Chapter Five

PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT IN INFANCY

Physical Growth: The Rapid Advances of

Infancy
Infants grow at a
rapid pace over
the first 2 years of
their lives.

Four Principles of Growth

The Major Principles Governing Growth

The Nervous System and Brain:

The Foundations of Development

Neurons
Dendrites
Axon

The Nervous System and Brain:

The Foundations of Development

The Nervous System and Brain:

The Foundations of Development

Neuron Networks

Neuron Networks
After birth, neurons continue to increase in
size. In addition to growth in dendrites, the
axons of neurons become coated with myelin

Neuron Networks
Neurons repositioning
Cerebral cortex
Subcortical levels

Environmental Influences
on Brain Development

Integrating the Bodily Systems: The Life

Cycles of Infancy
In the first days of life, body rhythms govern
the infants behavior, often at seemingly
random times.

Integrating the Bodily Systems: The Life

Cycles of Infancy

Sleep: Perchance to Dream?

Sleep and beginning of infancy
Sleep averages
REM sleep

Sleep: Perchance to Dream?

Primary Behavioral States

SIDS: The Unanticipated Killer

Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)
definition
Statistics
SIDS and sleeping patterns

The Declining Rates of SIDS in the U.S.

Motor Development
Motor Development Challenges
Shape and proportions
Large, heavy heads
Relative short limbs
Limited muscle; more body fat

Reflexes: Our Inborn Physical Skills

Some Basic Reflexes in Infants

Ethnic and Cultural Differences

and Similarities in Reflexes
Reflexes are, by definition, genetically
determined and universal
Some cultural variations in the ways they are
displayed.
In some cases, reflexes can serve as helpful
diagnostic tools for pediatricians.

What Do You Think?

What are some cultural or subcultural
influences that might affect parents willingness
to accept recommendations from physicians
and other experts?

Milestones of Motor Development

Gross Motor Skills

Newborn infants gross motor skills are
unsophisticated
Young infants accomplish some kinds of
movement
As their strength increases, skills develop

Fine Motor Skills

Fine motor skills follow sequential
developmental pattern simple skills are
combined with more sophisticated ones
3 months: some ability to coordinate
movements of limbs
11 months: ability to pick up small objects

Dynamic Systems Theory: How Motor

Development Is Coordinated

Each skill advances in the context of other

motor abilities

Developmental Norms: Comparing the

Individual to the Group

Nutrition in Infancy: Fueling Motor

Development
The rapid physical growth fueled by the nutrients
Infants calorie allotment about 50 calories per
day for each pound they weigh
Without proper nutrition, infants cannot reach
their physical potential may suffer cognitive and
social consequences

Malnutrition

Chronically malnourished during infancy and

later IQ
Under-nutrition in U.S.

Malnutrition

Malnutrition Underweight Children

Percentage of children under 5 years who are moderately or severely

underweight

What Do You Think?

What might be some of the reasons that
malnourishment, which slows physical growth,
also harms IQ scores and school performance?
How might malnourishment affect education in
third world countries?

Obesity
Evidence linking infant obesity to adult
obesity is inconclusive
Societal view that a fat baby is a healthy
baby is not necessarily correct

True or False?
For the first 12 months of life, there is no
better food for an infant than breast milk

Breast milk:

Social Patterns in
Breast-feeding
Incidence in U.S.
Influence of age and SES

When Milk Isnt Milk

Severe malnourishment in U.S., including
kwashiorkor
Consequences
What are the possible long-term consequences of
this kind of malnourishment?

Introducing Solid Foods: When and

What?
The American Academy of Pediatrics and the
American Academy of Family Physicians
guidelines
Solid food introduction
Allergies
Weaning

The Development of the Senses

Infant world grows increasingly comprehensible
with development of sensation and perception

Visual Perception: Seeing the World

Newborn Vision
Provides same degree of distance acuity as
the uncorrected vision of many adults
Combines images coming to each eye to see
depth and motion around 14 weeks
Includes preference for patterns than rather
than simpler stimuli

Preferring Complexity

Auditory Perception: The World of Sound

Smell and Taste

The sense of smell well developed in very
young infants
Infants develop taste preferences based on
what their mothers drank while they were in
the womb

Contemporary Views on Infant Pain

Infants are born with the capacity to
experience pain!
Symptoms of infant pain production
Pain relieving strategies

Responding to Touch
Touch
One of first and most highly developed infant
sensory systems
Helpful in exploration of environment
Prerequisite for several of basic reflexes
present at birth

What Do You Think?

Persons who are born without the use of one
sense sometimes develop unusual abilities in
one or more other senses.
What can health care professionals do to help
infants who are lacking in a particular sense?

Multimodal Perception: Combining

Individual Sensory Inputs

Looking Back
How do the human body and nervous system
develop?
What types of changes are happening during
the earliest stages of growth?

Looking Back
Does the environment affect the pattern of
development?
What types of changes or enrichments lead to
better brain development and why?

Looking Back
How does nutrition affect physical
development?
In what ways are the nutritional needs of
infants different from those of adults?