Define physical, social, cognitive and emotional stages of infancy?

This era begins on the day the child is born and lasts for three years. This era is crucial in the development of a kid. At the commencement of this stage, the infant begins to acclimate to a completely new environment outside of the mother’s body. At this age, the youngster is completely reliant on his or her parents. He gradually learns to be self-sufficient. The following are the unique characteristics of the growing tendency and behaviour pattern at this time.

Physical Development:

  • Size and weight: At birth, the average newborn weighs around 7 pounds and stands about 20 inches tall; by the end of the first year, weight has risen to 20 pounds and height has risen to 28 inches. By the time the youngster is two years old, his weight is around 25 pounds and his entire length is approximately 33 inches. At the age of five, the youngster had gained five times his birth weight.
  • Proportional change: Changes in body proportion are now noticeable. Different parts of the body, such as the head and truck, begin to grow in proportion. The head, which was gigantic at birth, appears little now that the legs and trunk have grown longer.
  • Bones and muscles: A kid has 206 bones when he or she is born. The bones contain more water and less substance than adult bones. The bones are not tightly joined. There is a lot of room between the ends of the bones. The bones are malleable. In the first year, they begin to harden.
  • Teeth: Teeth are missing at birth, with the first tooth appearing around six months. The body has five or six teeth at the end of the first year, and by the end of the second year, the infant has sixteen teeth, all of which are milk teeth.
  • Heart Rate: During the first month, the child’s heart rate can reach 140 beats per minute, but by six months, this rate has decreased. It appears roughly 100 times every minute.

Cognitive Development:

  • Language Development: During this time, the child’s vocabulary expands dramatically. After the first year, he has three or four words in his vocabulary.
    He enjoys speaking in small words when he is 2 or 3 years old. Which are frequently in the form of elders repeating what they have stated.
  • Developing curiosity and a questioning attitude: At this period, the youngster is highly interested in learning about everything around him. He is unfamiliar with the world and its surroundings. He has a tendency of asking questions such as, “What is this?” Why does it happen and why does it not happen, and so forth. His inquiring pace is so quick that he doesn’t care to wait for the preceding answer.
  • Intellectually undeveloped: At this point, the child’s intelligence is highly underdeveloped. He can only think in tangible terms and lacks development in abstract reasoning and thinking.
  • Role memory: Despite not having much cerebral development, the youngster has a very good memory. However, this recollection is devoid of rationale. It’s all about role memory.
  • The idea of time has not been developed: Because the infant has not yet established the notion of time, divisions of time such as yesterday, today, tomorrow, months, years, and so on are meaningless to him at this stage.

 Emotional Development:

The emotional development of a kid does not begin at birth; it occurs in phases. It takes time for a child’s emotions to grow. Emotional distinction occurs when children grow and reach the age of two. At this time, the most typical feeling is rage. It is typically triggered when grownups interfere with his activities.

Children in this period also exhibit joyous emotions. When they encounter familiar faces, they convey their feelings. Affectionate emotions are also obvious. Infants express affection towards their parents and nurses.

Social Development :

  • A social: A newborn infant has no interest in humans at the moment of birth. He is neither sociable nor antagonistic.
    He enjoys socialising. He is completely ignorant about society. He is unconcerned about social rules.
  • Slow pace: Slowly, social progress is taking place. When the newborn is taken up within the first two months, he stops wailing. He stops sobbing when he is spoken to around the third month. In the fourth month, baby makes motions indicating that he is ready to be taken up and laughs when he is. By the fifth or sixth month, he reacts differently to smiling and scolding. At the end of the year, he exhibits fear of strangers and tears.
  • Initially restricted: The child’s social cycle is restricted. He only communicates with people who are responsible for him.
  • Play group: The first social development event occurs when he begins to play with his friends. He believes he has the right to take stuff from other youngsters. He does not donate his possessions to others.
  • Selfishness: The youngster exhibits selfish behaviour.
  • He believes that everyone should pay attention to him.
  • Temporary friendship: During this time, he forms friendships with other youngsters, but they are just temporary. He becomes friends with several youngsters in the morning, but the friendship dissolves in the evening, and he finds new pals.