Here is our next category in infant development- Infant Social Development:

Many of these Infant Social Developments are similar to infant brain development!

- An infant will cry tears to let you know they are in pain, or scared, or uncomfortable, or want you to hold them.

- An infant will coo, jabber, or babble.

- An infant will smile back at you!

- An infant will play peek-a-boo with you- or maybe just react with a smile.

- An infant will respond when you shake a rattle, or let them hear a musical toy. - An infant loves you to hold them close and touch them.

Around 8 months of age infant and toddler development will begin to look like this:

- A baby will respond to his or her name.

- A baby will want you to touch or tickle them.

- A baby may cry or become clingy when having to separate from their mommy or daddy. (Don't worry, they usually get over it fairly quickly if you get them interested in something or someone else)

- A baby will get kind of ticked off if you (or one of your daycare kids) takes their toy away.

- A baby will watch and observe others and things around them for quite some time.

- A baby will cry if another baby or child is. (This can get frustrating!)

Here are a few more infant social development characteristics that are really FUN!

- A baby will hold their arms up for you to pick them up.

- A baby will smile at himself in the mirror. (It's even cuter when they start to "talk" to themselves, too!)

- A baby will try to copy actions (like patty cake), sounds, and facial expressions. You can have so much fun with this, and when you laugh, they laugh, too!

- A baby will respond differently to strangers (my little ones here become "shy babies"). They may also respond differently to family members.

- A baby will show fear when something frightens them- like the fear of falling off of step or high place.

Infant Social Development For One year of age:

- They will begin to imitate you! They will pretend they are drinking from a cup, play on your lap top computer, or talking on a phone, etc. If you have not checked out my page on Child Development, these awesome years!!! - They will react to their name.

- They want you in their site at all times. This goes for mom and dad, too. They'll let you know that you can't sneak out of the room. Try it- I dare ya! - They are scared of strangers or uneasy around them.

- They may be attached to a blankie, or toy. Remember, they'll get ticked off if you try and take it!

- They will push away anything and everything they do not want- including food.

- They like to see and watch themselves in the mirror (little hams!)

- They will give you or your daycare kids their toy, but they expect you all to give it right back.

So as you can see there is a lot going on in infant brain development and infant social development in such a short period of time. With your understanding of these stages and your loving care, you will get the infants you care for off to a great start! Here is a link for my page on Infant Brain Development has more of these intriguing developments as well!


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