CD Psych Chapter 5 Infant Development

What happens to weight during infancy?

• gains weight the fastest in their first year

• weight triples in their first year

• most lose baby weight after

  • will accelerate again after their first year

What happens to height during infancy?

• first year: an inch a month

• occurs in spurts

• by 3, US child is 37’’ tall and will grow 2-3’’ per year until puberty

Cephalocaudal growth in infant

growth spreads over the body from the head to foot

Bi-lateral growth

• spreads from in to out

  • AKA: Proximodistal

Patterns of development

• head to toe

• gross to fine motor skills

• in to out (proximodistal)

• triple birth weight

• double birth height

Developmental differences

• SES

• gestational age (the difference between the expected date and the date that the infant was born)

• depends on brain stimulation

• individual differences

brain growth

• most neurons are developed before birth

• at birth, brain is 25% the size of an adult brain, but reach 70% by 2

synaptic exuberance

when dendritic connections multiply

myelination

axons become encased in myelin sheath.. speeds up neuronal messages/connections

synaptic pruning

“all or nothing”

• eliminating weak or unused neural connections to increase efficiency

Infant Neuroplasticity

• brain constantly changes both the structure and the function of many cells in response to experience or trauma

  • highly responsive to environmental circumstances

  • adaptable to overcome damage but also vulnerable

  • limiting necessary social and sensory inputs can have permanent effects

SID syndrome risks

• 2-4 months of age

  • sleeping stomach-down or on side

  • low birth weight

  • low APGAR score

  • mother smoked during preg.

  • too soft of bed

  • overheating