Growth and Development during the First Year of Life
During this very important first year babies grow dramatically, not only physically in weight and height, but developmentally. By the end of the first year of life, your helpless and dependent infant will have developed into a little person eagerly demonstrating their independence through a number of skills.
From Birth to Six Months
Your infant should:
Social Skills:
- be starting to smile
- imitate facial expressions
- mimic sounds
- babble, coo, gurgle
Emotional Development:
- begin to self soothe after crying
- be able to express various emotions eg. anger, sadness, happiness
- be developing a sense of love and trust with caregiver(s)
Fine Motor Skills:
- put toys in their mouth
- reach for objects
- hold toys
- bat at toys/mobiles
- bang toys together
- throw toys
Gross Motor Skills:
- lift head
- kick their legs
- roll over
- sit with support
- begin to crawl
- likes to bounce with support
Sensory Skills:
- like to examine and feel different textures/toys
- look for dropped toy
- love to hear music, listen to voices and different sounds
- like to look at faces, pictures and bright colours
enjoy being cuddled, stroked and massaged
Activities to Try
Lay baby on their side and practice rolling over onto their back
Show baby their image in a mirror
Put brightly coloured socks on baby's feet
Talk to baby and imitate the sounds that they make
Move baby's legs in a gently bicycle motion
Give baby rattles and toys that they can hold onto
Sing to baby
Hide toys under a blanket and have baby look for them
Read to baby
Play peek-a-boo
Place baby on tummy and work for toy slightly out of reach
Practice sitting for short periods of time
Toys for the First 6 Months
Mobiles
Squeaky toys
Rattles, Bells
Brightly coloured blankets
Hand puppets
Cradle gym
Bath toys
Balls
Plastic measuring spoons
Building blocks
From Six Months to One Year
Your infant should:
Social Skills:
- be learning to finger feed
- drink from a cup
- imitate others actions
- say "mama" "dada"
- indicate needs using gestures
- understand simple commands
- play along side another child
Emotional Development:
- be very curious about their environment
- start to have mood swings and temper tantrums
- object when can not have their own way
- loving but tend to be self centered in their view of the world
- show separation anxiety when caregiver leaves
Fine Motor Skills:
- grasp objects with thumb and fore finger
- hold two objects at the same time
- drop and pick up objects
- can push pull and throw objects
Gross Motor Skills:
- sit unassisted
- pull to standing position
- walk holding onto furniture
- move from lying to sitting position
- crawls well
Activities to Try
Read to baby
Give appropriate finger foods to eat
Play peek-a-boo and patty-cake
Dance with baby to different kinds of music
Encourage floor play
Sing, play music and do nursery rhymes with your baby
Let baby hold a spoon while feeding him
Play hiding games
Roll a ball back and forth with baby
Play piggyback game
Toys for 6-12 months old
empty boxes and plastic containers of different sizes
pounding boards and pegs
stacking toys
balls
textured books
pull and push toys
puppets
pots and pans
unbreakable mirror
bath toys
simple puzzles
For more information visit the following websites:
www.kidshealth.org
www.zerotothree.org
Also, if you receive the Let’s Grow packages in the mail, refer them for more information. To subscribe, visit the Let’s Grow section of our website.
References
Invest in Kids "A Resource Kit for a Child's First Five Years, Invest in Kids Foundation.
What to Expect in the First Year, Eisenberg, Murkoff and Hathaway, Workman Publishing, New York, 1991
"Nobody's Perfect" Health & Welfare Canada.