Infancy and Early Childhood Development

PSY375
September 1, 2014
Lindsey Respress

Infancy and Early Childhood Development
Families can affect the development of infants and young children beginning at the moment they are born. Their height, weight and “head circumference that can tell if the brain is growing.(Berger 2011, p. 23),” could be affected by neglect of proper care and making doctor appointments regularly to be aware if there are problems in the growth of the child. Proper nutrition and sleep is important for their bodies and bodies. According to Berger (2011), A lack of either can affect the “brain maturation, learning, emotional regulation, and academic success (p. 125).”. Infants must sleep as much as possible and will gradually decrease as they get older. Doctor visits can catch any abnormalities that can occur because of the lack of food or sleep.
A child’s brain is like a sponge and all stages of the childhood they are learning from their environment. During infancy the love that is shown to a child by holding, caressing, touching is giving them a positive response in the future but neglect can engage negative responses that can from difficulties in the future such as, social interaction and learning disabilities. Berger (2011) indicates that there could be “lifelong damage (p. 132).” Stimulation is very important in the brain growth of an infant and early childhood. Too much stimulation that is not age appropriate is not beneficial and it depends on the age of the child, what type of toys and other learning tools are to be introduced to them. This is why age limits are put on toys. Giving an infant a toy for a two year old is not beneficial to that infant.