Child Development 101: The Infant Stage
Presented by: Dr. Dawn-Elise Snipes
Executive Director, AllCEUs
Continuing Education (CE) credits can be earned for this presentation at https://allceus.com/member/cart/index/product/id/613/c/
Objectives
~ Explore the developmental tasks and needs of the infant stage (0-2 years old)
~ Maslow (Biological and safety needs)
~ Erickson (Trust vs. Mistrust)
~ Bowlby (Attachment)
~ Piaget (Cognition/schema formation)
~ Discuss how failure to get these needs met can result in later mental health issues
~ Discuss how failure to resolve the trust vs. mistrust crisis results in later mental health issues
~ Discuss how infant’s primitive cognitive abilities develop dysfunctional schemas for later in life
Maslow—What Infants Need
~ Biological Needs
~ Food when hungry
~ Shelter/Physical comfort
~ Protection from overstimulation
~ Sleep when sleepy
~ Contact
~ Safety
~ Consistent presence vs. Abandonment (no object permanence)
~ Startle / loud noises / pain
Erickson's Stages Psychosocial Development: Trust Needs Will Be Met
Success
~ Ability to interpret, trust and act on own feelings (self-confidence)
~ Belief that others will help fulfil needs (hope)
~ Self reliance
~ Comfortable with attention
~ Ability to be “alone”
~ Contentment
Failure
~ Inability to trust own instincts/urges/feelings
~ Reliance on others to tell them what they need
~ Inability to trust others will be supportive
~ Discomfort with and craving of attention (Abandonment fears)
~ Irritability/anxiety
Piaget– Cognitive Development
~ Piaget (Cognition/schema formation)
~ Sensorimotor:
~ Children do not yet have object permanence
~ Children do not yet have much of a frame of reference so they rely on parental feedback
~ Schemas formed during this time rely heavily on
~ Were needs adequately met (empowered vs. powerless)
~ Parental reaction (stress-level/attentiveness/consistency)
John Bowlby–Attachment
~ Securely-Attached Infants
~ Easily soothed by the attachment figure when upset.
~ Caregiver is sensitive to their signals, and responds appropriately to their needs.
~ Insecure-Avoidant Infants
~ Very independent of the attachment figure both physically and emotionally
~ Do not seek contact with the attachment figure when distressed.
~ These caregivers are insensitive and rejecting of their needs and are often unavailable during times of emotional distress.
John Bowlby–Attachment
~ Insecure-Ambivalent children
~ Exhibit clingy and dependent behavior, but are rejecting of the attachment figure when they engage in interaction.
~ The child fails to develop any feelings of security from the attachment figure.
~ Exhibit difficulty moving away from the attachment figure to explore novel surroundings.
~ When distressed they are difficult to soothe and are not comforted by interaction with the attachment figure.
~ This behavior results from an inconsistent level of response to their needs from the primary caregiver.
Mindful Parenting
~ Be attentive to the baby’s cries and cues before they become hysterical
~ Accept the baby’s needs as they are/Validating environment
~ Be consistent
~ Calm yourself
~ Stressed parent stressed baby
~ Calm parent calm-able baby
~ Keep a routine to help set baby’s circadian rhythms
~ Feeding
~ Sleeping
~ View the world from baby’s eyes
Mindful Re-Parenting
~ Be attentive to your emotional and physical cues before you become over or under-whelmed
~ Be mindful in your approach to self-response to learn to trust your feelings/intuition/urges
~ Identify how you feel
~ Identify what is causing those feelings
~ Address the issue
~ Evaluate the outcome
~ Learn self-soothing skills
~ Identify supportive others
Mindful Re-parenting
~ Identify those things/situations you perceive as anxiety provoking and evaluate them through your adult lens
~ What am I afraid of in this situation
~ What is the probability that something bad will happen
~ How have I (or others)successfully handled things like this before
~ Keep a routine to help set your circadian rhythms
~ Feeding
~ Sleeping
Summary
~ Infants have very little frame of reference and no object permanence
~ Every experience is filed as an initial schema
~ Infants are learning how to get their basic biological and safety needs met.
~ Failure of the caregiver to consistently respond may cause the child to:
~ Not trust self
~ Not trust others
~ Be unable to identify own needs
~ Feel hopeless and anxious in an unpredictable world
Summary
~ Consistent, mindful parenting can be disrupted by
~ Addiction
~ Anxiety/stress
~ Depression (including post-partum)
~ Skill deficits
~ If something drastic changes in a person’s life, he or she may revisit the trust/mistrust task
~ Normal development involves small changes that build on prior learning (graduation/moving out)
~ Adults have the ability to learn to identify, interpret and meet their own needs increasing self-esteem, independence, self-efficacy and hopefulness
Recommended Readings
Interpreting Baby’s Cries
https://www.bundoo.com/articles/6-different-baby-cries-and-what-they-mean/
http://www.whattoexpect.com/blogs/motherhoodinthemountains/newborn-cries-the-five-cries-you-need-to-know