How your child grows during the first year of life
If you have a baby less than one year old, it is more than likely that you want to know what his first year of life will be like.
The first year of a child’s life is a time of constant growth and change. Babies begin to collect all the information in the world to make sense of it and they do it through their 5 senses. A baby advances very quickly and they are reaching developmental milestones in a short time. During the first year there are many influences that allow the child to advance faster. Parenting, nutrition, emotional bonding, play, and genetics are just some of the myriad factors that will help shape a child’s first year of life.
Index
THE GROWING BABY
Monitoring physical growth during the first year of life is an important way to monitor the health of the developing child. Because physical growth occurs so rapidly in the first year, most doctors suggest monthly follow-ups.
This allows medical professionals to determine if a child’s growth is on track, as well as to detect possible signs of problems. A standard monthly medical follow-up usually involves weighing and measuring the baby to make sure he is gaining weight and growing normally. Parents are also encouraged to keep an eye on physical developmental milestones to ensure their children reach certain skills and abilities by a certain age.
3-6 MONTHS
During the first three months of a baby’s life, they will grow to about 20% of their size and gain about 30% in weight. The child will also learn to recognize the scent of the caregiver, to be more aware of his own hands, and to respond to stimuli that he finds calming. Between the ages of 3 to 6 months, physical development kicks in. In addition to doubling their birth weight, most children learn to roll back and forth, sit with support, pass toys from one hand to the other, make babbling noises, and follow an object with their eyes.
6 TO 9 MONTHS
Parents at this age begin to notice many changes in the sight, hearing, and mobility of their little bundle of joy. Children can sit without support, look for toys in front of them, and even crawl.
As his dexterity improves, so does his ability to grasp and play with toys. At this point in development, a child’s vision is almost as clear as an adult’s. Parents will also notice that their children begin to show definite taste preferences, showing their enjoyment of certain foods while expressing dissatisfaction with foods they don’t like.
9 TO 12 MONTHS
In the last three months of the first year, children weigh about three times more than when they were born and have grown quite a bit. Many children will learn to get up without assistance and begin to take their first steps at home, grasping various objects for support.
ADVANCES IN CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Normal infant growth is taken for granted, but just a century ago, up to 35% of newborns died before their 7th birthday. During that time, infectious diseases such as whooping cough , measles , smallpox, and polio posed a very real threat to the developing child, putting them at risk of neurological complications , physical problems, and even death. Increased awareness of disease risks, improved nutrition, and better sanitation have contributed to the increase in infant mortality over the past 100 years.
However, vaccines are the main reason for improving child survival today. A vaccine involves giving the child a substance that stimulates the body’s defense system again against specific infectious diseases. When you think of vaccines, you probably think of the shots that most children get as babies and before school starts. However, immunizations can be administered in a number of ways. In addition to injections, inhalation (inhaling the substance through the nose) and ingestion (ingesting a substance that contains an oral vaccine) are also fairly common methods of administering immunizations.. In some cases, children can get a disease, such as chickenpox, which then makes them immune in the future.
Dr. Tabriella Perivolaris, Sara's mother and fan of fashion, beauty, motherhood, among others, about the female universe. Since 2018 she has been working as a copywriter, always bringing to her articles a little of her experience and experience as a mother and woman.