3.

1 Physical Development
in Infancy
Amelia Welch
Adapted from Dr. Scott

https://www.google.com/search?q=infancy&rlz=1C1GCEA _enUS796US796&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjd8v3DipXnAhWV W80KHUaKByYQ_A UoAXoECA4QAw&

biw=1920&bih=969#imgrc=V 92EXhsJxjA PuM:

Begins at birth and continues through first 2 years of life.

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Reflect on your first year of life…
 Where did you sleep? Describe your typical sleeping pattern
during the first months (e.g., How many naps did you take?
When did you begin to sleep through the night?).
 Were you breastfed or bottle-fed? Why? For how long?
 When were you introduced to solid food? Were you allergic to
any foods? Were you overweight, underweight, or average
weight at 1 year old?
 How old were you when you: rolled over, sat up, crawled,
cruised, walked alone? What were some of your favorite toys?
Why do you think this is so?

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Three topics

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 Height & Weight

 Greatest increase in
height and weight
occurs during the first
year of life.

Source: Adapted from Cratty, B. J. (1979)

This is a period of tremendous growth.

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 Decreasing Proportions

 At birth, the
head represents
one-quarter of
the neonate’s
body.

•Not all parts of an infant’s body grow at the same rate.

•At birth the head accounts for one-quarter of the newborn’s entire body size.
•During the first 2 years of life, the rest of the body begins to catch up.
•By the age of 2 the baby’s head is only one-fifth of body length, and by adulthood it
is only one-eighth.
•Image: Pearson

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 Principles of Growth

• Cephalocaudal
principle
• Growth begins
from head and
upper body.

• Proximodistal
principle
• Growth begins and
center of body
outward.

https://www.google.com/search?q=brown+babies+playing&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwjqhcnctazqA hXED1MKHchBA vsQ2-

cCegQIABAA&oq=brown+babies+playing&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQA zoCCAA6BA gA EB46BggAEAgQHlD3XliBaGCPaWgAcAB4A IABYYgBlAWSA QE4mAEAoAEBqgELZ3dzLXdpei1pbWc
&sclient=img&ei=jrL8XuqGLMSfzA LIg4nYDw&bih=496&biw=1170&rlz=1C1GCEA_enUS903US903#imgrc=atsaMgGSMrpCwM

Define:
•Cephalocaudal principle states that growth follows a direction and pattern
that begins with the head and upper body parts and then proceeds to the rest
of the body.
•We develop visual abilities (located in the head) well before we
master the ability to walk (closer to the end of the body)
•Proximodistal principle states that development proceeds from the center
of the body outward. See Table 3.1.
•The trunk of the body grows before the extremities (8 week
ultrasound: trunk, but fingers and toes were not yet developed)
•Principle of hierarchical integration states that simple skills typically
develop separately and independently. Later these simple skills are
integrated into more complex ones.
•Principle of the independence of systems, which suggests that different
body systems grow at different rates.

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 Neurons

Dendrites

Axons

Neurotransmitters

Synapses

•Like all cells in the body, neurons have a cell body containing a nucleus.
•But unlike other cells, neurons have a distinctive ability: They can
communicate with other cells, using a cluster of fibers called dendrites at one
end.
•Dendrites receive messages from other cells.
•At their opposite end, neurons have a long extension called an axon, the part of the
neuron that carries messages destined for other neurons.
•Neurons do not actually touch one another. Rather, they communicate with other
neurons by means of chemical messengers, neurotransmitters, that travel across
the small gaps, known as synapses, between neurons.

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 How great brains grow!

 Birth:
 100-200 billion neurons
 Relatively few neuron-neuron
connections

 During first two years:

 Billions of new connections
established and become more
complex

•Birth: Neurons multiply at an amazing rate prior to birth. At some points in prenatal
development, cell division creates some 250,000 additional neurons every minute.
•By year 2: The intricacy of neural connections continues to increase throughout life.
In fact, in adulthood a single neuron is likely to have a minimum of 5,000
connections to other neurons or other body parts.

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 Neuron Networks

 Over the first 2 years of

life, networks of neurons
become increasingly
complex and
interconnected.

Source: From The Postnatal Development of the Human Cerebral Cortex, V ol I–V III by Jesse LeRoy Conel, Camevebridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, Copyright © 1939

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 Use it or lose it!

Synaptic pruning Myelin

• Involves elimination of • Includes fatty substance

unused neurons that provides protection
and speeds transmission
• Allows established of nerve impulses
neurons to build more
elaborate
communication
networks with other
neurons

https://www.google.com/search?q=myelin+sheath&rlz=1C1GCEA _enUS796US796&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiV pZmYipXnAhXMLs0KHdFMCdEQ_AUoA XoECBE

QAw&biw=1920&bih=969#imgrc=Gj_23JP7WOIm-M:

•Synaptic pruning: elimination of unused neurons that allows established neurons

to build more elaborate communication networks with other neurons. Unlike most
other aspects of growth, then, the development of the nervous system proceeds
most effectively through the loss of cells.
•Neurons that do not become interconnected with other neurons as the
infant’s experience of the world increases become unnecessary.
•They eventually die out, increasing the efficiency of the nervous system.
•Myelin: Axons of neurons become coated with myelin, a fatty substance that, like
the insulation on an electric wire, provides protection and speeds the transmission
of nerve impulses.
•Contributes to increased weight of brain
•Even though many neurons are lost, the increasing size and
complexity of the remaining ones contribute to impressive brain
growth.
•A baby’s brain triples its weight during his or her first 2 years of life,
and it reaches more than three-quarters of its adult weight and size by
the age of 2.

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 Shaken Baby

 This CAT scan shows

severe brain injury in an
infant suspected of
being abused by
caretaker shaking.

Source: Malung, Bilo, Kuba & van Rijn, 2011.

Lack of brain shape, likely due to extreme swelling.

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 What do babies do all day?
Life Cycles of Infancy

Wake

Defecate Sleep

Eat

•These most basic activities are controlled by a variety of bodily systems.

•Although each of these individual behavioral patterns probably is functioning quite
effectively, it takes some time and effort for infants to integrate the separate
behaviors. In fact, one of the neonate’s major missions is to make its individual
behaviors work in harmony, helping it, for example, to sleep through the night.

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 Sleep
 Sleep is major state
 16-17 hours daily
(average); wide variations

 Different than adult sleep

 2 hour spurts; periods of
wakefulness
 Cyclic pattern

https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1GCEA_enUS796US796&biw=1920&bih=969&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=qSInXpy8CPeD9PwPx9KQiA c&q=infanct+sleep&oq=infanct+sleep&gs_l=i
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img.......0i67j0j0i10j0i10i24.ZIFs3q32V tY&ved=0ahUKEwjctIXFipXnA hX3AZ0JHUcpBHEQ4dUDCAc&uact=5#imgrc=ggTnHWQeMQQxAM:

By 16 weeks sleep about 6 continuous hours; by 1 year sleep through night

Sleep stages are “fitful” and out of sync during early infancy
How many of you have watched an infant sleep? Can be terrifying to watch an infant
sleep

•Sometimes, although not always, their closed eyes begin to move in a back-and-
forth pattern, as if they were viewing an action-packed scene. This period of active
sleep is similar, although not identical, to the rapid eye movement, or REM, sleep,
that is found in older children and adults and is associated with dreaming.
•At first, this active, REM-like sleep takes up around one-half of an infant’s sleep,
compared with just 20 percent of an adult’s sleep (see Figure 3-5). However, the
quantity of active sleep quickly declines, and by the age of 6 months, amounts to
just one-third of total sleep time.
•Some researchers think it provides a means for the brain to stimulate itself—a
process called autostimulation.
•Stimulation of the nervous system would be particularly important in infants, who
spend so much time sleeping and relatively little in alert states.

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 SIDS
 Sudden infant death syndrome
• Leading cause of death in children under 1 year of
age
• Back-to-sleep guidelines (AAP)

 Hypotheses about cause

• Undiagnosed sleep disorders
• Suffocation
• Nutritional deficiencies
• Problems with reflexes
• Brainstem abnormalities
• Undiagnosed illness

 For more information, Check out this link!

•Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is a disorder in which seemingly healthy

infants die in their sleep
•SIDS strikes about 2500 infants in the United States each year.
•Although it seems to occur when the normal patterns of breathing during
sleep are interrupted, scientists have been unable to discover why that might
happen.
•American Academy of Pediatrics now suggests that babies sleep on their backs
rather than on their sides or stomachs—called the back-to-sleep guideline. In
addition, they suggest that parents consider giving their babies a pacifier during
naps and bedtime.

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 Discussion: DockAtot

https://www.google.com/search?q=dock+a+tot&rlz=1C1GCEA_enUS796US796&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiA58r2i5XnAhWDKs0KHWAhBR8Q_A UoAnoECA4QBA
&biw=1920&bih=969#imgrc=1lzwrUmo97OZ6M:

This is a hot new baby item! But when reading through tips to prevent SIIDs,
researchers caution bumpers and soft material in beds. Do you think this item is
safe for sleep? Why? Why not?

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 Reflexes:

•unlearned, organized,
involuntary responses that
occur automatically in
presence of certain stimuli.

Inborn Physical Skills

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Basic Reflexes

• Rooting reflex
• Stepping reflex
• Swimming reflex
• Moro reflex
• Babinski reflex
• Startle reflex
• Eye-blink reflex
• Sucking reflex
• Gag reflex

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Infant Reflexes

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 Motor Development

 Gross Motor Skills:

• Sitting upright
• Walking

 Fine Motor Skills:

• Grasping a rattle

•Young infants still are able to accomplish some kinds of movement.

•When placed on their stomachs they wiggle their arms and legs and may try
to lift their heavy heads.
•As their strength increases, they are able to push hard enough against the
surface on which they are resting to propel their bodies in different directions.
•They often end up moving backwards rather than forwards, but by the age of
6 months they become rather accomplished at moving themselves in
particular directions.
•These initial efforts are the forerunners of crawling, in which babies
coordinate the motions of their arms and legs and propel themselves forward.
•Crawling appears typically between 8 and 10 months.
•Walking comes around the age of 9 months; most infants are able to walk by
supporting themselves on furniture, and half of all infants can walk well by the
end of their first year of life.
•Most are able to sit without support by the age of 6 months.

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 Milestones of Motor Development

• Fifty percent of children are able to perform each skill at the month indicated in
the figure.
• However, the specific timing at which each skill appears varies widely. For
example, one-quarter of children are able to walk well at 11.1 months; by 14.9
months, 90 percent of children are walking well. Is knowledge of such average
benchmarks helpful or harmful to parents?
• Source: Adapted from Frankenburg et al., 1992.

•Norms are useful only to the extent that they are based on data from a large,
culturally diverse sample.
•Many norms based on predominantly Caucasian/ Middle class samples.

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 Brazelton Neonatal Behavior
Assessment Scale (NBAS):

 Techniques to determine
infants’ normative standing
 Determine infants’
neurological and
behavioral responses to
their environment

Supplement to the traditional Apgar test

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 Nutrition in Infancy
Fueling Motor Development

•Rapid physical growth that occurs during infancy is fueled by the nutrients that
infants receive. Without proper nutrition, infants cannot reach their physical
potential, and they may suffer cognitive and social consequences.

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Healthy Caloric Intake

• About 50 calories per

day for each pound
of weight
• Most infants regulate
caloric intake on their
own

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 When Malnutrition Is Severe

Marasmus

Kwashiorkor

•Malnutrition, the condition of having an improper amount and balance of nutrients,

produces several results, none good.
•More common among children living in many developing countries
•Slower growth rate apparent by the age 6 months
•By 2 years, height and weight are only 95 percent the height and weight of children
in more industrialized countries.
•Children chronically malnourished during infancy later score lower on IQ tests and
tend to do less well in school. These effects may linger even after diet has improved
substantially.
•Malnutrition during the first year can produce marasmus, a disease in which infants
stop growing. Marasmus, attributable to a severe deficiency in proteins and calories,
causes the body to waste away and ultimately results in death. Older children are
susceptible to kwashiorkor, a disease in which a child’s stomach, limbs, and face
swell with water.

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 Is breast best?

•Starting around the 1940s, the general belief among child care experts was that breast-feeding was
an obsolete method that put children unnecessarily at risk.
•Bottle-feeding argument: parents could keep track of amount of milk their baby was
receiving and could ensure that child was taking in sufficient nutrients. Use of the bottle was
also supposed to help mothers keep their feedings to rigid schedule of one bottle every 4
hours, the recommended procedure at that time.
•Mothers who breast-fed their babies could never be certain just how much milk their infants
were getting.
•Today
•Breast-feeding argument: For first 12 months of life, there is no better food for an infant
than breast milk.
•Breast milk not only contains all the nutrients necessary for growth, but it also seems to offer
some degree of immunity to a variety of childhood diseases, such as respiratory illnesses,
ear infections, diarrhea, and allergies.
•Breast milk is more easily digested than cow’s milk or formula, and it is sterile, warm, and
convenient for the mother to dispense.
•There is even some evidence that breast milk may enhance cognitive growth, leading to
high adult intelligence. Babies are more responsive to touch.
•For mother, may have lower rates of ovarian cancer and breast cancer prior to menopause.
Hormones produced during breast-feeding help shrink uteruses of women following birth,
enabling their bodies to return more quickly to a prepregnancy state. Hormones also may
inhibit ovulation, reducing (but not eliminating!) chance of becoming pregnant, and thereby
helping to space birth of additional children.

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Introducing Solid Foods:

 Solids can be started at

6 months but are not
needed until 9 to 12
months (AAFP)
 Introduced gradually,
one at a time

https://www.google.com/search?q=infants+and+solid+foods&rlz=1C1GCEA_enUS796US796&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwik1puR9KPnAhXyUt8KHZHgAA 4Q_AUoA
noECA8QBA&biw=1920&bih=969#imgrc=Hd4-cbBIkJECdM:

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 Visual
Perception

 Newborn’s
distance vision
ranges from
20/200 to 20/600

 By 6 months,
average infant’s
vision is already
20/20
https://www.google.com/search?q=infant+sight&rlz=1C1GCEA_enUS796US796&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiD--
akkJXnAhUPUa0KHdMkCf0Q_AUoAnoECA0QBA&biw=1920&bih=969#imgrc=iG50InmUWoPeWM:

Preferences that are present from birth

Genetically preprogrammed to prefer particular kinds of stimuli
2- and 3-month-old infants prefer more complex stimuli.

•They prefer curved over straight lines, three-dimensional figures to two-dimensional

ones, and human faces to non-faces. Such capabilities may be a reflection of the
existence of highly specialized cells in the brain that react to stimuli of a particular
pattern, orientation, shape, and direction of movement.
•Prefer their own mother’s face to other faces; distinguish between male and female
faces
•Do you know what some of your visual preferences were as a child?

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 The Visual Cliff Experiment

• Examines depth perception of

infants.

• Most infants in the age range of

6 to 14 months cannot be
coaxed to cross the cliff.

https://www.google.com/search?q=visual+cliff&rlz=1C1GCEA_enUS796US796&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjBo63ZkJXnA hWUKs0KHY79Bo8Q_AUoA noECBMQBA&

biw=1920&bih=969#imgrc=5SOmkf3Lgyg8UM:

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Auditory Perception:

 Infants
 Hear before birth
 Have good auditory
perception
 More sensitive to
certain frequencies https://www.google.com/search?q=infant+hearing&rlz=1C1GCEA _enUS796US796&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjzot2KkpXnAhWrdN8KHarMD6sQ_AUoA noECA 8Q
BA&biw=1920&bih=969#imgrc=1JzbA ooXNWmx4M:

 Reach adult accuracy

in sound localization by
age 1

React to changes in musical key

and rhythm
Can recognize many language-
related sounds

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 Smell and Taste

 Smell
 Well developed at birth
 Helps in recognition of
mother early in life

 Taste
 Have innate sweet tooth
 Show facial disgust at bitter
tastes

https://www.google.com/search?q=infant+taste+development&rlz=1C1GCEA _enUS796US796&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiEhcrxkpXnAhXyRt8KHV qRA f4Q_A Uo

A3oECBAQBQ&biw=1920&bih=969#imgrc=6pMheQpdY0mj_M:

Develop preferences based on what mother ate during pregnancy

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 Sensitivity to Pain and Touch

 Pain
• Born with the capacity to
experience pain.

 Signs
• Heartbeat increase,
sweating, facial
expressions, and change https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1GCEA_enUS796US796&biw=1920&bih=969&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=8SsnXuCjFc-
ttQbLu7zIBg&q=infant+pain+&oq=infant+pain+&gs_l=img.3..0i67j0l2j0i30j0i5i30l4j0i8i30l2.2076.2741..3436...0.0..0.81.443.7......0....1..gws-wiz-
img.......0i7i30.xIyLBaIcU1M&ved=0ahUKEwig4I2yk5XnAhXPV s0KHcsdD2kQ4dUDCA c&uact=5#imgrc=dC7L08vm-V uMQM:

the intensity/tone of
crying

Developmental progression in reactions

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 The Power of Touch

•Several theorists have suggested that one of the ways children gain information
about the world is through touching.
•Respond to touch prenatally.

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Exercising Your Infant’s Body and
Senses

• Carry a baby in different

positions.
• Let infants explore their
environment.
• Let infants touch their
food.
• Provide toys that
stimulate the senses

 https://www.google.com/search?q=baby+bjorn&rlz=1C1GCEA _enUS796US796&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2a
hUKEwjBlf35k5XnA hUKTd8KHaqfC7QQ_AUoAnoECAwQBA&biw=1920&bih=969#imgrc=mr-7kBv5L_IUJM:

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 What do you remember about the
cephalocaudal & proximodistal principles?

What did you learn regarding infant brain

development?

What is one thing parents can do to

prevent SIDS?
Review
State an infant reflex and define it.

What are some infant motor development

milestones?

What is sound localization?

We know that information is more likely to “stick” long term if students engage in
recall. Spend a few minutes reviewing/quizzing yourself on the material.

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