Growth pertains to physical aspects like height, weight etc. which can be quantified and objectively measured. Development refers to the mental progress of the child like his intelligence etc. and therefore is qualitative. All parents are concerned and rightly so, about the growth and development of their child. ,
Continue reading Child Care: Parental Aspects in Newborn’s Child’s Growth
KEY POINTS
❖ Parental role: A loving bond between parents and baby, a harmonious inter-spouse relationship and a congenial family atmosphere are the most important requirements for the healthy growth & development of a child. Accept your child as he is and forget about the qualities that he doesn’t possess (no human being is perfect).
Continue reading Child Care: Growth and Development of Newborn Baby
Development is the qualitative progress of a child, usually divided into 4 categories:
1. Gross motor: It refers to the gross motor activities like sitting, standing etc. As mentioned earlier, it is the least important and least reliable criteria to judge the overall development of a child, though the parents lay the most emphasis on it.
The main criteria used for assessing growth are the weight, height and the head circumference of a child, which are measured periodically and plotted on a “growth chart.” (A sample chart is given at the end of this article.)
1. Weight
The normal birth weight of a term baby ranges from 2.5 to 3.8 kilos. The baby loses some weight for the initial 3-4 days, and regains its birth weight by the end of 7-10 days (it may take 14 days in case of preterm babies). So if your baby is weighing the same as at birth even after 10 days, it is normal (and not an indicator of poor breast milk supply).
Continue reading Child Care: Weight, Height and Head Circumference of a Newborn Baby
Growth pertains to physical aspects like height, weight etc. which can be quantified and objectively measured. Development refers to the mental progress of the child like his intelligence etc. and therefore is qualitative. All parents are concerned and rightly so, about the growth and development of their child. ,
Unlike other species, the human development is the slowest with the child being dependent on parental care for a number of years. Therefore, the relationship between parents and the baby constitutes the most important requirement for the healthy development of a child. Fortunately, both parents and the baby are programmed by nature to form strong attachments towards each other. Even a few days old baby responds preferentially to the image of a human face and particularly to the mother’s voice. Because of the love, affection and care of the parents, the young child experiences an early sense of security, warmth and positive self-worth. This early and secure bonding between the baby and the parents is essential for the healthy development of a child.
Continue reading Child Care: Parental Aspects in Newborn’s Child’s Growth
KEY POINTS
❖ Parental role: A loving bond between parents and baby, a harmonious inter-spouse relationship and a congenial family atmosphere are the most important requirements for the healthy growth & development of a child. Accept your child as he is and forget about the qualities that he doesn’t possess (no human being is perfect).
Continue reading Child Care: Growth and Development of Newborn Baby
A newborn baby is limp and floppy. His neck is like a ragged doll, and his head lolls forwards or backwards depending on gravity. Obviously, the first important milestone necessary in order to progress further (to sitting and standing) is neck control, which comes by 4 months age when his neck stays in the same plane as the body.
Continue reading Child Care: Gross Motor Milestone Development
The development of language involves two distinct processes: receptive i.e. what the child hears and understands and expressive i.e. what the child speaks to express himself.
The first indication that the child will be able to speak in future comes at the age of 2 months, when the baby coos. Cooing is some gurgling “throaty” sounds made by the baby in response to a person “talking” to the baby.
The first milestone and a very important milestone that shows that your baby is a social being, is the “social smile” which comes at 1-2 months. The baby smiles “back” when the parents talk to him, smile at him or caress him. Actually this smile is more of a reflex smile, because the baby doesn’t understand what the parents are saying. For all one knows the parents may be saying (out of pleasure) that he is the biggest idiot that they have ever come across! Their “truly idiotic” child acknowledges this and smiles back!
Continue reading Child Care: Personal, Social and Cognitive Milestone Developments
A common source of parental concern is regarding the teething of their child. They are worried as to when the child will cut his first tooth. As is true with all types of development, there is no fixed time when the first tooth should erupt. In some children, it may erupt as early as 5 months, while in others; it may not erupt up to the age of 1 year and even beyond. There is nothing wrong with your child if his tooth doesn’t come out by 1 year. Most of the parents think that their child is deficient in calcium and/or vitamin-D, which is true only in a few cases. In majority of cases, it is just a normal variant and hence no intervention is required.