1. Chapter 8: Emotional and Social Development of Infants

2. Emotional Development
Process of learning to recognize and express feeling and to establish a personal identity
A child who experiences healthy emotional development will be self-confident
What does self-confident mean?

3. Emotions in Infancy Emotions Born with the ability to express emotions
Feeling response to the world around us
Grow more complex with age
Born with the ability to express emotions
Parents can encourage positive emotions and help cope with negative ones
Learn from caregivers how to react in situations

4. Emotions and Crying
Infants do not have words so they show their needs and emotions through crying
2 months they change their cries
A baby who is crying needs attention and care
Cuddle
Move the baby
Sing
Offer a toy
Massage

5. Self-Comforting Thumb Sucking Pacifiers
A baby will suck on a thumb, fist, or pacifier
Around 6-7 months many babies stop
Pacifiers
Can help a baby calm down and fall asleep
If using a pacifier you should use one that is the correct size for the babies mouth

6. Uncontrollable Crying
Colic
Uncontrollable crying by an otherwise healthy baby
Cry for 3+ hours a day, 3+ days of the week, and for 3+ weeks
Caused by anxiety, allergies, gas
Reflux
Partially digested food rises
in the throat

7. Attachment and Emotional Development
Baby’s bond to his or her main caregiver
Physical contact help build attachment
Babies develop trusting relationships when caregivers meet their needs
Respond to caregivers facial expressions and eye contact
Failure to thrive
Condition in which babies do not grow and develop properly

8. Understanding Temperament
A person’s unique emotional makeup
Helps determine how a baby reacts to his environment
Parents should learn to adapt to a child's specific traits
Temperament traits cannot be changed

9. Emotional Climate of the Home
Very sensitive to the feelings of people around them
Influenced by adult’s emotions, tone of voice, gestures, and facial expressions
Feelings of bitterness, mistrust, and anger can hinder an infants emotional development

10. Social Development and Learning
Process of learning how to interact and express oneself with others
Cause and effect
Relationship between events in which one event, the effect, is caused by another effect
Model
Teach a behavior through example
Always try to give babies clear messages

11. Stranger Anxiety
Fear on unfamiliar people, usually expressed by crying
Normal part of social development
A caregiver can help a baby through the fear by providing consistent responses
A baby may feel the same anxiety if a parent looks different

12. Social Development Through Play
Babies learn about the world around them through play
Play strengthens all areas of growth and development
Caregivers and babies strengthen their attachment through play

13. Create a Safe Play Environment
Comfortable space free of dangers and with toys that are safe and interesting
Safety Gates
Infants love toys and are colorful and make noise
Choose toys that are safe and appropriate for the age of the baby

14. Social Development Through Exploration
Have a need to explore
Explore with their senses
Once they start rolling, crawling, and walking they can explore more
Babies use play to explore their world