OBJECTIVE 4.02 COMPARE EMOTIONAL AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT OF INFANTS

What is emotional and social development?  Learning to recognize and express feelings  Establishing a unique personal identity  Learning appropriate self- expression  Learning to interact with others EmotionalSocial

How are emotional and social development similar? 1. Both follow predictable patterns. 2. Both need an environment of affection and harmony in order to develop. 3. Both occur according to individual timing. 4. Both help build trust and healthy attachments. 5. Both influence an individual’s personality. 6. Both influence relationships and behaviors. 7. Both occur over the span of a life time.

What influences emotional and social development?  A child’s Individuality and temperament.  Type of care a child receives.  Atmosphere at home.  Action’s of parents and caregivers.  Type of care received.  Atmosphere at home. EmotionalSocial

Early Signs of Development  Crying  Muscle Tension  Smiling  Cooing  Wiggling the body  Responding to a voice  Enjoying being picked up.  Responding to cuddling, comforting  Smiling when a face/person appears  Crying when a face/person EmotionalSocial

Socially and emotionally, infants are learning trust.  Infants who learn trust  have hope and feel confident  are able to form good relationships with others  Infants who do not learn trust  have relationship problems in later life  have behavior and personality difficulties

Interference with Healthy Development  Lack of affection from parent’s and caregivers.  Lack of feelings of safety and security.  Produce a child who is confused and not trusting and can lead to behavior and relationship problems later in life.  Lack of love and attention may cause a child not to grow and develop at a rate comparable to other children that age. EmotionalSocial

Results of Healthy Development  Helps a child become a confident adult.  Child is able to handle stress.  Child is empathetic to the feelings and concerns of others.  Helps a child become a tolerant adult who interacts peacefully with others and listens to different points of view before acting. Emotional Social

The Rescuing Hug  What examples of emotional development did you hear?  What examples of social development did you hear?  What examples show emotional and social development are interrelated?

EMOTIONAL AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENTAL MILESTONES

At Birth  Development begins.  Newborns are able to feel two basic emotions:  Contentment (baby is quiet)  Distress (baby cries)  Newborns are passive, not social.  After a few weeks they begin to interact with others around them.  Social interaction continues throughout life. EmotionalSocial

First weeks  Infant emotions become more varied – cries change according to the need  Associate emotions with causes. Hunger = pain / Lack of attention= loneliness  Learn social interactions by listening to voices and watching faces  Socially infants interact by making eye contact and smiling or cooing EmotionalSocial

Three months  Begin to smile and laugh to show pleasure and delight.  Show uncertainty with puzzled looks and questioning sounds.  Coo to catch attention  Fuss until parents come  Arch their backs and reach out to be held. EmotionalSocial

Three to six months  Show excitement when parent or caregiver appears and distress when they leave.  Begin to recognize and trust their caregivers  Form an attachment, or strong bond, with parents and caregivers around 6 months. First real social relationship.  Some infants will form attachments with special objects.(stuffed animal, blanket, etc…) EmotionalSocial

Six to ten months  Can feel threatened in a situations that aren’t familiar.  Emotions become more specific: happiness, anger, sadness  Show fear of unfamiliar people - stranger anxiety  Will cry to express fears.  Seeks approval from parents by “showing off” what they’ve learned to do. EmotionalSocial

Stranger Anxiety  Stranger Anxiety- is a fear of unfamiliar people.  Infants express this fear by crying.  Seen in infants between 6-8 months.  An infant’s behavior can change from happy and content to screaming and crying at the sight of an unfamiliar place.  Cope with Stranger Anxiety  Act welcoming toward the new person.  Encourage friends and relatives to speak softly to the baby and let the baby get used to them.  Never force a baby to be help by an unfamiliar person.  Stay close to the baby.  Let the baby set the timetable for adjusting to a stranger.

What Would You Do?  Carla and Eric’s 10 month old daughter, Lily, has been showing signs of Stranger Anxiety. Lily’s daily caregiver is moving out of town in a month. How might Lily’s parents ensure a smooth transition now for Lily and her new caregiver? Describe what they can do to make this easier?

Eleven to twelve months  Fear being apart from parents - separation anxiety is at its peak.  Cry and reach for parents when parents leave.  Unable to realize parents will return when they leave.  Unable to see anyone else’s point of view. EmotionalSocial

What actions of parents promote healthy social and emotional development in infants? Infants imitate parents so provide positive examples of expressing emotions and interacting with others Meet needs consistently Hug, kiss, cuddle, rock, and smile Use a pleasant, comforting voice Keep up with attachment objects (blankets, pacifier)

What Can Caregivers Do?  Play games with toys that the baby can grasp.  Place colorful toys so the baby can choose one to play with.  Make noise with a rattle.  Gently shake, stretch, and exercise the baby’s arms and legs while smiling and talking to the baby.  Play Peek-a-Boo  Set toys out of the child’s reach so the baby has to crawl to them. Praise success.  Read t o the baby.  Give the baby plastic buckets that they can fill up and pour out. Birth to Six Months of Age Six to Twelve Months of Age