Child Development

Part 1

 When a child is born, the entire family enters into a new era where all family members experience tremendous change. Mother, father, siblings and the extended family experience a dramatic change and they become directly affected. This means that they should be prepared for the radical transformations so that they can move forward with family life.  It is also important to understand that when a child is born, he or she needs quality of life and it is the role of the family members to provide care, support, and education (Bornstein, Arterberry & Lamb E. Michael, 2013).  Family attachment is also important as it helps the child create an identity and a sense of competence. Thus, the family, which is a mechanical system is most important in the development of the child.  The following are the changes that occur in the family dynamics;

 

Newborn- the newborn enters into a new world where he or she meets the parents and family members. At this point, it is important to understand that the newborn has different experiences depending on the environment in which he or she is raised. For example, a child who is raised by two biological parents lives a better life than a child who has a single parent.  However, both newborns who are born in different family structures experience a similar amount of stress since they come across external factors such as hunger, pain, insecurity and more (Littleton-Gibbs & Engebretson, 2011). In addition, newborns are expected to adjust to different temperatures and new feeding processes. Thus, the newborn is required to adjust to these changes for them to fit into the new environment.

 

Mother

Both parents play a significant role in child development but the mother has great responsibilities. First, the mother feels joyful for the blessings of the newborn but she becomes more responsible in raising the child, providing social interaction and connecting the child to different patterns of interaction. The mother becomes the first person to offer care and support. They become loving and responsible and they spend a large amount of time in providing care (Bornstein, Arterberry & Lamb E. Michael, 2013). This also indicates that mothers experience a high level of stress since they are forced to leave the labor force to care for the newborn. In other words, women encounter higher social costs when trying to care and support their kids. Note that they have higher family care responsibilities which result in a loss in earnings.  Thus, the mother feels joyful and at the same experience stress. They should cope with up with these changes for them to have a well-nurtured child.

 

Father

 Fathers also experience a unique transition and this transition emerges when the mother becomes pregnant. Note that as a father, he has to accept the pregnancy and set some achievable goal before the baby is born. When the child is born, fathers focus on the financial issue and other role adjustments to ensure that the child is raised in a proper way (Bornstein, Arterberry & Lamb E. Michael, 2013).  Even though fathers feel joyful in transition to fatherhood, the adaptation to fatherhood is a life crisis since, in addition to struggling to gain a financial stability, he meets work conflicts, new roles and working long hours and sleeping fewer hours to care for the newborn and the family at large.  Thus, fathers should be prepared for these changes and they should be ready to adjust. The father also is required to form fathers' bond and a successful attachment to strength the future father-child relationship.

 

 Siblings

            At the birth of a child, the siblings play a significant role in the protection and caregiving.  When the child is born, siblings feel joyful and forms sibling relationships, share a common interest and behave in a similar way. However, the newborn and the siblings differ in cognitive and social ability and these discrepancies affect their relationship.  In other words, there is a gap in infant-peer pairs since older siblings become the leaders of the interaction and in the process, they become assertive and dominate (Littleton-Gibbs & Engebretson, 2011). The gap is significant as it helps the infant learn cognitive and social skills from the older siblings.  Thus, siblings should deal with the behavior discrepancies and pay attention to influence the child development.

 

Extended family

 Apart from parental and siblings' care and support to the newborn, the infant receives care from the extended family such as the grandparents and other relatives. For example, grandparent provides advice to the parents of the newborn on how to raise the kids. The extended family creates and maintain a positive relationship with the family and the newborn and as a result, the newborn gains self-esteem, stability, cultural identity and a sense of belonging. However, the parents, siblings and the family members from the extended family should understand that each has a unique experience, behaviors, and values (Littleton-Gibbs & Engebretson, 2011). Some members may believe in independence and autonomy whereas others may believe in participatory decision-making in caring for the infant and other family matters.  Thus, the members should be ready to meet these changes which occur due to the difference in values and beliefs.

 

 Part 2

 

Perception development is the ability to use senses to understand and respond to the experiences. Through perception, children are able to understand their everyday experiences. Motor development is the ability of the children to control their body's movements such as walking, grasping an object, touching, reaching and more. Physical development involves the ability to control muscles so that they can perform a complex task (Hauf & Libertus, 2017).  These development stages help the child gain spatial, body and directional awareness. In other words, the child gains the ability to interact with people by using senses, moving and above all, physical well-being.

  Infants gain color perception when they reach 3-4 months. At 4 weeks, they can stay awake for long hours, cry when hungry or in pain and can also smile.  Infants gain motor development or they can lift their heads at 3-4 months and at 4 months, they can keep their heads erect while in a better sitting position.  By 6 months, they should be able to transfer objects, roll to reach a toy and takes solid food. At 13-14 months, infects develops fine motor skills and they can stand upright, walk, build a tower, step and maintain balances (Hauf & Libertus, 2017).

 

 At 18 months, that is; one and a half years, the child can imitate actions such as talking on a telephone, can push a toy and pick up objects. As the child reaches 2 years, he develops physical skills, for example, he can walk confidentially, push buttons, run fast and such talks (Hauf & Libertus, 2017).

 At 3-3 years, the child needs love and support. At this stage, he has the ability to try new activities, forms ideas and thinks effectively. They can differentiate between small and big objects and color.  Children at this stage are also able to count to three and answer some questions (Hauf & Libertus, 2017).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References 

Bornstein H. Marc., Arterberry E. Martha., & Lamb E. Michael. (2013). Development of Infancy: A

Contemporary Introduction. Psychology Press.

 

Littleton-Gibbs, L. Y., & Engebretson, J. C. (2011). Maternity nursing care. Delmar Cengage Learning

 

Hauf, P., & Libertus, K. (2017). Motor skills and their foundational role for perceptual, social, and

cognitive development. Frontiers Media SA