Facts About the Stages of Young Infants

Cognitive Development

• While your young infant isn't going to have a sophisticated mental reasoning ability, he is starting with the beginning stages of cognitive development. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, by 7 months most infants can seek out and find an object that is partially hidden (such as a toy that you put under the edge of a blanket), explore objects and their surroundings with both hands and mouth, and work to grasp an item that is slightly out of reach.

Social Development

• If your little one doesn't seem social, think again. Just because she can't talk doesn't mean that she isn't aware of your presence -- or the other people around her -- or that she isn't trying to communicate. The AAP notes that by 3 months, most infants are starting to develop a social smile, can imitate other people's facial expressions and may even cry when playtime stops. By 7 months, infants are ready to enjoy social types of play, such as clapping their hands along with you, and they respond to your emotional expressions.

Emotional Development

• Not surprisingly, during the first year of life, your baby acts more on impulse, rather than showing restraint over his emotions. Although children in this beginning stage can't exactly control their emotions, they can express feelings such as anger, frustration, sadness, worry, joy and happiness. Your infant's immature emotional development may quickly lead to crying jags or tantrums when he has feelings that he can't handle.

Physical Motor Development

• During the first few months of your child's life, she makes notable progress when it comes to her movement milestones. According to the AAP, at 3 months it's likely that your baby can raise her head and chest while on her stomach and open and shut her hands. This means that she is becoming more aware of her surroundings, as she looks up when lying on her tummy, and can grasp hand-sized toys and objects. By 7 months your infant can roll from back to front and then front to back again, sit without support and move objects by raking them with her hands. As your infant moves into the last few months of this stage, it's likely that she'll begin to crawl, use a pincer grasp, poke objects with her fingers and hands, and may even take her first steps.