BABYHOOD

R.M.Archana
I M. Sc Psychology
MS University
Babyhood

✩ It occupies the first 2 years of the following the brief

2 week period of infancy.
✩ During the babyhood months ,there is a gradual but
pronounced decrease in helpless.
✩ A toddler is a baby who has achieved enough body
control to be relatively independent.
CHARACTERISTICS OF BABYHOOD
1.The true foundation age
✩ Many behavior patterns, many attitudes,
and many patterns of emotional
expression are being established.
✩ Patterns established in early in life
persist regardless of whether good or
bad, harmful or beneficial.
✩ Undesirable pattern of behaviour or
unfavorable beliefs & attitudes can be
corrected.
✩ Learning & experience play dominant
roles in development. These can be
directed/controlled so development will
be along lines that will make good
personal & social adjustments possible.
2.Age of rapid growth and changes
✩ Babies grow, both physically &
psychologically
✩ Changes in body proportions are
accompanied by growth in height &
weight.
✩ Intellectual growth & change parallel
physical growth & change.
✩ Before babyhood ends, babies understand
many things & can communicate needs /
wants in ways others can understand.
CHARACTERISTICS OF BABYHOOD
3. Age of decreasing dependency
✩ Results from rapid development
of body control.
✩ Random mass movements of the
infant give way to coordinate
movements.
✩ Rebellion against being "babied "
develops negativism.
4.Age of increased individuality
✩ With increased independence,
permit babies to develop along lines
suited to their interests and abilities.
✩ The individuality apparent at birth
increases as baby draws to a close.
✩ As individuality increases so does
the necessity for treating each baby
as an individual.
CHARACTERISTICS OF BABYHOOD
5. The beginning of socialization
✩ Egocentrism in young baby gives way
to desire to become part of the social
group.
✩ Protest when they are left alone
✩ Attachment behavior to mothers or
substitutes more than on other family
members.
✩ Satisfaction leads to establish warm
and lasting relationships with others.
6. The beginning of sex role typing
✩ The moment of birth, boys are
treated as boys and girls as girls.
✩ Sex orientation dress and toys are
started at birth.
✩ Girl baby permitted to cry and show
other signs of female weakness .
✩ Which are discouraged in boy
babies.
CHARACTERISTICS OF BABYHOOD

7. Is an appealing age 8. The beginning of creativity

✩ All babies are disproportionate ✩ Learning will develop interest and

according to adults, they are appealing attitudes that will lay foundations
because of their big heads, protruding for conformity to patterns set by
abdomens, small thin limbs, tiny hands
others
and feet
9. Hazardous age
✩ They appealing because of their
helplessness and dependency. Hazards are more common during
babyhood than at other ages.
✩ They are more appealing when they are
Physical and psychological hazards are
dressed and wrapped with blankets. there.
DEVELOPMENTAL TASKS OF BABYHOOD
✩ Physical development
✩ Speech development
✩ Emotional behavior
✩ Development in socialization
✩ Beginnings of interest in play.
✩ Development of understanding
✩ Beginnings of sex role typing
✩ Family relationships
✩ Personality development
Physical development

✩ One of the two periods of rapid growth during life span.(other puberty)
✩ In first year increase in weight is greater than increase in height.
✩ During 2nd yr it was reverse
✩ Same patterns for both boys and girls
 Physiological functions
✩ Sleep patterns :
✩ First yr of babyhood the mean duration of night sleep increasing from 8 1/2 hrs at 3 weeks to 10 hrs
at 12weeks and remains constant during the rest of the year.
✩ Eating patterns:
✩ From birth until 4to5 months - sucking and swallowing food.
✩ Food must be in liquid form.
✩ Food dislike develops during 2nd yr

✩ Patterns of elimination :
✩ Bowel control begins at six months.
✩ Bladder control begins between the age of 15 to 16months
Pattern of physical development during babyhood

Wight:
4 months - the baby weight has normally doubled.
I year - 3 times as must as they did at birth or 21 pounds.
2 months - the typical American baby weight 25 pounds.

Height :
4 months - the baby measures between 23 and 24 inches
1year - between 28 and 30 inches.
2 yrs-between 32 and 34 inches
Physical proportions :
Head grows slows down in babyhood.
The baby gradually becomes less top heavy, appears more slender and less chunky by the end
babyhood.

Bones :
The no of bones increases
At first yr ossification begins but it not completed until puberty.
The fontanel, or soft spot on the skull, has closed in approximately 50% of all babies by the ag
of 18 months

Muscles and fat:

Muscle fibers are present at birth but in undeveloped forms.
They slowly grow during babyhood and are weak
Fat tissues develops due to partly to high fat content of milk.
Body builds :
2nd yr - body proportions change.
Ectomorphic - long and slender
Endomorphic - round and fat
Mesomorphic - heavy, hard, rectangular.

Muscles and fat:

Muscle fibers are present at birth but in undeveloped forms.
They slowly grow during babyhood and are weak
Fat tissues develops due to partly to high fat content of milk.

Teeth:
Average baby has 4 to 6 of the 20 temporary teeth by the
age of one and 16 by the age of 2.lk.
Nervous system :

At birth - brain wight 1/8 of the baby's total weight.

2nd year - gain in brain weight is greatest.
Cerebellum - 3X weight during 1st year.
body balance and postural control
Immature cells at birth are continue to develop.
Relatively few cells are formed

Sense organ development :

3 months - eye muscles are well developed.

It enables baby to see things clearly and distinctlyCones are well developed to see
colorsHearing rapidly develops
Smell and taste are well developed at birth
Response to all skin stimuli due to their thin texture of skin
Pattern of motor control
Head region

Eye control:
Optic nystagmus - 12hrs
Ocular pursuit - 3rd & 4th week
Horizontal eye movement - 1 to 2 months
Vertical eye movement - 3 to 4 months

Smiling :
During 1st week - reflex smile ( smiling in response to tactual stimulus)
3&4th month - social smiling

Head holding
1 month -In a prone position babies can hold their heads.
5 months - lying on their backs
4 to 6 months - sitting position
Trunk region

Rolling :
2 months - side to back
4 months - back to side
6 months - roll over completely

Sitting :
4 months - baby can pull to a sitting
position.
5 months - sit with support
7 months - sit without support momentarily
9 months - sit up without support for 10 or
more minutes
Arm and hand region:
Hand:
3 to 4 months - thumb opposition
8 to 10 months- picking up objects
Arms:
6 to 7 months - reaches for an object
12months- picks up small objects

Leg region :
8 to 10 months - crawling and creeping
10 months - pulls to standing position
11 months - stands, walks with support.
12 months - stands without support, walks with support
14 months - walks without support
BABYHOOD SKILLS :
Continues to be refined and learned completely throughout childhood.
Three essentials to develop skills:
✨An opportunity for practice
✨an incentive to learn
✨a good model to copy

Before babyhood is over, babies acquire many skills that are useful to them in their
daily activities.

At this time hand and leg activities are usually acquired

Ambidextrous - preference for either hand.
In the 2nd year babies show neither they dominantly left nor dominantly right
handed. ( a tendency to use one hand more than the other hand )
SOME COMMON SKILLS OF BABYHOOD
✩ HAND SKILLS
✩ Self feeding :
✩ 8 months - hold bottles after the nipples have been placed in
their mouth.
✩ 9 months - they can put bottle nipples in their mouth and
take it out without help
✩ 12 months - drink from a cup by using both hand.
✩ 13 months - begin to feed themselves with spoon
✩ 2nd year - use spoon and forks without too much spilling.
 SOME COMMON SKILLS OF BABYHOOD

✩ Self dressing :
✩ 1st yr - pull of their socks, shoes, caps and mittens
✩ 2nd yr - attempt to put caps and mittens
✩ End of babyhood - they can pull off all dress and put on a shirt or
dress.
✩ Self grooming :
✩ Self bathing is limited
✩ Babies try to brush their hair and teeth
✩ Leg skills:
✩ Learn to jump from an elevated position
✩ Learn to claim stairs first by crawling and
creeping
✩ Placing one foot on a step and then drawing the
other foot up after it.
✩ Very few babies are able to ride tricycle
SPEECH DEVELOPMENT
✩ The foundation for communication laid during babyhood years.
✩ Comprehension :(1st task)
✩ The speaker's facial expression, tone of voice, gestures, and pointing to an object help babies
understand what is being said to them.
✩ Learning to speak :(2nd task)
✩ Use of pre-speech forms as substitute of communication
✩ 4 pre-speech forms
✩ Babbling
✩ Gesturing
✩ Crying
✩ Emotional expressions
TASKS INVOLVED IN LEARNING TO SPEAK

✩ Tasks in learning to speak:

✩ It involves 3 unrelated and difficult tasks.
✩ Learning how to pronounce words, building a vocabulary by associating
meaning and combining words into sentence.
✩ Pronunciation:
✩ Imitating adult speech
✩ Trial and error
✩ Incomprehensible speech until 18 months after gradual improvement
✩ Vocabulary building :
✩ Learn names of people and objects
✩ After nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs before end of babyhood.
✩ Prepositions, conjunction and pronounces learned in early childhood.
✩ Sentence :
✩ 12 to 18 months - consist of one word accompanied by a gesture
✩ More words into sentences but gestures predominate.
EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
✩ Common emotional patterns in babyhood
✩ Anger
✩ Stimuli:Interference with attempted movements
✩ Not letting them do what they want .
✩ Response :Screaming, kicking legs, waving arms, hitting and kicking anything within reach. 2nd yr -
jump up and down, throw themselves to the floor and hold their breath.
✩ Fear
✩ Stimuli : loud noises, strange persons, objects & situations, dark rooms, high places, animals
✩ Response : withdraw from frightening stimulus, accompanied by whimpering, crying and holding
breath
✩ Curiosity
✩ Stimulus: anything new or unusual acts but if newness pronounced that results to fear.
✩ Response: tensing facial muscles, opening mouth and protruding tongue.
✩ Later, grasp objects that aroused curiosity and handle shake, bang or suck them.
✩ Joy
✩ Stimulated by physical well being, react to being played with, being tickled and watching or listening
to others
✩ Response : smiling, laughing, moving arms and legs
✩ If intense, coo, gurgle or shout with glee, all bodily movements intensified.
✩ Affection
✩ Stimulus : anyone who plays, take care or shows affection
✩ Response : hugging, patting and kissing loved object or person include family pet and toys
DEVELOPMENT IN SOCIALIZATION
✩ Early social experiences influence future social relationship
✩ Whether they become outer or inner bound, extrovert or introvert depends on
early social experiences
✩ Accompanied by an attachment object reduce anxiety
✩ Crying excessive tend to be aggressive and attention seeking behavior
✩ By 6 weeks social smile or tactile smile
Social responses to adults
✩ 2 -3 months: distinguish people from inanimate objects, content to be with people and
discontened when left alone
✩ 4-5 months :Wanted to be picked up by any one who approaches, react differently to
scolding ,smiling faces, friendly faces and angry voices
✩ 6-7 months: differentiate between friends and strangers
✩ Beginning of shy and attachment age
✩ 8-9 months: imitate speech, gesturing, simple acts of others
✩ 12months: reacts to warning" no-no"
✩ 16-18months:negativism - stubborn response to adults request or demand, physical withdrawal,
angry outbursts
✩ 22-24months: cooperates in no of ways being dressed, fed and bathed
Social responses to other babies
✩ 4-5months: tries to attract attention of others by bouncing up and down, kicking,
laughing or blowing bubbles
✩ 6-7months: smiles at other babies and interest in their crying
✩ 9-13 months: explores clothes and hair of other babies, imitate their behavior and
vocalization cooperates in use of toys
✩ 13-18months: fighting over toys decrease willingness to share
✩ 18-24 months- more interest in playing in other babies uses play materials to build
social relationship with them
BEGINNING OF INTEREST IN PLAY

✩ No rules or regulations
✩ More often solitary than social
✩ Looker or parallel play
✩ Toys are less important
✩ Play in much repetition and less variation
COMMON PLAY PATTERNS OF BABYHOOD
✩ Sensory motor play: kicking, bouncing, wiggling, moving fingers toes, climbing,
babbling and rolling.
✩ Exploratory play : explore body by pulling hair, sucking fingers and toes, shake
throw bang, suck and pull their toys
✩ Imitative play: reading magazine, sweeping floor, writing with pencil or crayons
✩ Make believe play: toys to living , dolls and trucks treated as baby as real people
or real truck.
✩ Games: peekaboo, hide and seek. Played with family members
✩ Amusements: like to be sung to, talked to ,read to fascinated by radio or TV or
pictures
DEVELOPMENT OF UNDERSTANDING
✩ Babies explore things through sensation
✩ They look at, listen to ,touch, smell and taste anything they can .
✩ Some important concepts that develop in babyhood :
✩ Concepts of space
✩ Concepts of weight
✩ Concepts of time
✩ Concepts of self
✩ Concepts of beauty
✩ Sex role concepts
✩ Social concepts
✩ Concepts of comic
BEGINNING OF MORALITY
✩ Babies don't have values and conscience
✩ In nonmoral their behavior is not guided by moral standards.
✩ Babies judge the rightness or wrongness of an act in terms of the pleasure or
pain it brings them.
✩ Piaget - "morality by constraint "
✩ Automatic obedience to rules without reasoning or judgement.
BEGINNING OF SEX ROLE TYPING
✩ Learning to play an approved sex role begins at birth.
✩ Identified as M/F by their color of blankets
✩ Girl child toys - dolls
✩ Boy child toys - automobiles
✩ Treated as male or female by family members
 PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT IN
BABYHOOD
✩ The Critical Period in Personality Development
✩ Emotional deprivation has revealed that personality changes are an almost inevitable
accompaniment.
✩ Because the mother is the most constant companion, the kind of person she is and the kind of
relationship they share will have a profound influence on the baby's personality.
✩ Something unfavorable occurs in the environment are subject to damage.
✩ Sex differences in personality begin to appear as early as the first year of life.
✩ Patterns established early in life remain almost unchanged as the child grows older.
✩ Changes in the Personality Pattern in Babyhood

✩ Quantitative change - there is a strengthening or weakening of a trait already

present

✩ Qualitative change - socially undesirable trait is replaced by one that is

socially more desirable
FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS
✩ Common causes of changes in family relationships during babyhood :
✩ Dream child concept
✩ Degree of dependency
✩ Parental anxiety
✩ Child training methods
✩ Maternal employment
✩ Maternal over work
✩ Arrival of new sibling
✩ Relationship with older siblings
✩ Preferences for certain family members
HAZARDS IN BABYHOOD
✩ Physical hazards
✩ Psychological hazards
✩ Emotional hazards
✩ Social hazards
✩ Hazards in understanding
✩ Hazards in morality
✩ Play hazards
✩ Family relationships hazards
PHYSICAL HAZARDS
✩ Born prematurely, suffer from birth defects & poor physical condition at birth.
✩ Mortality - During the first year of babyhood, death is usually caused by
serious illness while during the second year, death is more often due to
accidents.
✩ Crib death - occurs after a long period of sleep; due to abnormalities in
breathing or who have had some abnormal condition at birth; also common to
babies who had oxygen therapy during the newborn period.
✩ illnesses - respiratory complications, colds and digestive upsets; prolonged
illnesses can interfere with the normal growth pattern.
✩ Accidents - when babies are on their seco year when they can move about more
freel they become more prone to accidents.
✩ Malnutrition - causes stunted growth but also leads to physical defects and a
tendency to suffer from more or less constant illness; brain growth and
development may be impaired.
✩ Foundation of Obesity - babies who are fed large amounts of carbohydrates
during this critical period of fat-cell development are not only overweight but are
subject to diabetes and heart diseases as they grow older.
physiological habits
✩ Eating habits - babies who suck for long periods show signs of tenseness. They
engage in nonnutritive sucking, have more sleep difficulties, and are more
restless. Resistance of semi-solid foods if they are introduced too early.
✩ Sleep habits - crying or noise can make babies tense and keep them from
falling asleep. Sleep schedules must meet the requirements to avoid tense and
resistant to sleep.
✩ Habits of elimination - trying to toilet train babies too early will make them
uncooperative while delay results in habits of irregularity and lack of
motivation on the baby's part. Bed-wetting is common when training is not
timed.
PSYCHOLOGICAL HAZARDS
✩ Involves the baby's failure to master the developmental task for that age.
✩ Hazards in Motor Development
✩ when delayed, babies will be at a great disadvantage when they begin to play with
age-mates and tend to be frustrated when they try to do things for themselves and
fail.
✩ Speech Hazards
✩ may affect later
✩ development and causes are low level of intelligence, lack of stimulation, and
multiple births. "Baby talk", as a result, developed an incorrect auditory image.
 EMOTIONAL HAZARDS
✩ Emotional deprivation
✩ causes babies to b backward in their motor and speech development and they don't
learn how to established social contacts or show affection.
✩ Stress
✩ can cause endocrine changes which upset body; reflected in eating and sleeping
difficulties, (thumb-sucking and excessive crying).
✩ Too much affection
✩ babies expect others to show affection for them. They become selfish and self
centered.
✩ Social Hazards - lack of opportunity and motivation to learn to become
social
✩ Play Hazards - babies may spend more time on toys for amusement instead
of learning to play in ways that involve interaction with others. Television
also discourages the baby from taking an active role in play.
✩ Hazards in Morality - when babies discover that they get more attention
when they do things to annoy and antagonize others than when they
behave in a more socially approved way.
 FAMILY RELATIONSHIP HAZARDS
✩ Separation from mother - develops insecurity
✩ Failure to develop attachment behavior - they don't experience the pleasures and
handicaps them in establishing friendships as they grow older.
✩ Deterioration in family relationships - they usually feel unloved and rejected
✩ Over protectiveness - they become over dependent and afraid to do what other
babies of their ages do.
✩ Inconsistent training - provides poor guidelines
✩ Child abuse-when parents are unhappy in their parental roles ,babies become the
target of anger and resentment. The babies are either neglected or abused.
HAPPINESS IN BABYHOOD

✩ First year of life happiest of the life span.

✩ 2nd year almost all babies life is far less happy than the first.
✩ Adults attention and care decide babies happiness
✩ Neglected or abused parents may be the reason for unhappiness in the
babies.
CAUSES OF UNHAPPINESS IN BABYHOOD
✩ Poor health
✩ Teething
✩ Desire for independence
✩ Increased need for attention
✩ Disenchantment with parenthood
✩ Beginning of discipline
✩ Child Abuse
✩ Increased sibling resentment
REFERENCE
✩ Hurlock, E. B. (1974). Developmental Psychology. McGraw-Hill Companies.