Infancy and Developmental Milestones

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1. What are the major milestones related to the physical development in infancy?

From birth, infants begin to explore their world. The infant begins to move her eyes, her mouth, and her bode toward the people and objects that comfort and interest them An infant begins learning the basics of self-movement and begins to master the skills needed for hand-to-mouth coordination and holding objects. The infant practice skills that let them not only move closer to desired objects, but also move desired objects closer to themselves. There are major milestones in the Physical Development of infants he infant learns to localize sounds and turns to see. She gains control of her hands by learning such things as to bat, then reach and grasp objects.. The infant discovers feet - brings feet to mouth and explores with feet. An infant begins to sit with support. The infants large muscle play may include rolling, scooting, rocking, bouncing. In other words, these milestones are mostly related to gaining control over their bodies so that they are able to move about on their own (http://pediatrics.about.com/cs/growthdevelopment/a/child_dev.htm).

In infancy - reaching and grasping, size and shape of object matters--experience affect perceptions and vision. What are some developmental milestones in physical growth during the first five years of a child's life?

First year:
o Birth-2 months: babies focus on your face when you talk; arm and leg movements appear to be uncoordinated; weak neck muscles mean that babies cannot control their head movements.
o 3-4 months: babies begin to develop head control and can lift their chests when placed on their stomachs. While you should let your baby have some supervised play time on her stomach, ALWAYS place your child on her back to sleep.
o 4-5 months: babies roll from side to back and/or from back to side.
o 6-7 months: babies can turn completely over (front to back and/or back to front).
o 7 months: babies can pull themselves up to stand but have trouble sitting down again.
o 7-8 months: babies can sit up steadily with the support of their arms.
o 8-10 months: babies can creep on their stomachs or begin to crawl on their hands and knees. (Some babies do not learn to crawl until after they learn to stand.)
o 9-11 months: babies can walk when led by the hands or "cruise" holding onto furniture.
o 12-15 months: babies can stand without holding on to anything and begin walking.

1-3 years:
o 18 months: toddlers are walking well, both forward and backwards; they can creep down stairs and get on and off a low chair; they can throw a ball without losing balance.
o 24 months: children are able to run and climb.
o 36 months: children are refining large motor skills; they can alternate feet while climbing stairs, ride a tricycle, jump and balance on one foot. They can throw a ball overhand.
o 36-48 months: children can run and skip well, play simple ball games, and are skilled tricycle riders.
o 48-60 months: children can hop, skip, run, play with a ball, and climb.

Source: http://missourifamilies.org/features/parentingarticles/parenting11.htm;.

b. Briefly describe these milestones. How are motor, sensory, and perceptual skills developed in infancy?

As children grow, so does their determination to master movement, balance, and fine-motor skills remains intense and changes. From birth, babies want to explore their world and their motor skills develop as they interact with the world around them. For example, they are eager to move their eyes, their mouths, and their bodies toward the people and objects that comfort and interest them. As children grow, so does their determination to master gross motor sills (e.g., movement, balance) and then fine-motor skills.

Sensory and Perception: From birth, sensation occurs when information contacts sensory receptors. Perception is the interpretation of sensation. From an ecological view, infants directly perceive information in the world around them and perception brings people in contact with the environment to interact with it and adapt to it. And, all objects have affordances; opportunities for interaction offered by objects necessary to perform. For example, an infants?visual perception includes visual acuity, color, perceiving patterns, depth perception and visual expectations. For example, visual acuity is 20/600 at birth, near ...