
too general to be helpful.
 TOPPING UP
- “Topping up” is minimizing a child’s
views by telling a better story.
- A child tells you, for example, he has a
headache;
COMMUNICATION SITUATIONS THAT
REQUIRE SPECIAL SKILLS
 THE SHY CHILD
- Children who are comfortable with
verbal communication reach out to
secure the help they need from others
by talking; shy individuals are more
likely to have their needs go
unrecognized.
 THE ANGRY CHILD
- It is difficult to work with angry children
because you feel yourself being pulled
into their anger. The typical response at
hearing an angry outburst is to imitate it
(a child is radiating anger as tight-lipped
silence, so you say nothing as well; a
child shouts at you, and you shout
back).
 THE DEMANDING CHILD
- Demanding behavior generally stems
from insecurity or fear
- When you have proven you are
dependably there for them, children do
not feel so insecure, and the need to be
demanding usually fades.
 THE BULLYING OR SEXUALLY
AGGRESSIVE ADOLSCENT
- Sexually aggressive behavior and
bullying stems from the same cause as
every other aggressive and demanding
behavior: insecurity. It can be
manifested as telling unwelcome jokes
or inappropriate physical touching.
Adolescents with this degree of
insecurity may benefit from counseling
to help them channel coping responses
into more socially acceptable behaviors.
 THE CHILD WHO IS NOT PROFICIENT IN
ENGLISH
- Most children who speak another
language have a support person who
can serve as an interpreter. Anticipate
the instructions you will need to give the
child (cough, deep breathe, save urine,
and so forth) and ask the interpreter to
write them out in the child’s language for
times the interpreter may not be present.
 THE UNCONSCIOUS CHILD
- A child that is unconscious does not
necessarily mean that she cannot hear.
Never say anything to unconscious
children within their hearing you would
not say if they are fully awake.
 THE CHILD WITH HEARING
IMPAIRMENT
- When communicating with hearing-
challenged children, check whether they
use a hearing aid; if so, be certain it is
turned on. Face them when you speak
so they can follow your lip movements.
Use hand gestures as necessary to
convey your message or write out
instructions. If you have difficulty
understanding what they are trying to
say, ask them to write it down if they are
old enough. Use common sense about
how loud to raise your voice to facilitate
communication.
 THE CHILD WITH VISION IMPAIRMENT
- When speaking to a child who is
challenged visually, be careful not to rely
on nonverbal communication techniques
such as hand gestures, as these cannot
be seen.
HEALTH TEACHING IN A CHANGING
HEALTHCARE ENVIRONMENT
- In the past, when children were admitted
to hospitals well in advance of surgery
and remained in the hospital after
surgery or therapy until they were
almost totally well, there was a wide
window of time for health teaching.
Today, when surgery is often a 1-day
experience, the window for teaching has
greatly narrowed
TEACHING WITH CHILDREN AND FAMILIES
THE TEACHER–LEARNER RELATIONSHIP
- Effective teaching and learning depend
a great deal on the teacher–learner
relationship, because, as a teacher, you
can only influence an individual to learn;
you cannot force learning.
PRINCIPLES OF LEARNING
• KNOW THE SUBJECT.
- To effectively teach children, you must
be able not only to present material but
also to answer questions about it.
Children’s questions can be as probing
as an adult’s and they can often be
more frequent, because children are
used to asking questions of a teacher or
a parent.
• KNOW THE AUDIENCE.
- Children vary a great deal in cognitive
development depending on their age
group. To teach preschoolers about
health, you might choose to teach how
to brush teeth using puppets as a
teaching aid. The same clever puppet
and toothbrushing presentation likely
would not be well received among
adolescents.
• KNOW YOURSELF
- Analyze which teaching techniques
(lecture, role playing, small group
discussion, audiovisual aids) fit your
teaching style. Using techniques that are
comfortable allows teaching to be most
effective.
• ASSESS INDIVIDUAL LEARNING
STYLES.
- Most children respond well to visual
images - (seeing a demonstration or
drawing) to complement learning.
Assessing individual learning styles
helps to meet each child’s best way of
learning.
• DEFINE EXPECTED OUTCOMES
- Expected outcomes serve as guidelines
to help you select from all you know
about a subject that part which is most
pertinent to an individual child. They
should be realistic, measurable, and
mutually established
• PROVIDE AN ENVIRONMENT
CONDUCIVE
- Children are easily distracted from
learning because of so many new for
learning experiences in their world.
Divide material into segments to keep
teaching sessions short; avoid
competing factors such as television or
mealtime.
• BE CONSISTENT
- Nothing is more confusing to a person
learning something for the first time than
to be told two different ways to do it.
Choose one method that should work
best for a child and then consistently
stress that method. After a child has
learned the one method, then suggest
alternative methods if the child is
interested.
• RECOGNIZE THAT ACTIONS TEACH AS
MUCH OR SOMETIMES MORE SO THAN
VERBAL STATEMENTS
- Be certain that a nonverbal statement is
not contradicting a than verbal
statements
• TEACH FROM THE SIMPLE TO THE
COMPLEX
 - Fundamentals must be grasped before
extensive learning can proceed
• TEACH PRINCIPLES
- Teaching children the principle behind
why they are doing something gives
them reason to do it. It expands learning
in that it allows children to modify and
change to an alternative method as long
as the principle is fulfilled.
•
EMPHASIZE WHAT THE CHILD
SHOULD DO; MENTION BUT TO NOT
EMPHASIZE, WHAT THE CHILD
SHOULD NOT DO.
- Teaching from a positive standpoint
makes learning more enjoyable.
Because health care information should
last a lifetime, thinking of it in a
emphasize what the child positive way
makes it applicable to lifetime use.
However, children need should not do.
to know both the do’s and don’ts
regarding health issues.
• INCLUDE EVALUATION AS A FINAL
STEP.
- The only way to determine the
effectiveness of teaching is to test or
evaluate if learning has occurred.
Structure the time and method of
evaluation when first establishing a
teaching plan.
TYPES OF LEARNING
 COGNITIVE LEARNING
- Cognitive learning involves a change in
the individual’s level of understanding or
knowledge.
 PSYCHOMOTOR LEARNING
- Psychomotor learning requires a change
in a person’s ability to perform a skill.
 AFFECTIVE LEARNING
- Affective learning involves a change in a
person’s attitude and is the most difficult
area in which to bring about change.
INFLUENCE OF AGE AND STAGE ON
ABILITY TO LEARN
• THE INFANT
- Infants learn by exploring the
environment with their senses
(psychomotor learning).
• THE TODDLER
- Toddlers are developing a sense of
autonomy that is, learning to be
independent
• THE PRESCHOOLER
- Preschool children are interested in
learning, because developing a sense of
initiative is the main developmental
task of the period.
THE SCHOOL-AGE CHILD
- School-age children enjoy short projects
that offer an immediate reward.
Therefore, they learn best if a procedure
is broken down into different stages and
presented as separate short procedures
rather than one long one.
THE ADOLESCENT
- Adolescents, struggling for identity, like
to learn things separately from their
parents. As a rule, they can be
responsible for their own self-care; if
they understand how the new actions
they have been taught will directly
benefit them, unlike school-age children,
they will continue to carry those actions
out conscientiously.
DEVELOPING AND IMPLEMENTING A
TEACHING PLAN
TEACHING PLAN
- a design of the content to be taught and
the teaching–learning techniques to be
used. The first step in developing a
teaching plan consists of assessing a
child’s current level of knowledge,
ability, and motivation to learn new
knowledge.
1. ASSESSING TEACHING/LEARNING
OUTCOMES
- Designing a plan begins with
assessment of the individual child’s
need s and how the new knowledge will
meld with the lifestyle, intellectual and
language level physical, cognitive
 capabilities, sociocultural values and
attention span.
2. FORMULATING THE PLAN
- Formulating a teaching plan begins with
establishing expected outcomes and
techniques of teaching. It may need to
include communication strategies for
parents as well as children.
 IDENTIFYING PERSONAL STRENGTHS
AND LIMITATIONS
- When formulating a teaching plan, be
honest about your capabilities.
Attempting to use a teaching method
that is uncomfortable can cause children
to interpret your insecurity as evidence
there is something wrong with them, not
with the method.
 PREPARING EXPECTED OUTCOMES
- Planning outcomes is most effective
when they are planned collaboratively
with a child and family. They should
reflect the type of learning desired:
cognitive, psychomotor, or affective.
 IDENTIFYING TEACHING FORMATS
- Teaching techniques vary with the
content to be covered, teacher–learner
characteristics, and the environment for
teaching.
 FORMAL VERSUS INFORMAL
TEACHING
 EXAMPLE OF FORMAL TEACHING: -
conducting a class on healthy eating as
part of a health education course.
 EXAMPLE OF FORMAL TEACHING:
explaining to a child who refuses to eat
that he needs to at least drink something
because his body needs more fluids to
get better.
 GROUP VERSUS INDIVIDUAL
TEACHING
- Although most health teaching is done
on an individual basis, teaching groups
of children is common in some
situations.
 INDIVIDUAL INSTRUCTION- more
directly addresses a child’s unique
needs
 GROUP TEACHING- can meet
individual needs while adding depth to
learning as children discuss information
within the group.
Consider the following important guidelines
when group teaching:
1. Assess for common interests and goals so
that the information will appeal to as many in
the group as possible.
2. Be certain that all members of the group can
see and hear all others.
3. Encourage all members of the group to
participate in discussions by calling on them if
necessary.
4. Limit any one person from dominating the
group by a statement such as, “That’s a good
point, Reneé. Has anyone else had a similar
experience?”
5. Avoid competition in the group. No one is
always right; no one is always wrong.
6. Ask group members to evaluate the
experience afterward to be certain it met the
group’s needs.
 For many children, hearing that they are
not the only person with their problem is
comforting. Hearing another child
discuss how to solve a problem may be
more meaningful than hearing the same
information from an adult. Peer learning
in this way, therefore, not only improves
knowledge but may also improve
attitude and motivation to learn.
 HOME VERSUS INSTITUTIONAL
TEACHING
- Health teaching is just as important in
the home as it is in a health care
agency, school, or community setting.
Teaching in the health care agency
usually focuses on immediate acute
care concerns.
 INSTITUTIONAL TEACHING- may focus
on topics such as basic health promotion
and hygiene, reproductive and sex
education, and drug prevention.
 HOME TEACHING- may focus on
medication regimens, dressing changes, or
measures to prevent complications of a
 illness. Teaching in the home offers the
advantage of being able to assess a child’s
environment, interactions with other family
members, and overall family functioning.
 DETERMINING TEACHING STRATEGIES
 LECTURE
- Lecture (or directly explaining
information) is the most efficient and
time-saving method of offering
information to both individual children
and groups.
DISADVANTAGE:
- Does not allow for much participation,
and it is effective only in short, well-
structured periods. It is rarely effective
for children who are not yet school age.
 DEMONSTRATION
- Demonstration is actually performing a
procedure such as a dressing change or
instillation of eye drops so the child can
see clearly how the procedure should be
done.
 REDEMONSTRATION
- To determine whether a child has truly
grasped a demonstration, ask the child
to perform a redemonstration, or exact
imitation of the procedure.
 DISCUSSION
- Discussion is a shared learning
experience in which children ask
questions about particular concerns and
these are answered based on their
individual circumstances, or children are
asked questions about some problem,
such as how they anticipate managing
some aspect of care, and together the
problem is solved.
 ROLE MODELING
- Role modeling is demonstrating a
certain attitude or behavior you want a
child to learn.
BEHAVIOR THERAPY.
- Behavior therapy, also called behavior
modification, is a term used for a system
aimed at erasing some form of behavior
that interferes with healthy functioning.
 SELECTING TEACHING TOOLS
 VISUAL AIDS.
- Because small children know little about
their bodies or where body organs are
located, using visual aids such as
drawings or photographs of anatomy
can be very helpful.
 PAMPHLETS
- Pamphlets are helpful teaching aids with
school age children and adolescents
because they usually contain brief, easy
to read, easily understood information
and are and are often cleverly illustrated
with cartoon characters to make them
enjoyable.
 LEARNING GAMES
- For memorizing certain kinds of
information, such as what foods are high
or low in potassium or sodium, flash
cards are a helpful learning tool.
 VIDEOTAPES, CDS, AND DVDS
- Many health care agencies, homes,
schools, and community centers have
videotape or DVD playback equipment
that can be used to show a short tape or
PowerPoint presentation as part of a
health education program.
 PUPPETS AND DOLLS
- Preschool children are particularly
receptive to puppets and dolls because,
with their imagination at its peak, they
believe the puppet or doll is actually
talking to them.
 MASS MEDIA
- Television and radio are examples of
effective mass media that teach many
children topics about self-help or self-
care.
 COMPUTERS
- Many children learn to solve problems
using computers as early as preschool
age and are exposed to computers at
home, child care, or school. Using a
computer application to answer
questions about an illness is effective
because this type of activity can be both
entertaining and informative
 HEALTH FAIRS
- Health fairs are displays presenting
health related information to large
numbers of people.
PREPARING TEACHING SUPPLIES
- To avoid having to reorganize
equipment or instructions each time a
procedure is taught, put together a
basket or box containing all the
information and equipment needed to
teach a particular task.
3. IMPLEMENTING THE PLAN
- Health teaching can begin immediately
and flow easily if goals have been
developed well and strategies for
teaching have been designed carefully.
 USING DESIGNATED TEACHERS
- Many health care agencies, including
home care agencies, have specific
people who are available for health
teaching about specific subjects such as
diabetes, stomal care, or respiratory
exercises or drug prevention.
 PARENT EDUCATION
- With very young children, parents as
well as children need teaching. It is good
practice with all children to be certain
that at least one adult in the household
has the necessary information or can
perform the required skill as well as the
child.
4. EVALUATING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF
TEACHING
- Evaluation, or assessing whether
teaching has been effective, is the final
step in teaching. Evaluation occurs not
only after the teaching plan has been
implemented but throughout the entire
learning process.
NEWBORN REFLEXES
Sucking Reflex
- Feeding reflex
- If you touch the roof of your baby’s
mouth with your finger, a pacifier or a
nipple, he will instinctively begin
sucking. Around 2 -3 months of age,
baby’s sucking will be a result of
conscious effort and no longer a reflex
Rooting Reflex
- Causes baby to turn their head towards
the direction of being touched on the
cheek, often opening their mouth quite
wide. You will notice your baby doing
whether they are hungry or not, you may
even stimulate this reflex by accidentally
brushing your baby’s cheek with your
hand or with a piece of clothing.
Disappear at 6 months
Rooting and Sucking Reflex
1. Normal response
 Newborn turns head in direction
of stimulus, opens mouth, and
begins to suck when cheek lip, or
corner of mouth is touched with
finger or nipple
2. Abnormal Response
 Weak or no response occurs with
prematurity, neurologic deficit or
injury, or central nervous system
depression secondary to
maternal drug ingestion
Extrusion
- Newborn pushes tongue outward when
tip of tongue is touched with finger or
nipple. Continuous extrusion of tongue
thrusting occurs with CNS anomalities
and seizures. Disappear at 3-4 months
Swallowing
- Newborn swallows in coordination with
sucking when fluid is placed on back of
tongue
- Gagging, coughing or regurgitation of
fluid may occur possible associated with
cyanosis secondary to prematurity
neurologic deficit, injury; typically seen
after laryngoscopy
Moro Reflex
- Bilateral symmertrical extension and
abduction of all extremities with thumb
and forefinger forming characteristics
“C” are followed by adduction of
extremities and return to relaxed flexion
- Disappear 3-4 months
 - Abnormal response: asymmetrical Rage Reflex
response w/ PN injury (brachial plexus)/ - Response to having his/her movements
fracture of clavicle suddenly restrained
Stepping - Diminished before 6 months of age
- NB will step w/ one ffot and then the Physical Assessment
other in walking motion when one foot is - Normal VS are a heart rate – above 100
touched to flat surface bpm
- Abnormal: asymmetrical response - Breathing rate – 30-60 bpm
Prone Crawl - Red and pink coloring
- Attempt to crawl forward both arms and - Active muscle tone, Grimace response
legs when placed on abdomen Color
Palmar Grasp - Varies depending age , race, or ethnic
- NB finger will curl around object and - Yellow – jaundice
hold on momentarily when finger is Moulding
placed in palm of NB hand - Elongation of shape of a babys head
- Response diminished in prematurity - Normal shape returns end of 1st wk
Lanugo
- Soft, downy hair on baby;s body
Babinski Sign
- NB toes will hyperextend and fan apart
from dorsiflexion of big toe when one Milia
side of foot is stroked upward from heel - Tiny, white, hard spots that look like
and across ball of foot pimple,Chin and forehead
- 9 months or a year - Form from oil glands
Plantar Grasp - Epstein pearls – occurs in mouth and
- Newborn toes will curl downward when gums
a finger is placed against the base of the Mongolian Spots
toes - Blue or purple colored splotches on
Landau’s Reflex lowerback or buttocks
- At about three months of age, an infant - 1st four yrs of life
will begin to display Erythema Toxicum
- Placed on her stomach face down, she - Red rash on NB
will raise her head and arch her back - Flea bites
- Child’s first birthday - Common chest and back
Tonic Neck Reflex - Few days disappear
- NB lie on their back, their head usually Acne neonatorum
turn to one side or the other - Baby acne
- Arm and leg on the side toward which - 1/5 develop first monh
head turns extend and opposite arms - Check and forehead
and legs contract Strawberry Hemangioma
- 2nd or 3rd months of life - Bright or dark red, raised or swollen,
NEUROMUSCULAR SYSTEM bumpy area looks like strawberry
Blink Reflex - Tiny, immature blood vessels
- Characterized by involuntary blink of - 9 yrs of age
eyes when an infant is subjected to Newborn Breast Swelling
bright light - 3rd day of life occurs
- Protects eyes
 - Milky substance called witch’s milk may
leak
Swollen genitals/Discharge
- Appear different depending on gestation
age
NEWBORN SENSES
Hearing
- First month of life
- Hearing loss
Sight
- NB see best at distance of 8-14inches
Taste and Smell
- Prefer swets
- 1st 6months needed nutrition and start
solid food
- Breast milk or formula satisfy your NB
Touch
- Extremely important
- Learn lot about surroundings
- Soft touches, silky blankets, hugs and
caresses