Infancy and Toddlerhood

Infancy and Toddlerhood

            Infancy and toddlerhood is considered as the most important stage of human development. The stage is marked by rapid changes in the body size and supporting skills within the first three years since birth. During the first three years, the physical body of an infant grows more rapidly than any other stage of human development. The development at this stage of human development also depends on the gender of the infant. In infancy, research has shown that girls are slightly lighter than boys. Infancy and toddlerhood is a vital stage in the development of human beings where the infant develops physically, and their mind develops as they explore and play with objects around them.

Just a few hours after birth, health infants start interacting with the objects in their environment (Winnicott, 2018). Infants have all the body structures operating normally, but the body structures are not mature. After birth, infants can blink and swallow. Also, the execration system of infants acts normally as that of adults because infants can eliminate waste products from their bodies. The hearing ability of an infant is the same as that of an adult, but the sight requires time to develop fully. Infant weighs around 4.5 kilograms to 2.5 kilograms on birth.

Few days after birth, infants lose approximately 5 percent of their weight and then start gaining more weight after every week. The energy requirements of an infant are twice that of an adult, and therefore infants require at least six feedings in a day. An infant need to sleep after every feeding as sleep is important for the mental development of an infant. When sleeping, infants need to be placed on their backs to reduce the effect of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Few days after birth, infants cry more, and this is important for language development of an infant. After two months from birth, infants start crying much, and they start responding to communication towards them, which helps in the development of their language. Also, at this age of two months, infants realize their figures and start playing with them. After three months since birth, infants start playing with fun toys and other objects in their disposal. Infants start paying attention to bright objects at the age of four months especially the objects with red color. At five months of age, infants start responding to music by smiling.  Infants learn as they interact with the environment around them, and therefore a conducive developmental environment makes an infant grow faster both mentally and physically.

Swiss psychologist divided the development of an infant into four stages: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational (Slentz, 2017). All the four-stage are important to ensure that the infant does not develop lasting cognitive and emotional problems. The first stage is the sensorimotor stage, which lasts from birth to the age of two years. During this stage, the infant begins to learn by experiencing everything around using the five senses. The stage is also characterized by language development although language is not the primary task in this stage of infant development. The stage also sees infants learn how to crawl and walk on their own. However, the environment, culture, and social, economic status, and genetic factors determine the exact age when an infant will begin walking and crawling (Cohen, 2017). Different environments where infants are exposed brings variations on the exact age when the infant starts to crawl and walk. Delay on some important toddlerhood activities such as crawling for some infants signals a possibility of physical or mental problems. Infants require attention from their parents so that they can interact with the world and learn with the help of their parents. After one year, infants become toddlers and their rate of physical development decreases. Between one year and three years, toddlers develop communication and motor skills. At this age, toddlers spent most of the time playing with objects near them. Toddlers have less energy and enthusiasm as they start developing complex thinking abilities and they can now make some decisions for themselves. At the age of three years, toddlers show the concepts of guilt, shame, and possession, which they display in most of their daily activities. Toddlers who are three years of age can sit and walk for some distances unaided. Ability to walk makes old toddlers very curious, and they require attention from their parents especially when in public places.

In conclusion, infants are human beings who view the world in a different way, and they make use of the environment near them to develop their mental abilities. Sensorimotor stage of child development begins since birth to the time the child is two years, and at this stage, an infant learns how to crawl and walk. The transition from infancy is characterized by a switch of crawling to walking and rapid change of body size. The learning process for the infants makes them change their behavior where infants become showing concepts of guilt and shame. Infant and toddlerhood stage is important for the mental growth of children and enabling environment is essential for the growth of toddler’s intelligence.