Baby Development & Changes That Affect Parent-Child Interactions

From the moment your baby is born, you begin to interact with her, and those interactions help her development. As a newborn, she learns to respond to your voice. By 6 months of age, she initiates play activities and waits for your reaction. At 8 months, she has learned to look for you when are out of the room. When she is 1 year old, she will begin to watch and imitate your actions. All of these developments indicate she has formed a secure attachment to you, helping her to feel secure and continue exploring and learning, according to Education.com.

  1. Secure Attachments

    • Your baby starts forming a secure attachment to you from a very early age. When you meet his needs, he learns to trust you. When he cries and you pick him up, feed him or change him, he learns that his signals will get a response from you and that you will be there to meet his needs. This sense of trust in an adult leads to a secure attachment, resulting in more responsive face-to-face play and more exploratory behaviors, according to Education.com.

    Facial Expressions and Sounds

    • During the first month or two, your infant relies on you to initiate interactions. After about 2 months, she will respond to your smile with a smile, or she may try to imitate your facial expression, according to KidsHealth. Make eye contact with her and stick out your tongue or open your mouth wide and wait for her to respond. When she is 3 months old, she may begin laughing or squealing to show she is happy or excited when you play with her. When she coos and gurgles, imitate her sounds back to her to demonstrate a two-way conversation. She will be encouraged to continue using her voice to express herself.

    Cause and Effect

    • Sometime between 4 and 7 months of age, your baby will discover the concept of cause and effect, according to HealthyChildren.org. He will notice that banging toys on the table or knocking over a tower of blocks elicits a response from you, such as an excited face, an exasperated groan or a bright smile. He will want to experiment with other ways he can cause reactions, and will soon be dropping things intentionally just to watch your reaction and to see if you will pick it up for him. Just remember as you reach for the dropped toy for the 10th time in a row that you are helping him learn about his ability to influence the world around him.

    Object Permanence

    • By the time babies are 8 months old, they typically will grasp the concept of object permanence. This means they understands that objects still exist even when they can't see them. Playing peek-a-boo and hiding games become fun for them now because they understand that they can look for the hidden toy and find it again. However, object permanence can also lead to separation anxiety for many babies, according to KidsHealth. Because your baby now understands that there is only one you, if she can't see you she knows you have gone away. Since she doesn't understand the concept of time, she doesn't know if you will come back, and that can make her feel anxious or upset. Once she understands that you will come back, the separation anxiety will subside, usually sometime after she is 1 year old.

    Pretend Play

    • As your baby approaches his first birthday, he will become aware that everything has a name and that those things also have particular functions. Now, when he picks up a toy telephone it is more than just a toy to bang or chew on. Instead you may see him hold it to his ear like he has seen you do. Continue to offer him props -- such as hairbrushes or play dishes -- that can help him develop this early pretending, and encourage him by pretending with him.

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