Infant development is most often divided into the following four areas:

• Cognitive development
• Language development
• Physical development
• Social development

Infants’s physical development

An infant’s physical development begins at the head, then moves to other parts of the body. For example, sucking comes before sitting, which comes before walking.

Newborn to 2 months:

• Can lift and turn their head when lying on their back
• Hands are fisted, the arms are flexed
• Neck is unable to support the head when the infant is pulled to a sitting position

Primitive reflexes include:

• Babinski reflex , toes fan outward when sole of foot is stroked
• Moro reflex (startle reflex), extends arms then bends and pulls them in toward body with a brief cry; often triggered by loud sounds or sudden movements
• Palmar hand grasp, infant closes hand and “grips” your finger
• Placing, leg extends when sole of foot is touched
• Plantar grasp, infant flexes the toes and forefoot
• Rooting and sucking, turns head in search of nipple when cheek is touched and begins to suck when nipple touches lips
• Stepping and walking, takes brisk steps when both feet are placed on a surface, with body supported
• Tonic neck response, left arm extends when infant gazes to the left, while right arm and leg flex inward, and vice versa

3 to 4 months:

• Better eye-muscle control allows the infant to track objects.
• Begins to control hand and feet actions, but these movements are not fine-tuned. The infant may begin to use both hands, working together, to accomplish tasks. The infant is still unable to coordinate the grasp, but swipes at objects to bring them closer.
• Increased vision allows the infant to tell objects apart from backgrounds with very little contrast (such as a button on a blouse of the same color).
• Infant raises up (upper torso, shoulders, and head) with arms when lying face down (on tummy).
• Neck muscles are developed enough to allow the infant to sit with support, and keep head up.
• Primitive reflexes have either already disappeared, or are starting to disappear.

5 to 6 months:

• Able to sit alone, without support, for only moments at first, and then for up to 30 seconds or more.
• Infant begins to grasp blocks or cubes using the ulnar-palmar grasp technique (pressing the block into palm of hand while flexing or bending wrist in) but does not yet use thumb.
• Infant rolls from back to stomach. When on tummy, the infant can push up with arms to raise the shoulders and head and look around or reach for objects.

6 to 9 months:

• Crawling may begin
• Infant can walk while holding an adult’s hand
• Infant is able to sit steadily, without support, for long periods of time
• Infant learns to sit down from a standing position
• Infant may pull into and keep a standing position while holding onto furniture

9 to 12 months:

• Infant begins to balance while standing alone
• Infant takes steps holding a hand; may take few steps alone

Baby’s sensory development

• Hearing begins before birth, and is mature at birth. The newborn prefers the human voice.
• Touch, taste, and smell, mature at birth; prefers sweet taste.
• Vision, the infant can see within a range of 8 to 12 inches (20 to 30 centimeters). Color vision develops between 4 to 6 months. By 2 months, can track moving objects up to 180 degrees, and prefers faces.
• Inner ear (vestibular) senses, the infant responds to rocking and changes of position.

Infant’s language development

Crying is a very important way to communicate. By the baby’s third day of life, mothers can tell their own baby’s cry from that of other babies. By the first month of life, most parents can tell if their infants’s cry means hunger, pain, or anger. Crying also causes a nursing mother’s milk to letdown (fill the breast).

The amount of crying in the first 3 months varies in a healthy infant, from 1 to 3 hours a day. Infants who cry more than 3 hours a day are often described as having colic. Colic in infants is rarely due to a problem with the body. In most cases, it stops by 4 months of age.

Regardless of the cause, excessive crying needs a medical evaluation. It can cause family stress that can lead to child abuse.

0 to 2 months:

• Alert to voices
• Uses range of noises to signal needs, such as hunger or pain

2 to 4 months:

• Coos

4 to 6 months:

• Makes vowel sounds (“oo,” “ah”)

6 to 9 months:

• Babbles
• Blows bubbles (“raspberries”)
• Laughs

9 to 12 months:

• Imitates some sounds
• Says “Mama” and “Dada,”, but not specifically for those parents
• Responds to simple verbal commands, such as “no”

Infant’s behavioral development

Newborn behavior is based on six states of consciousness:

• Active crying
• Active sleep
• Drowsy waking
• Fussing
• Quiet alert
• Quiet sleep

Healthy babies with a normal nervous system can move smoothly from one state to another. Heart rate, breathing, muscle tone, and body movements are different in each state.

Many bodily functions are not stable in the first months after birth. This is normal and differs from infant to infant. Stress and stimulation can affect:

• Bowel movements
• Gagging
• Hiccupping
• Skin color
• Temperature control
• Vomiting
• Yawning

Periodic breathing, in which breathing starts and stops again, is normal. It is not a sign of sudden infant death syndrome. Some infants will vomit or spit up after each feeding, but have nothing physically wrong with them. They continue to gain weight and develop normally.

Other infants grunt and groan while making a bowel movement, but produce soft, blood-free stools, and their growth and feeding are good. This is due to immature abdominal muscles used for pushing and does not need to be treated.

Sleep/wake cycles vary, and do not stabilize until a baby is 3 months old. These cycles occur in random intervals of 30 to 50 minutes at birth. Intervals gradually increase as the infant matures. By age 4 months, most infants will have one 5-hour period of uninterrupted sleep per day.

Breast-fed infants will feed about every 2 hours. Formula-fed infants should be able to go 3 hours between feedings. During periods of rapid growth, they may feed more often.

You do not need to give a baby water. In fact, it could be dangerous. An infant who is drinking enough will produce 6 to 8 wet diapers in a 24-hour period. Teaching the infant to suck a pacifier or their own thumb provides comfort between feedings.

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