The Developing Person Through the Life Span The First Two Years: Biosocial Development

These numbers are norms, an average measurement. Body Changes Body Size Average weight: double the birthweight by month 4, triple it by age 1, much of it is fat Average height: grow 14 inches from birth to age 2 These numbers are norms, an average measurement. The normal distribution, also known as the Gaussian or standard normal distribution, is the probability distribution that plots all of its values in a symmetrical fashion, and most of the results are situated around the probability's mean.

Body Changes Body Size Head-sparing- biological mechanism that protects the brain when malnutrition disrupts body growth. The brain is the last part of the body to be damaged by malnutrition. Percentile- point on a ranking scale of 0 to 100. 50th percentile is the midpoint with ½ the sample being higher and ½ lower. A percentile (or a centile) is a measure used in statistics indicating the value below which a given percentage of observations in a group of observations fall. For example, the 20th percentile is the value (or score) below which 20 percent of the observations may be found.

Sleep Average newborn sleeps 16 hours per day Specifics vary due to age, characteristics, and social environment Ample sleep correlates with normal brain maturation, learning, emotional regulation, academic success and psychological adjustment

Sleep REM Sleep: Rapid eye movement sleep, dreaming, rapid brain waves Slow-wave sleep: quiet sleep, increases at 3-4 months Co-sleeping: custom of parents and children sleeping close to one or both parents, as opposed to in a separate room, more common in Asia, Africa and Latin America than in Western cultures many experts, including the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), are saying that bed-sharing isn't safe. Here's why: Letting your baby sleep in her own crib can reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome, or SIDS, as co-sleeping ups the chances of accidental suffocation from parents' pillows, bedding, and blankets, says the AAP. There's also a danger that a parent can unintentionally roll over the baby, accidentally smothering her. The AAP's solution? Share a room instead of a bed to reap the rewards of co-sleeping in a much safer setting.

Brain Development Neuron- the billions of nerve cells in the central nervous system. Cortex- the outer layers of the brain. Axon- a fiber that extends from a neuron and transmits electrochemical impulses from that neuron to the dendrites of other neurons.

Brain Development Dendrite- a fiber that extends from a neuron and receives electrochemical impulses transmitted from other neurons via their axons. Synapse- the intersection between the axon of one neuron and the dendrites of other neurons. Neurotransmitter- a brain chemical that carries information from the axon of a sending neuron to the dendrites of a receiving neuron.

Brain Development

Transient Exuberance The great but temporary increase in the number of dendrites in an infant’s brain from birth to age 2 Enables neurons to connect and communicate with other neurons This is followed by pruning where unused neurons and misconnected dendrites die Pruning is a necessary to rid the brain of unused experiences to make room for growth in other high-use areas.

Stress and the Brain If it (life?) produces too many stress hormones in infants, the brain will not be able to have normal stress responses. Occurs in infants who are terrified and experience other forms of stress. Can continue to occur when the infant is an adult early life stress (ELS) may induce persistent hyper-sensitivity to stressors Stress is a condition in which an individual experiences challenges to physical or emotional well-being that overwhelm their coping capacity. While some experience with manageable stress is important for healthy development, prolonged, uninterrupted, overwhelming stress can have toxic effects. This type of toxic stress is often associated with childhood abuse and neglect. In the early years of life when the brain is developing rapidly it is particularly sensitive to environmental influences. Toxic early life stress (ELS) may induce persistent hyper-sensitivity to stressors and sensitization of neural circuits and other neurotransmitter systems which process threat information. These neurobiological sequelae of ELS may promote the development of short and long-term behavioral and emotional problems that may persist and increase the risk for psychopathology and physical health disorders into adulthood

Necessary and Possible Experiences Experience-related aspects of brain function: Experience-expectant: require basic common experiences to develop normally Experience-dependent: these happen to some infants but not all, not necessary for brain function (i.e. language baby hears) Experience-Expectant Plasticity describes the normal, generalized development of neuron connections that occur as a result of common experiences that all humans are exposed to in a normal environment. These early universal experiences are visual stimulation, sound (specifically voices), and bodily movement.

Brain Development prefrontal cortex: the area for anticipation, planning, and impulse control Shaken baby syndrome- a life-threatening injury occurring when an infant is forcefully shaken back and forth, rupturing blood vessels and breaking neural connections . Self-righting- inborn drive to fix a developmental deficit All people have self-righting impulses for physical and emotional imbalances.

Sensation and Movement Sensation- The response of a sensory system (eyes, ears, skin, tongue, nose) when it detects a stimulus. Raw data Perception- The mental processing of sensory information when the brain interprets a sensation. What you make of the data Sensory development- typically precedes intellectual and motor development

Sensation and Movement Hearing develops during the last trimester of pregnancy and is already quite acute at birth; the most advanced of the newborn’s senses. Vision is the least mature sense at birth. Newborns focus only on objects between 4 and 30 inches away. Binocular vision, the ability to coordinate the two eyes to see one image, appears at 3 months.

Smelling, Tasting, and Touching Smelling, Tasting, and Touching function at birth and aid the baby’s adaption to the social world Babies recognize each person’s smell and handling Infant senses function to help babies join the human family Basic Infant Care differs by culture Massage important in some cultures

Sensation and Movement Gross motor skills- Physical abilities involving large body movements, such as walking and jumping. Fine motor skills- Physical abilities involving small body movements, especially of the hands and fingers, such as drawing and picking up a coin.

Gross Motor Skills

Ethnic Variations Gene differences in different ethnic groups Cultural patterns of child rearing affect sensation, perception, and motor skills

Surviving in Good Health

Surviving in Good Health

Surviving in Good Health About 10 billion babies were born 1950-2010 worldwide More than 2 billion died before age 5 Immunization has saved many people The risks of diseases are far greater than the risk from immunization.

Surviving in Good Health Nutrition For every infant disease (including SIDS), breast-feeding reduces risk and malnutrition increases it. Breastfed babies are less likely to develop allergies, asthma, obesity, and heart disease. As the infant gets older, the composition of breast milk adjusts to the baby’s changing nutritional needs. Breastfeeding, also known as nursing, is the feeding of babies and young children with milk from a woman's breast. Health professionals recommend that breastfeeding begin within the first hour of a baby's life and continue as often and as much as the baby wants. During the first few weeks of life babies may nurse roughly every two to three hours. The duration of a feeding is usually ten to fifteen minutes on each breast. Older children feed less often. Mothers may pump milk so that it can be used later when breastfeeding is not possible. Breastfeeding has a number of benefits to both mother and baby, which infant formula lacks.

Malnutrition Protein-calorie: when not enough food of any kind is consumed Stunting: being too short for your age due to severe and chronic malnutrition Wasting: being very underweight due to malnutrition

Malnutrition Marasmus: severe malnutrition during infancy where child stops growing, tissues waste away and then usually dies Kwashiorkor: disease of chronic malnutrition during childhood where child becomes more likely to get other diseases such as measles, diarrhea and influenza

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