Understanding development of infants and toddlers

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Understanding Development of Infants and Toddlers 23
Mary Benson McMullen
Understanding
Development of
Infants and Toddlers
3
Babies. Captivating, wondrous, and
beguiling. They come into the world fully equipped to
enchant us, to draw us in. They challenge us to discover
what is most human within ourselves and to act upon these feelings, joyfully
and unabashedly to care for, love, and nurture them. Being able to share
with families the journey their
children take over the first
three years of life, being with
those infants and toddlers as
they learn, explore, grow, and
develop, is a marvelous gift and
a tremendous responsibility.
Families entrust the physical and
psychological health and well-
being of their young children to
us. They place in our hands the
care of the developing minds,
bodies, and spirits of their
youngest family members. (See
“In Our Hands,” p. 24.) We need
to be fully prepared for this role,
to be armed with the knowledge
and skills to support the day-to-
day needs and well-being of chil-
dren from birth to age 3, while
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Focus on Infants and Toddlers
24
at the same time providing them with what they
need to be successful when they leave our groups.
In this chapter, we look at child development
from birth to age 3 broadly, in terms of how we
can observe and support it through developmen-
tally appropriate, family-centered, and cultur-
ally responsive practices in group settings. This
chapter’s focus is on development of infants and
toddlers without chronic medical conditions
or disabilities, not on development that might
be impacted by chronic medical conditions or
disabilities.
No single chapter can provide all that is
important to know about development, but it will provide caregivers a look
at accomplishments they will likely observe in the context of group care.
The figure below shows the framework for the material in this chapter and a
model for optimizing young children’s overall health, well-being, and develop-
ment in groups.
Understanding Infants and Toddlers
Young children follow their own unique timetables for development, with the
greatest variance seen during the first three years. Three years seems like a
short time to an adult, but the rate of growth and development that occurs
from birth to 3 is so rapid, it is useful to break this period down. Rather than
dividing it by age, when considering development it is more useful to organize
by developmental needs, ways of processing infor-
mation, and ways of interacting with the environ-
ment (Lally & Mangione 2008).
The result is the three ages for birth to 3 pre-
sented in the table “Developmental Charateristics
of Infants and Toddlers,” helping us to character-
ize young infants, mobile infants, and toddlers.
Having distinct categories and understanding the
unique developmental needs within each provides
information for observations, developmental
assessment, and planning, and for making deci-
sions about materials, equipment, and furnishings,
as well as considering carefully how to organize
groups of children.
Knowledge of Child Development
Knowing child development is fundamental to
being a good observer, a critical skill in the con-
tinuous assessment and documentation of infants
and toddlers (Elicker & McMullen 2013). Careful
In Our Hands
It is essential that those who work in birth-to-3 care and
education focus on the overall well-being of every infant and
toddler in the setting—including their physical and psycho-
logical health and safety, growth, and development—while
fostering their natural curiosity for learning
• Who they are as individuals, now in the present
• A sense of belonging to their group, family, community,
and culture
• In preparation for the persons they will become in the
future
A Model for Supporting Optimal Overall Health,
Well-Being, Growth, and Development of
Infants and Toddlers in Group Settings
OPTIMIZE HEALTH,
WELL-BEING, AND
DEVELOPMENT
ENGAGE IN
DEVELOPMENTALLY
APPROPRIATE
PRACTICES
FOLLOW
ETHICAL PRINCIPLES
ADOPT A
GUIDING PHILOSOPHY
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Understanding Development of Infants and Toddlers 25
observation and ongoing assessment, paired with knowledge from families,
contributes to deep knowledge and allows caregivers to individualize care.
Observing development informs caregivers about skills and abilities already
mastered and now being practiced and consolidated, and helps them plan new
experiences that encompass the next developmental steps and challenges.
Philosophy and Principles Supporting Development
Environments that are best at supporting children’s healthy growth and
optimizing developmental outcomes work under a coherent and ethical guid-
ing philosophy, one supported by all adults in the setting. Developmentally
appropriate practice is a guiding philosophy that helps many early childhood
education professionals think about, or conceptualize, their practice. The
philosophy serves as the foundation for building principles of practice, which
are used when making decisions about all interactions and practices. “Guiding
Principles of Practice” on page 26 describes seven such principles specific to
birth to 3, which we discuss briefly below.
Understand who infants and toddlers are in the context of multiple
influences. Recognize that each area of development impacts and is impacted
by all others, and that similarly, development occurs in interaction with socio-
cultural and environmental factors. Thus, young children must be observed
and assessed holistically.
Young Infants Birth to About 9 Months Seeking Security and Sense of Trust
Young infants need to feel secure and see the world as a trustworthy place—when I am hungry, someone feeds me;
when I am sad, lonely, or scared, someone comforts me; when I am wet and uncomfortable, someone responds;
and those who take care of me do this with love and tenderness. To build a storehouse of trust, young infants’
needs must be met predictably, promptly, and by sensitively responsive practitioners who know them well.
Mobile Infants From 8 Months to About 18 Months Engaging in Multisensory Exploration
A new stage of life emerges as infants become mobile, rolling, crawling, or toddling through the environment. Much
of the mobile infant’s day is spent practicing and refining the use of muscles, both large and small, as they grasp,
bang, hit, clap, slap, throw, drop, carry, push, and climb around all available surfaces. Mobile infants immerse them-
selves in independent play and exploration, usually content on their own without engagement from adults or peers.
They use everything at their disposal to make meaning of the world, constructing knowledge and building concepts
through multisensory exploration.
Toddlers From 16 Months to About 36 Months Defining Identity and
Sense of Belonging
During their second year, mobile infants begin displaying characteristic changes that signal a shift in development.
Toddlers actively assert themselves—their sense of self—expressing strong opinions, preferences, desires, and
needs. At the same time they also become more socially aware and capable of caring for and about those around
them. Toddlers develop a sense of belonging to their group in care, showing preferences for particular peers, and
are well aware of their family members.
Developmental Characteristics of Infants and Toddlers
Period of Birth to 3 Primary Focus of Development
Approximate Age
Mary Benson McMullen,
PhD, is professor of
early childhood educa-
tion at Indiana University
in Bloomington. Her cur-
rent research focuses
on fostering physical
and psychological well-
being through relation-
ship-based practices in
children birth to age 3.
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Honor and support all young chil-
dren and their families. Be ready and
welcoming of each and every child who
walks, crawls, or is carried into the group
setting, along with their families, regard-
less of their beliefs, circumstances, needs,
languages, and communication styles. Thus,
children and families should find the care-
giving environment to be supportive and
nonjudgmental.
Partner fully with families in caring for
their children. Engage in family-centered
practices by respecting families as partners,
not clients or customers, and recognize
their expertise by honoring the decisions
they make about their infants and toddlers
(Keyser 2006; Pianta et al. 2012). Thus, families should feel empowered and
their capacity to support their child’s development bolstered.
Engage in culturally responsive care. Be mindful of all messages con-
veyed to children and families, verbally and nonverbally, about what is right
or wrong, normal or not, and good or bad—all of which contribute to a child’s
understanding of self as a person worthy of love and of her family as worthy of
acceptance. Thus, it is important to act deliberately to support every child’s
sense of self, including family and cultural bonds.
Respect the rights of young children. Allow children to engage in learner-
centered free choice play, and to learn autonomy and freedom of choice.
Support a sense of control by providing materials, toys, books, and experi-
ences that incorporate their ideas, interests, and preferences. Thus, children
learn about control, consequences of choice, sharing power, and other early
principles of democracy.
Invest in caring and supportive relationships throughout the setting. All
relationships with, between, and surrounding young children in a group set-
ting impact healthy brain development and overall physical and psychologi-
cal health and well-being (Bronfenbrenner & Morris 2006; NSCDC 2004; Shore
2003). Thus, all in the setting should commit to maintaining a positive emo-
tional climate that models caring, positive, supportive communication and
interaction.
Respond promptly and sensitively to children’s communications. The sensi-
tivity of caregivers’ interactions and promptness is linked to the development
of a secure attachment between children and adults in group settings, and to
children’s feelings of self-worth and trust. Thus, it is important for caregivers
to get to know individual children well in order to respond appropriately and
respectfully.
Guiding Principles of Practice
Birth-to-3 professionals guided by developmentally appropri-
ate practice
• Understand who infants and toddlers are in the context of mul-
tiple influences
• Honor and support all children and their families
• Partner fully with families in caring for their children
• Engage in culturally responsive care
• Respect the rights of children
• Invest in caring and supportive relationships throughout the
setting
• Respond promptly and sensitively to children’s communications
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Understanding Development of Infants and Toddlers 27
Understanding Changes in the First Three Years
Many variables impact the rapid changes that occur during the first three
years. Families’ beliefs and values about how to rear children interact with
genetic makeup and numerous environmental factors. Who children are and
who they become is determined by the interplay of all of these factors and the
interactions and experiences they have during the first weeks, months, and
years of life.
We describe the changes that occur in the brain and body from birth to 3
using terms including growth, maturation, and development, as well as assimi-
lation and accommodation. These processes are highly interdependent, each
influenced by and in turn influencing the others. We discuss each briefly below.
Growth, Maturation, and Development
Growth involves changes in the body in terms of amounts, such as size and
weight, length/height, head circumference, and so on—mostly observable and
easily measured factors. Growth occurs along with physical changes in internal
organs and tissues, and their structures and functioning related to maturation.
Maturation refers to the timing and rates of change in how the body func-
tions and is determined largely by biology. For instance, maturation deter-
mines the timing of when a toddler achieves bladder control.
Development accompanies growth and maturation but refers to changes
from simple to increasingly complex ways of dealing with the world—for
instance, in facing physical challenges, communicating, thinking and problem
solving, and feeling about and relating to oneself and others. Outward behav-
ioral expressions signal to caregivers that development has occurred. For
example, infants develop the ability to distinguish people they know from ones
they do not, and they might display stranger anxiety; toddlers now understand
cause and effect, which adults know because they overhear them making pre-
dictions tied to recent events.
Assimilation and Accommodation
Another way that children change over the first three years is the development
of how they think, process information, and learn. Piaget described the dual
processes of assimilation and accommodation to help explain this (Piaget &
Inhelder 1969). As infants and toddlers interact with those around them and
engage with their environment, their minds are busy processing sensory input
to make sense of the experiences. Assimilation occurs when encountering new
information that fits with a structure already in place in the brain, which has
stored information about prior knowledge or experiences very much like this
new information. The brain simply adds this new information to the existing
structure.
Accommodation occurs when new information that a child encounters is
familiar enough that the existing structures in the brain can be reshaped and
stretched to fit the new concept. Accommodation can occur only if the new
information is not too different from what the child has already learned. Thus,
the infant and toddler brain takes in information and learns by accumulating
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knowledge through assimilation. It is also ready to accommodate completely
novel concepts and skills, as long as they relate in some way to prior knowl-
edge and experience. If the new concept or skill the brain is asked to accom-
modate is too different from what the brain already knows (i.e., has a structure
for), the brain cannot process it.
For example, an infant is presented with a bottle that is not her own and
that has a nipple slightly different than she had before. Her brain has an exist-
ing structure for “this is a thing that holds my milk, and I suck on a nipple to
get it.” Her brain will make the shift to the new bottle and nipple quickly, adapt-
ing by assimilation and simply adding to her knowledge and experience more
kinds of “things that hold my milk.” Now, if sometime later her milk comes
in a sippy cup instead of a bottle, her existing brain structure has to change,
be completely altered—she must accommodate. Accommodation results in
reshaping the existing knowledge and experience structure, resulting in the
learning of something completely new: sipping rather than sucking to drink
her milk.
The Environment
The nature-versus-nurture debate was settled long ago: who young children
will be unfolds in constant interaction with the environment. What caregivers
do—their interactions, the environments they set up, and the experiences they
offer—impacts (both positively and negatively) young children’s growth, matu-
ration, and development, as well as their learning through assimilation and
accommodation.
Observing Development From Birth to 3
The topics below respond to the question: “To be effective in their work with
infants and toddlers, what do caregivers need to know about development in
the first three years?” In some cases, the material provides guidance about
what caregivers will be able to directly observe as children’s development
unfolds over time. In others, the information helps adults understand pro-
cesses that impact the developing infant and toddler.
Despite the fact that no one area of development occurs in isolation, we
identify five developmental domains to help organize and clarify understand-
ing of the unique processes that occur within them. (See “Five Developmental
Domains and Focus of Concentration” on p. 29.) Since development in any area
occurs simultaneously with development in others and is dependent upon it,
caregivers should look for areas of integration as they consider this material.
Caregivers can use the information to
• Focus their observations of the development of the children in their care
• Develop language to share information about children’s development with
families and document developmental profiles
• Create plans for individuals and groups related to expectations for potential
next steps in healthy development
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Understanding Development of Infants and Toddlers 29
Five Developmental Domains and Focus of Concentration
Developmental Domain
Physical Growth and
Development of Habits for
Lifetime Wellness and Safe
Living
Thinking, Reasoning and
Understanding the World:
The Brain and Cognitive
Development
The Mind–Body Connection:
Development of Sensorimotor
Integration
Being and Belonging: Social
and Emotional Development
Communication: Development
of Language, Literacy, and
Mathematical Understanding
Description
Physical health and growth: includes observing
height and weight, adequate and proper nutri-
tion, signs of abuse, chronic illnesses, or injuries;
psychological well-being: looking at stress
level at home and in group care; modeling and
teaching healthy and safe habits and growth in
capacity for self-care relate to developing per-
sonal caregiving and learning to take charge of
own care needs.
Cognitive development refers to both the
acquisition of knowledge and changes in intellec-
tual processes that impact infants’ and toddlers’
understanding about the world; the ability and
complexity to think, reason, and problem solve
changes over time through early experiences.
Perceptual development occurs as infants and
toddlers use all their senses to explore their envi-
ronment. Motor development involves ongoing
refinement of small (fine) and large (gross) mus-
cles, with the child becoming increasingly able to
coordinate, balance, and control her body.
Social development is understanding of oneself
as an individual and a growing awareness of oth-
ers. Emotional development refers to under-
standing/labeling feelings, knowing that others
possess them, and learning how to regulate
them; moral sense, including knowing right from
wrong, caring for others, and empathy; and an
aesthetic sense of the world—what is beautiful,
what young children appreciate, and why.
Language development involves receptive
language and listening (understanding what is
said, verbally or not) and expressive language
(being able to communicate to be understood),
both of which are necessary for understanding
and using symbols for literacy and mathemati-
cal understanding—being able to recognize
that words, signs, and symbols have meaning,
and to use them.
Focus of Concentration for
Observation and Planning
Physical health and growth
Psychological health and well-being
Infant mental health
Emotional climates
Child abuse and neglect
Learning to be healthy and safe
Self-care
Growing brain and experience
Cognitive processes
Focus and attention
Object permanence
Cause and effect
Sorting and classifying
Memory, imitation, and recall
Perceptual development
Motor development
Spatial awareness
Sense of self and others
Self-condence and self-esteem
Interacting with others
Temperament
Peer interactions
Prosocial behaviors
Emotional development
Attachment
Emotional regulation
Receptive language and listening
Expressive language
Early literacy and mathematical
understanding
Adapted from CDE (2009) and Shonkoff and Phillips (2000).
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Physical Growth and Development of Habits
for Lifetime Wellness and Safe Living
Over the first three years of life, the body changes more than at any other time.
A healthy start can set a child on a trajectory of physical and psychological
wellness for life. Some families may need assistance in identifying and con-
necting with resources and services to help with health and wellness issues.
Family-centered programs have a role in working with families to engage in
this process.
Physical Health and Growth
During his first year, an infant might
triple his birth weight and add between
six and nine inches in height. Although
the growth rate slows the second year,
by age 2 a child might grow another
three to five inches and quadruple his
birth weight. It is important that health
care professionals monitor this tremen-
dously fast growth carefully.
Adequate and proper nutrition
is essential to health during the rapid
growth of the first three years. It is criti-
cal for caregivers to follow all nutritional
guidelines, and to be in full agreement
with families—who should be working
closely with health care providers—
when making decisions about how best
to meet children’s nutritional needs in
the group setting.
Sleep is as important to health as
adequate nutrition. The amount of sleep
infants and toddlers need varies greatly,
and young infants, at least, should
always be allowed to follow their own napping schedule. By the time children
enter their second year in group care, most can follow a naptime routine that is
consistent with others in the group, as long as those who need to are allowed
to catnap at other times. The sleep of young children should be respected as a
developmental need, and effort should be made to provide a comfortable and
restful nap area. Place cribs as far from the general play area as possible, in an
area where lights can be dimmed and the noise level lessened.
Psychological Health and Well-Being
The field of infant mental health research and practice has taught us much
about the importance of the relationship between stress in young children and
their families and its impact on children’s development. Attachment issues
between family and child; alcoholism and drug abuse in the home; neglect or
A Caution About Milestones
Development during the first three years occurs in a fairly predictable
and orderly sequence, but at different rates for individual children. It
is important for caregivers not to overinterpret information from tables
of ages and stages for developmental benchmarks found in parent-
ing books, pediatricians’ offices, on the web, or even included in this
chapter.
Caregivers can think of developmental milestones as achieve-
ments to celebrate with infants and toddlers when reached, rather than
deficits or marks of failure if they do not hit the average time for bench-
marks. It is common for young children to develop more quickly in
some areas than in others. Caregivers can assist families in interpreting
such information and help prevent them from becoming anxious.
Having general expectations for development is helpful to care-
givers, however, in uncovering potential problems that might result in
developmental delays. Caregivers should be on alert for children who,
in their experience, seem to be taking an exceptionally long time to
develop in one or more areas. If caregivers notice patterns of excep-
tionalities over time, they can discuss these patterns with families, and
then support families if and when they seek further evaluation from
other professionals (Elicker & McMullen 2013). Be sure to keep chil-
dren’s birth histories in mind, however, as premature infants—especially
those with very low birth weights—can take longer to reach milestones
for their calendar age.
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Understanding Development of Infants and Toddlers 31
abuse of the child; spousal
abuse; parental imprison-
ment; maternal depression;
and generally negative
emotional climates in
the home can impact the
emotional well-being and
subsequent development
of young children.
Even stressors that
are not as extreme can
impact a child’s health and
well-being. Caregivers may
notice a healthy and active
child become suddenly
withdrawn, disinterested,
or lethargic. Or a child
might become hyperac-
tive, reacting to every
slight change. A stressed
child might exhibit radical
changes in sleeping, eating, or elimination patterns. The main symptom is radi-
cal change—they are simply not acting like themselves.
Stress and other signs of lack of emotional well-being, such as general
unhappiness, should be taken seriously and discussed with the family to con-
sider how best to support both child and family. Regardless of children’s level
of stress, group care settings should strive to be free from undue stress for
children and their families, who need to feel the group care environment is a
place of calmness, security, trust, and above all safety.
Issues around the highly intimate physical caregiving routines associated
with feeding/eating, diapering/toileting, sleeping, and dressing, and when (or
if) to foster independence, are bound in culture, tradition, and family values,
requiring caregivers to be open and sensitive to differences in families’ belief
systems and cultures. Conflicts that sometimes emerge around these issues
can be very stressful for all, and ultimately detrimental to a child’s developing
sense of identity. It is important for adults to be diligent in reflecting on their
own beliefs at these times, making sure their biases and values do not dictate
responses to families and behaviors with infants and toddlers, but rather ratio-
nal, well-reasoned thought prevails.
Learning to Be Healthy and Safe
One additional principle could have been added to the seven described earlier:
do no harm. Of course, all caregivers live by this already. Everything adults do
in the birth-to-3 setting is done first and foremost to ensure that infants and
toddlers remain healthy and safe. Caregivers engage in a thousand practices
daily they hardly give thought to—such as following fire codes, childproofing
the rooms, checking the play yard for harmful substances, using appropriately
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mixed cleaning fluids, and wearing gloves to change diapers—all to ensure the
health and safety of those in their care. They want infants and toddlers to live
and play, learn and develop, in a healthy and safe environment.
As caregivers go about their day engaging in healthy and safe practices,
they are modeling those practices as well as personal wellness habits. What
caregivers do in the presence of children—eating apples for a snack, hand
washing throughout the day, taking a walk in the sunshine on their break, look-
ing both ways before crossing a street—provides a model for young children
about health, safety, and taking care of oneself.
Self-Care
By the end of the first three years, infants and toddlers grow in their capac-
ity to help caregivers with routines and even take charge over some personal
needs themselves. Many 4- and 5-month-olds cooperate during diaper chang-
ing, holding clean diapers and wet wipes, positioning their bodies for the adult.
Most mobile infants can identify their own belongings, and help get shoes,
boots, coats, and other clothing on by extending their arms and legs as needed.
Toddlers can easily undress themselves and some can put on a jacket, but
probably not zip or button it. They can also brush their hair and teeth, with
some assistance.
The ability to eat independently advances quickly, beginning at around 8
months. But just because a child can do something does not always mean it
should be encouraged. Independence in general—and specifically in feeding/
eating—is culturally bound, and caregivers must consider carefully their snack
and mealtime practices in the context of families. Many families and cultures
value interdependence over independence. Partnering with families around
goals for each child helps caregivers know when to encourage independence.
Thinking, Reasoning, and Understanding the World:
The Brain and Cognitive Development
Cognitive development, which is dependent upon having a healthy brain, refers
primarily to intellectual development—the ability for young children to grow in
their capacity to make sense of the world around them. As infants and toddlers
learn with ever-increasing ability and complexity, they develop how they think,
reason, and problem solve.
The Growing Brain and Experience
The overall rate of development in all domains from birth to age 3 is greater
than at any other time in life, and this is no more remarkable than when looking
at brain development. By the age of 2, the brain grows from about three-
quarters of a pound to about two-and-a-half pounds, nearly its full adult weight
of about three pounds. At birth, babies have more than 100 billion nerve
cells, or neurons, which are all that are needed for living. But to grow, the
brain needs to make connections between those neurons and build pathways
through the brain. By the end of the first month of life, a healthy brain makes
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Understanding Development of Infants and Toddlers 33
100 trillion connections between and among neurons—connections made as
the infant interacts with and is responded to by adults (NSCDC 2004; Shonkoff
& Phillips 2000).
The brain makes more neural connections by age 3 than at any other time
in life. These connections are not all equally strong or necessary for survival or
well-being, and many wither and die. However, those formed by repeated expe-
rience or strong emotion—positive and negative—grow stronger and thrive.
Brain research now supports what early childhood educators concluded long
ago—that it is the quality of the environment, of early experiences, and of rela-
tionships that is the most critical contributor to ensuring strong, healthy devel-
opmental outcomes for infants and toddlers (NSCDC 2004; Shonkoff & Phillips
2000; Shore 2003).
Growing and nurturing a healthy brain requires proper nutrition, sleep,
healthy environments free of toxins, and well-baby checkups. We also know
that in group settings, healthy brain development depends upon children’s
positive relationships with caregivers who know them well and who provide
experiences that inspire, challenge, and ignite the brain’s neurons and rein-
force neural pathways. Healthy brain development is critical to all of the cogni-
tive processes that will be described in the next sections, and is particularly
important to the development of memory—the ability to store, recall, and uti-
lize information—which is central to being able to learn and build upon prior
experience.
Cognitive Processes for Making Sense of the World
Cognitive development allows the growing infant and toddler to continue to
gain knowledge, and increase the complexity and efficiency in how they think
about and process information. The cognitive achievements unfold in behav-
iors that caregivers can observe and support, as discussed in this section.
Focus and attention. The ability to focus attention is a critical cogni-
tive skill related to learning that begins in earliest infancy. In the first hours
after birth, healthy newborn babies are often highly alert and will turn toward
sounds (usually voices) that attract their attention. They show preference for
certain voices, preferring their mother’s voice to those of any other person,
distinguishing it from any other female because it is her voice that they heard
while in the womb. Some newborns can also single out their father’s voice from
other male voices, although only if the father has been present and highly ver-
bal with the mother throughout the pregnancy (Lee 2010).
These early signs that infants want attention and are ready to give it set
the scene for face-to-face interactions with adults. The responses draw adults
in and aid in the bonding between newborn and parents, launching them on the
road to what will hopefully be a relationship based upon a strong and secure
attachment. Gaining the attention of infants, and later toddlers, is essential in
establishing relationships that allow us to support healthy overall growth and
development, but it also helps them develop the skills of focusing attention.
Sometime after about the first six weeks and continuing throughout infancy,
babies become drawn to human faces, seeming to find them fascinating. They
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attend to changes in faces: smiles, frowns, the ways eyebrows move up and
down. Caregivers who pay careful attention will see their own expressions
mirrored on those of infants as they look back at them. It is important to allow
babies to have face-to-face time, to have plenty of these early private conversa-
tions, examining each others’ faces—they coo, you coo; they smile, you smile.
These early exchanges also teach infants about language and communication,
how to recognize the emotions of others, and build their feelings of self-worth
as persons valued as relationship partners.
Around 8 to 10 months, most infants are able to follow a line of sight, or
focus on something brought to their attention just from someone else’s eye
gaze. This becomes more sophisticated sometime around 10 to 14 months,
when mobile infants become capable of engaging in joint attention with oth-
ers. Joint attention occurs when two people share focus on one object or event.
Adults will notice that a child is looking at something, and he may even point
to something and enjoy regarding this object. These behaviors signal the child
is cognitively at a point where the caregiver can now draw his attention more
readily to focus on aspects of experiences they are sharing. These skills are
critical in the infant’s development of intention and reference, which when
combined with words and environmental symbols, prepare them for both spo-
ken language and literacy acquisition (Bruner 1985).
Infants’ attention skills allow them to focus on what caregivers say and
show them, despite the many distractions in group care. They begin to be able
to sit in the caregiver’s lap (for short periods, at least), to enjoy a board book,
or to crawl or toddle over to hear a group of friends clapping and dancing to
music. Soon, their ability to sit and focus on book reading extends longer and
longer.
Two-year-olds will demonstrate they have listened to songs, rhymes,
favorite books, and oft-repeated chants by correcting caregivers, sometimes
even becoming upset when caregivers recite them “wrong” or differently than
expected. As frustrating as this may sometimes be to adults it is a cognitive
advancement to be respected, one to reframe as an accomplishment and to
look upon with a source of pride in the work you have done with the young
children in your care.
Object permanence. Object permanence involves the ability to hold a
mental image or picture of an object or person in the mind, and to understand
that when that object or person is out of sight or beyond hearing, it continues
to exist. This has important implications for how young children explore, how
they understand their environments, for memory, and for issues such as sepa-
ration and stranger anxiety.
It is thought that newborns have no understanding that they are separate
and apart from everything else in the world—that they are one with everything
else (Berk 2012). At about 1 to 4 months, infants develop the ability to follow
with their eyes, or track, objects as they move into their field of vision. At the
same time, they show the first signs of developing object permanence, as they
will continue to look for the object for a few seconds after it disappears from
view. For the most part, however, it is common to characterize young infants’
understanding of objects as “out of sight, out of mind.”
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Understanding Development of Infants and Toddlers 35
At 4 to 8 months,
infants have increasing
experiences with objects—
toys, books, people—in
their environments. They
engage in both assimilation
and accommodation as
they explore, making cog-
nitive advances in object
understanding. Caregivers
will notice them reach for
objects, even ones that are
partially hidden or cov-
ered. Infants are now able
to hold objects and events
in memory, although only
for a short time.
With the development
of being able to remember
objects and people who
are no longer present may
come behaviors such as infants becoming upset when an adult leaves their
sight. This behavior, known as separation anxiety, signals a cognitive advance-
ment but also means the infant lacks the cognitive capacity to understand that
when someone is out of sight, they still exist and will return. Separation anxiety
improves with repeat experience and sensitive reassurance.
At 7 or 8 months, infants are less likely to have significant separation
anxiety, but a new fear may emerge as a result of this cognitive advancement:
stranger anxiety. The early months spent focusing on faces and new increased
memory capacity come together for young children, who can now identify and
remember the people they love and trust most, and to notice—and sometimes
fear—unfamiliar people. Also around this time, caregivers might notice that
toddlers will follow a ball that rolls completely out of sight or search for a toy
that is completely hidden. This behavior signals that they understand that
objects continue to exist when they are out of view and that they are able to
predict to some extent where they will be. After 12 months, understanding of
objects develops rapidly. By the time they are 2, toddlers can search for and
retrieve hidden objects, hunting with focus and persistence for missing toys,
almost obsessively so at times!
Cause and effect. Cause and effect is the understanding that one action or
event results in another, which—along with the development of memory and
understanding of objects—is critical in being able to make predictions, reason,
and problem solve effectively. Cause and effect is learned by experimenting
and playing with objects in the environment.
Between 1 and 4 months of age, infants spend most of their time seeing,
listening, and learning about things that happen around them, but not really
connecting that any specific behavior or action causes any specific response or
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Focus on Infants and Toddlers
36
reaction (CDE 2009; Marotz & Allen 2012). Infants’ brains and bodies are very
active at this time, however. Their arms and legs move about and interact with
objects; they make noises; things move when they swipe or kick them; they
make faces and sounds and others react. Infants begin to take notice and they
make connections: “I made that happen.”
After about 4 months, infants begin making simple, purposeful actions to
elicit responses. They find that when they bang a cup on a tray, it makes a loud
sound; kicking their legs makes the bells on their shoes sing out; and slapping
water with their hands in the tub results in a delightful splash. In addition,
they begin to notice that caregivers cause things to happen. Their caregiver
punches a button and music starts. Not only do they notice, but infants will
begin to let adults know that they want them to repeat actions that they find
desirable.
The 7- or 8-month-old becomes expert in experimenting with her newfound
understanding of causality. By about 12 months, she will be able to combine
many simple actions together to solve simple sensorimotor problems. For
example, if a toy is out of reach but on a blanket, she will pull the blanket
closer to her to gain access to the toy. She experiments with different objects—
a wooden spoon, stick, toy hammer—to see which makes the loudest sound
when pounded on a pot or pan.
Two-year-olds are very adept at using cause and effect in their explorations
and problem solving. Improving cognition allows them to make predictions
about what might happen. Increased memory capacity allows them to reflect on
why things happened based on their understanding of how things work.
Sorting and classifying. Part of understanding how things work in the
world depends on the ability to organize information, to sort and categorize it
in some way. This critical skill begins developing in the first three years and is
important for being able to use symbols to read and perform mathematics in
the future. Sorting and classifying objects, experiences, and people is neces-
sary for forming expectations and making predictions—vital skills for becom-
ing good problem solvers and for negotiating complex social relationships.
The first milestone in developing sorting and classification skills comes
when infants learn to distinguish people from inanimate objects. Young infants
will demonstrate they have clearly different expectations for the people around
them than for the other “things” in their environment. By 3 or 4 months, infants
have essentially sorted out two large categories—alive and not alive. Through
the next months, they will learn to distinguish familiar from unfamiliar objects
and people they know from those they do not.
Between about 8 and 18 months, children not only notice novel objects,
but they begin to sort out how things are similar and different, a major cogni-
tive achievement. Using their new abilities to focus and attend, they notice
particular attributes of objects and people, which allows them to separate
them into at least two categories based upon one significant and prominent
characteristic. This helps them identify, for example, things that make noise
versus those that do not, and things they can ride, or push, or pull versus toys
that are not so action oriented.
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Understanding Development of Infants and Toddlers 37
Caregivers may see one child quietly picking all the blue beads out of a
jar, or another pulling all the trucks from a basket of vehicles. In each case,
the child has focused on one attribute that sets the items apart from the oth-
ers. A child will sometimes lose track of the attribute they were focusing on
and switch to another. For example, a caregiver watches as a 10-month-old girl
pulls animals out of the toy basket one at a time, lining them up on the floor.
After lining up four toy animals, she adds a fifth that is a horse, which catches
her attention. The next several items she lines up are horses from around the
room. The category she uses for sorting shifts, but she still remains focused
on one attribute: first it was sorting animals from all other toys, then it was
horses.
Toddlers rapidly become more sophisticated at sorting and classifying.
They can create multiple piles of objects based upon one attribute, but still
only one. For example, a 2-year-old girl plays with beads that are all the same
size but have different colors. The caregiver looks over to find she has become
quietly absorbed in pulling out all the blue beads and setting them aside in one
pile, the yellow in another, and the green and red in two other groups. She is
sorting by one attribute (color ), but she can look at multiple colors.
Memory, imitation, and recall. Memory is a complex process that devel-
ops along with brain development. Babies are born with a working memory,
which allows for representations to be held in the mind for a matter of seconds
(Berk 2012). For example, a newborn in the highly alert state soon after birth
imitates the facial expressions of an adult 30 seconds after the interaction.
Throughout infancy this early type of memory is at work, allowing infants to
mirror the eyebrow raising, eye squinting, mouth shapes and tonguing, and
smiles and frowns they see in face-to-face conversations.
Long-term memory involves the storage of information over time so that
it can be recalled as needed. Long-term memory has two types: implicit and
explicit. Implicit long-term memories are those related to certain concepts and
skills and are collected through daily experiences. Examples of implicit mem-
ory include using knowledge of objects to know “my favorite toy must be here
somewhere, I just have to look”; and using stored muscle movement and bal-
ance memory to roll a ball back to an adult. These memories are not retrieved
consciously; they are not accessible for recall in the usual sense—they are just
there. Explicit long-term memories are what most people think of as memory.
They are our thoughts about people we know, past experiences, and knowl-
edge and skills learned.
Many people remember very little about their lives from before they
were 3 due to infantile amnesia. Many memories from those years are highly
unstable, especially until age 2 or so, and are not subject to explicit memory.
Infants are, however, storing many important implicit long-term memories.
Also, because the brain undergoes such massive pruning of early neural con-
nections, much of what infants store in explicit memory might be lost or simply
difficult to retrieve from stored memory.
Current research confirms that infants as young as 6 months can start
forming stable explicit memories, being able to recall actions from 24 hours
in the past. Just as the brain develops rapidly, so does this aspect of useful
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Focus on Infants and Toddlers
38
memory ability. By 9 months an infant can reliably recall information from up
to one month in the past, and by 20 months she can remember events that hap-
pened up to a year earlier (Bauer & Pathman 2008). Thus, the older the child
gets, the better and more reliable the ability to remember and recall memories
becomes.
The Mind–Body Connection: Development of
Sensorimotor Integration
The systems in the brain that control the senses—vision, hearing, smell, taste,
touch, and proprioception (the sense of one’s body in space)—develop in full
integration with the systems of the brain that control large and small muscle
growth and development. As senses develop, infants and then toddlers use
their bodies as a means to explore, reach out, and make sense of the world—
hence, the term sensorimotor, or sensory integration (Shonkoff & Phillips 2000;
Shore 2003). Through sensory integration, young children develop the ability
to control and coordinate their muscles and balance, skills essential to achiev-
ing true goal-directed behavior.
Perceptual Development
Healthy perceptual development is concerned with how infants and toddlers
process sensory information through experiences and interactions with
objects and people in their environment. A newborn is ready, literally from the
moment of birth, to make sense of the world.
Newborns’ senses of taste, hearing, and smell develop before birth and
are quite acute. Their sense of smell is so strong that they can distinguish their
mother’s breast milk from any other. As mentioned earlier, they can distin-
guish their parents’ voices from those of other adults. Newborns’ vision, unlike
these other senses, has limited capability at birth. A “hidden” sense, known as
proprioception, also develops in the womb: as fetuses kick their legs and wave
their arms they begin the journey toward developing a sense of position, an
understanding of how their bodies move in space.
For the first few weeks of life, infants typically have clear vision for objects
and faces within 8 to 12 inches, just the distance needed to see their parents’
faces. Beyond this distance vision is hazy, and because they are born with
some light sensitivity, colors appear washed out. The newborn can, however,
focus attention on a toy or small object held in front of them and moved hori-
zontally across their field of vision. By 3 or 4 months, vision, depth perception,
and the ability to see all colors improve to the point that most infants can see
clearly and in full color across a room. They can also track objects with their
eyes, moving up and down as well as horizontally across their line of sight.
The brain allows for all the senses to be working at the same time, and
most infants can process sensory input from many sources all at once, but
caregivers should be alert for children who are overloaded by the sights,
sounds, and smells around them. Some young infants will simply shut down,
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Understanding Development of Infants and Toddlers 39
turn away, or fall fast asleep when sen-
sory input becomes too much for them
to handle, whereas others will become
highly disturbed and anxious. Mobile
infants and toddlers can also become
overstimulated, sometimes appearing
confused or even dissolving into tears
or acting out in inappropriate ways
because they simply do not know how to
handle all the input coming at them so
rapidly. Knowing the individual children
in our care well and being able to modify
physical aspects of the environment to
meet their needs is critical. Noise level,
clutter, smells, or lighting may need to
be adjusted. Through interaction and
experience, caregivers will become in
tune with children’s cues about sensitivi-
ties to differing sensory stimuli and how
best to respond (Elicker, Fortner-Wood,
& Noppe 1999; Lally & Mangione 2008).
Motor Development
Fine and gross motor development
occurs as the body grows physically, in
a process called motor development, emphasizing that it is all about movement.
Fine motor skills relate to the small muscles of the body (e.g., in the fingers,
toes, and lips), whereas gross motor activity requires development of the large
muscles (e.g., in the arms and legs). Controlling muscles at will, balancing, and
coordination are key developments in birth to 3 that allow young infants to
roll over, start crawling, and grasp a toy; allow mobile infants to take their first
steps and feed themselves with relative ease; and allow toddlers to run and
jump, turn pages in a book, and finger-paint.
Healthy motor development, like all development, begins long before birth.
As fetuses swim within the confines of the uterus, they exercise muscles and
build connections in the brain about how it feels to move. For the early months
of life, infants kick their legs, move their arms about, and rotate their heads
from side to side, and can even lift their head up a bit for short periods of time.
Most young infants’ movements are random and not under their control,
but they also are endowed at birth with certain reflexes that help jump-start
the building and strengthening of the mind–body connection. These reflexes
are inborn ways of responding and moving that the infant is pre-wired to do;
they build and strengthen neural pathways to facilitate the learning of behav-
iors that are necessary for survival. For instance, the rooting reflex helps
the newborn find the nipple of a breast or bottle, and then the sucking reflex
engages so they can be nourished right after birth.
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Focus on Infants and Toddlers
40
Many of these important reflexes still exist at 6 or 8 weeks, the earliest we
might see young infants in group care. The reflexes and random, accidental
movements are important stepping stones upon which all future motor con-
trol—and thus the ability to integrate sensory information—is built. Consider,
for example
• A young infant reflexively grasps her caregiver’s finger; her caregiver smiles
at her and says something; the infant finds this pleasurable
• An infant in his stroller flails his arms about randomly, just having fun;
his hands hit a toy that moves around and gets his attention; after several
stroller rides and several random arm movements, the toy moves again
In both of these cases, the stage is set for the infants to develop control
of the muscles involved in these experiences. The brain made connections
between what the infants sensed—feeling the caregiver’s finger, hearing the
nice tone in his voice, seeing the toy move—and the muscular movement
related to those pleasurable outcomes. It just takes time and lots of repeat
experience to strengthen the neural pathways of the brain related to these
processes.
Spatial Awareness
Understanding spatial awareness is necessary for children under 3 to know
how to make their bodies move to get from here to there; to figure out what
to do with their bodies to retrieve a toy that is just out of reach; to remember
where the little room with the potty is in relation to the play area; to decide
how far away or nearby an object or another person is to them; and to deter-
mine how fast objects (including themselves) are moving. The development of
spatial understanding occurs through repeated experiences involving the per-
ceptual and motor systems working in harmony, primarily through sensorimo-
tor play.
Spatial understanding is an important development for later academic
learning. It is fundamental to being able to structure and organize written work,
and it is connected to preparing the brain to solve more complex mathemati-
cal and logic problems. Birth-to-3 caregivers can support the development of
conceptual understanding related to spatial awareness by using and reinforc-
ing words related to position and place, such as up, down, slow, fast, here, there,
over, under, right, left, back, forth, first, and last.
Being and Belonging: Social and Emotional
Development
Social and emotional development are closely intertwined. Feelings young
children have about themselves and others greatly affect whether or not they
will engage socially, and social interactions in turn influence emotions. Social
development involves the growing understanding of oneself as apart from and
in interaction with others, whereas emotional development involves under-
standing and managing feelings about oneself, others, and the world.
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Understanding Development of Infants and Toddlers 41
Birth-to-3 caregivers concentrate on social and emotional development,
long recognized in the field of early childhood education as foundational to
ensuring positive outcomes. It relates to who children are now and who they
will be in the future as successful learners, responsible citizens, and happy,
well-adjusted people (Honig 2002; Hyson 2004). The topics below describe the
complex social and emotional lives of infants and toddlers that adults can con-
sider as they observe, plan, and support children’s developing emotional and
social competence.
Sense of Self and Others
Sense of self refers to the awareness of who we are—our identity—in relation
to others. Research suggests that newborns have no sense of self (Berk 2012;
Eisenberg & Mussen 1989). For the first few weeks of life, they are often char-
acterized as “being at one with the universe,” in that they have no sense of
themselves apart from anything else in their environment. Within a few weeks
however, they have sorted out who their parents and/or primary attachment
figures are, and to feel at one with them—there is my parent/my primary care-
giver and me (as one unit), and then there is everyone else.
At around 4 months infants have enough experience, and their under-
standing of objects has developed sufficiently for them to know they are sepa-
rate from their parent/primary caregiver. Yet their parent/primary caregiver is
the source of all security and trust for the infant, the infant’s greatest develop-
mental need and focus at this time. Because of this dependency (and continued
advancement in object knowledge), separation anxiety might emerge. The
awakening realization that they and their parent/primary caregiver together
are not one, but separate, coupled with the disappearance of that person from
time to time, can be confusing and emotionally unsettling.
The 8- and 9-month-old infant takes off crawling and then walking, engag-
ing busily in sensorimotor exploration and rather preoccupied in doing so. She
might display signs of stranger anxiety or show mild wariness or even curiosity
toward new people, as she is now able to sort people as (1) me; (2) my parent/
primary caregiver; (3) people I know; and (4) people I do not know.
Toddlers begin exhibiting behaviors that demonstrate an emergence of
true self-identity. They are known to claim their independence, even at times
when autonomy is not granted or appropriate, through the expression of
strong emotions, opinions, preferences, desires, and needs. At the same time
that toddlers become more aware of their individuality (and are increasingly
capable of expressing it!), they also become more socially aware and capable
of caring for and about those around them. They develop a sense of belonging
to their caregiving group and to their family. They know the members of their
caregiving group and show strong group affiliation, demonstrating preference
for particular friends. Also, they enjoy looking at and showing pictures of their
family members.
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Self-Confidence and Self-Esteem
Self-confidence and self-esteem are two separate concepts, often spoken of
together. To be self-confident, a person must believe without a doubt they are
capable of doing something successfully. The toddler who is self-confident
she is an artist will not hesitate at the easel—she will select her brush and
quickly begin painting. The mobile infant who is self-confident about climbing
will push his caregiver’s hands away as he walks up the steps of the slide. The
young infant who is self-confident about her balance will sit upright for the
first time on her own. Success builds success, and success builds confidence.
Self-confidence will endure failures and frustration, as long as they are not
constant.
Self-esteem addresses how a person regards or approves of himself, or
more simply, whether one likes or loves himself. Young children receive
critical messages from caregivers about whether or not they are lovable, or
if they and their families are acceptable, and that impacts the formation of
self-esteem.
For toddlers, self-esteem can be complicated because they are increasingly
more socially engaged. They are also developing more sophistication in terms
of theory of mind—the ability to understand that other people have thoughts,
beliefs, intentions, and feelings, and that they may be different from our own
(Flavell & Hartman 2004). The 2- to 3-year-old becomes aware that, just as she
forms ideas and opinions about her peers, they form opinions about her.
It is important to consider both self-confidence and self-esteem in the con-
text of culture. Discuss with families whether and how to encourage self-con-
fidence or self-esteem in their children. For instance, some cultures value the
esteem of others over self-esteem. Others may be worried that a child encour-
aged to become highly self-confident may become too boastful or perhaps too
independent.
Interacting With Others
As soon as infants master cause and effect, they understand that if they behave
in a certain way or attempt to communicate, it might elicit a response. They
have numerous face-to-face interactions with their caregivers in which they
learn the comfortable back-and-forth rhythm of conversation. As mobile infants
begin to motor about, they quickly learn that other behaviors elicit reactions,
sometimes negative responses. Soon the child figures out that the responses
and reactions were related to what he did. It is through these experiences
that toddlers deepen their understanding that things they do in a social group
elicit reactions, and thus what they do and say when among others has conse-
quences—a key social achievement.
Temperament. Young children’s environment, and the responses and
reactions of those within it, shapes infants’ and toddlers’ early social com-
munications and behaviors. It is important for adults who work with birth-to-3
groups to understand the influence of temperament on social behaviors.
Temperament describes the characteristic way in which individuals—
children and adults—interact with the world. Everyone is born with a tempera-
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Understanding Development of Infants and Toddlers 43
ment, which interacts with
the environment to shape
the developing personality.
Understanding the tempera-
ments of all young children in
a group can help caregivers
guide early social interactions.
Caregivers need to be aware
of their own temperaments
and how their characteristic
ways of responding might be
in tune with or at odds with
other group members. It is
the responsibility of adults
to adjust their styles to fit
and respond appropriately to
infants and toddlers, not the
other way around.
Temperament includes a
number of traits, and all indi-
viduals lie somewhere within
these extremes:
• Activity level —is highly active or calm and relaxed
• Rhythm—has regular or erratic body functions (e.g., eating, sleeping,
elimination)
• Approach/withdrawal—adjusts easily to new people or experiences or does
not
• Adaptability—adjusts to changes and transitions easily or resists and has
difficulty
• Intensity—reacts strongly (positively or negatively) or calmly and quietly to
situations
• Mood—tends to have a strong negative or positive outlook, or is more even
tempered
• Persistence—sticks to a task even if it becomes difficult, or gives up easily
• Distractibility—is easily distracted or can easily block out external stimuli
• Sensory threshold—is bothered or not by certain sensory stimuli (e.g., noise,
light, certain clothing textures)
Caregivers are familiar with most temperament types—easy/flexible, slow
to warm up, difficult/feisty—and they can use this information to understand
and plan for individual children, as well as to facilitate social interactions in the
group. It is important, though, to avoid labeling children and to consider the
categories more specifically for individual infants and toddlers.
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44
Peer interactions. In group settings, children as young as 3 months can
have positive peer interactions. Mobile infants might have clear friendship
preferences, although it is more common after age 2 (Riley et al. 2008). Friends
are important to the development of children’s emotional well-being and in
working out social difficulties. These relationships develop over time. Young
infants start paying attention and showing interest to peers when they arrive to
the group care setting. Mobile infants might get particularly excited when spe-
cial buddies arrive in the morning, even if they rarely play with them. Toddlers
will notice and miss friends who are absent.
Toddlers develop the ability to initiate and respond to social overtures.
They begin by enjoying playing near each other or side by side. Over time,
back-and-forth interactions and exchanges of toys and communication
increases, and ultimately pairs and groups begin to play cooperatively with
one another. Negotiating social relationships and playing with friends is very
different than the largely independent sensorimotor explorations of toddler-
hood. These new social engagements are often fraught with emotion, and hurt
or confused feelings. Interacting with peers has to be learned over time under
the guidance of patient caregivers willing to reinforce some of the same lessons
over and over again.
Prosocial
Behaviors
Learning to engage
in prosocial versus
antisocial behaviors is
a component of being
able to make friends,
being accepted by
others in the group,
and developing as a
socially competent
person. Young chil-
dren in group settings
are prosocial when
“communications
and behaviors on the
part of a baby that
help create a positive
emotional climate in
the group and that
involve reaching out—
positive, discernible,
outward social expression on the part of one baby toward one or more other
individuals, whether infant or adult” (McMullen et al. 2009, 21). Highly valued
prosocial behaviors in birth-to-3 groups include caring, friendship, compas-
sion, empathy, sharing, cooperation, turn taking, fairness, affection, listening,
helping, kindness, and honesty.
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Understanding Development of Infants and Toddlers 45
For infants and toddlers to develop prosocial skills, they must first be
cared for by respectful, caring adults who demonstrate these behaviors in all
they do. Infants learn their first lessons of being a caring person by how they
are cared for (Eisenberg & Mussen 1989; Noddings 2003). They learn how to
receive and then return caring responses through those important back-and-
forth, reciprocal exchanges with sensitive caregivers. By being treated with
respect by adults, infants learn they are valued and, in turn, how to value and
respect others.
Learning to be respectful of others, to truly appreciate and value other
people, is critical for acquiring empathy. Quann and Wien (2006) define empa-
thy in young children as “the capacity to observe the feelings of another and
to respond with care and concern for that other” (22). Mobile infants become
increasingly sophisticated in being able to first understand their own emo-
tions, and then share in the emotional experience of others (Gordon 2009).
Caregivers will know a child has developed this capability when they observe,
for instance, a mobile infant trying to give a dropped toy back to a distraught
young infant, or a toddler hugging a crying friend. Prosocial development and
empathy are essential components in young children’s growing sense of what
is right and wrong, good and bad, and taking care of others, all components of
learning what it means to be human and live in a community.
Emotional Development
Emotional development involves the feelings that infants and toddlers develop
about themselves, others, and the world around them. Major developmental
tasks in birth to 3 include developing a sense of security and trust, coming to
understand emotions and labeling or naming feelings, and ultimately develop-
ing emotional regulation and learning to manage emotions, especially very
strong ones. Closely tied to emotional development is a growing awareness of
details of the wider world, part of the development of aesthetic sense, which
includes developing a concept for beauty—understanding that they find some
things more pleasurable or attractive than other things.
Attachment
The principles outlined earlier for developmentally appropriate practice in
birth to 3 (“Guiding Principles of Practice,” p. 26) are relationship based, mean-
ing they are best accomplished in the context of strong, supportive relation-
ships. The first and most important relationships infants form is with their
“attachment figure(s),” one or more people with whom they will form a close,
emotional bond in a relationship meant to last for a relatively long time. These
relationships promote security and trust, which are essential for healthy emo-
tional development. Secure attachments have been connected to social-emo-
tional health and well-being, healthy brain development, social competency,
and self-confidence, among other positive outcomes (Honig 2002; Raikes &
Edwards 2009).
Infants and toddlers can form secure attachments to more than one attach-
ment figure (e.g., parents and caregiver) without disrupting the bonds between
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46
parent and child. Being sensitive and prompt contributes to the development
of a secure attachment between young children and their caregivers in group
settings, and to their feelings of self-worth and trust (Lally & Mangione 2008;
Mann & Carney 2008). However, constantly changing caregivers and breaking
those intimate bonds jeopardize children’s feelings of security and trust. To
help ensure the close relationships that lead to children’s security and trust,
it is important to set up systems that ensure continuity of care and to assign a
primary caregiver to individual children and families (Lally & Mangione 2008;
Raikes & Edwards 2009).
Emotional Regulation
Emotional regulation begins developing in infancy and involves the increasing
ability to wait patiently for needs to be met, to keep from acting impulsively
in socially inappropriate ways, and to manage strong emotions. It is not about
controlling emotions but developing an understanding of how to express them
appropriately (Hyson 2004). These skills promote overall emotional regula-
tion as well as competence. Central to a caregivers’ role is helping babies learn
what is socially acceptable for expressing various emotions and providing the
words to label their feelings. Long before an infant can articulate an emotion
verbally, a sensitive caregiver, in tune with the child emotionally, can provide
the words to help young children internalize the meanings for concepts such
as happy, angry, sad, and so on.
Caregivers support development of self-regulation by responding
promptly and sensitively to young children’s needs. Infants and toddlers who
consistently have their needs met develop ways to self-soothe (learning to
delay gratification) on those occasions when they have to wait, confident their
trusted caregiver will come. The anxious child—the one who cannot predict
when or if there will be a response—is delayed in self-regulating. Children with
insecure (avoidant) attachments with parents have more difficulty learning to
self-regulate, as do those who are more intense temperamentally.
Communication: Development of Language,
Literacy, and Mathematical Understanding
Over the first three years, children rapidly learn to understand the meaning of
language and to use both verbal and nonverbal communication. Understanding
language and being an effective communicator are precursors to skills needed
for understanding and using symbols to convey meaning.
Receptive Language and Listening
Receptive language refers to a child’s understanding of the meaning of a mes-
sage being given, usually through spoken language or signing. Caregivers can
also communicate with young children through music or rhythms, which can
convey moods or feelings. Infants begin processing sounds well before birth,
due to their well-developed sense of hearing and their developing perceptual
abilities. And although this is later lost, the newborn brain’s pre-wiring of sen-
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Understanding Development of Infants and Toddlers 47
sory neurons gives them the
ability to hear all phonemes (the
smallest, most basic units of
sound in a language) present in
all human languages—they are
ready to be born into any fam-
ily, any place on earth and begin
acquiring language (Bjorklund
2011).
Infants bathed in speech and
language sounds build an under-
standing for language quickly.
Talking to and with infants and
toddlers about what is happen-
ing in the environment, asking
for their cooperation, chatting
with them during caregiving
routines, and identifying objects
clearly by name are effective
methods for building receptive
vocabulary. Similarly, reading
picture books and poetry, sing-
ing, and rhyming teach cadence
and context for words and how they fit together in patterns.
Estimates of how many words babies know before they begin speaking
vary widely, but we know that they understand far more than they can say. An
infant as young as 4 months can understand the word no when clearly spoken
to them with a stern face. Eight-month-olds pay increasing attention to speech,
often listening very hard to what is being said, and they can now sort out their
home language from others.
Between 8 and 18 months, children recognize names for many familiar
objects (e.g., ball, keys, doggy) and can follow simple directions such as “Give
me your cup, please” or “Show me your belly button!” By 18 months, they are
thought to know up to 100 words. Many are capable of learning 10 or more new
words a day, assuming they hear new words in their environments (CDE 2009;
Marotz & Allen 2012).
Expressive Language
Expressive language involves being able to communicate verbally or nonver-
bally (sign language or body language). Young children need both expressive
and receptive language to develop literacy and math skills, which involve being
able to recognize that words, numbers, signs, and symbols have meanings that
can be understood and communicated to others.
The primary language for nonverbal children and those with few words
is the cry. Infant cries become differentiated a few weeks after birth, which is
about the earliest they might begin group care. Caregivers who know individ-
ual babies well recognize each child’s expressions of hunger, boredom, pain,
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Focus on Infants and Toddlers
48
anger, tiredness, and fear from the sound of their cries. Taking cries seriously
by responding as soon as possible, and doing so with kindness, gentle hands,
and reassuring words, shows respect for babies as persons and as communica-
tion partners.
Infants start smiling socially around the second month, and together with
characteristic vocalizations of cooing, gooing, and ah-goo sounds, they are
ready and willing conversation partners. Caregivers should spend as much
face-to-face time as possible with them, dancing back and forth to help estab-
lish the pattern and rhythms of human conversation. Sometime around 3 to 6
months, children start playing more with their vocalizations, making deep gur-
gling sounds, and razzing with their tongue and lips. These activities provide
valuable exercise for the muscles needed for speech.
At 6 to 9 months, infants shift from cooing to babbling, which is the repeti-
tion of consonant sounds, such as dadadada, mmamamaamam, and b-b-b-b-b.
After a couple of months of practice, children add short and long vowel sounds
to the repeated consonants and can be heard babbling with inflections that
sound very much like speech in another language (or like one of their parents
or caregivers!). At the same time, they may start shaking their heads no or ges-
turing emphatically, clearly communicating when they do not want something,
like more food or a diaper change.
Between about 9 and 12 months, single-word expressions emerge in refer-
ence to objects, people, or actions, such as “doggy,” “bye-bye,” and “oh-oh!”
Caregivers will notice toddlers clearly trying to imitate words others say,
along with the intonation. Toward the end of this period, two-word sentences
emerge, usually consisting of a noun and a verb or a question or request—for
example, “Go play,” “More milk,” and “Where Mommy?” Some of these short
sentences convey great meaning, more than the child is able to verbalize just
yet—for example, “Daddy go?” delivered with a look of intense worry on a tear-
stained face.
After this point, expressive language usually takes off rapidly. By 12 to 18
months, many children can say seven to 20 words that adults can understand;
by the second birthday, more than 50; and by age 3, adults can usually under-
stand 200 to 300 words that children say.
Early Literacy and Mathematical Understanding
Acquisition of literacy and mathematical understanding is built upon the foun-
dation of language acquisition. Understanding and using symbols for reading,
writing, and mathematics requires practice, which is best done through sym-
bolic play, where one object or thing represents (symbolizes) something else—
a wooden block represents a cell phone, a wooden spoon becomes a magic
wand. When children are read to frequently, they have favorite stories and can
point to details in pictures books if asked. Starting at about 12 months, infants
like to scribble and color using crayons and markers. Such experiences help
them develop an understanding that what is being said is related to the sym-
bols on the page.
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Understanding Development of Infants and Toddlers 49
Number sense is an understanding
of how numbers work, a necessary skill
for using numbers in everyday life and
to solve problems. Caregivers can help
young children acquire the receptive
vocabulary and understanding of con-
cepts related to number, quantity, speed,
distance, size, and comparison, and build
an understanding of them within their
environments. Doing puzzles, sorting and
classifying, and stacking and counting
with infants and toddlers are fun ways to
build number sense.
v v v
The information in this chapter is pro-
vided to give caregivers in birth-to-3 set-
tings a broad overview of concepts and
topics in child development to help them
in the important work they do. Each topic
could be an entire book! It is important
to continue to read, access resources,
attend workshops, and take courses to
expand your knowledge and thinking
about the topics highlighted here and
to stay current in the field of early child-
hood education.
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