As for the baby's physical development, over the course of 9 months.
By the first month the baby's heartbeat can be monitored, kidney lungs are also in place for further development. By month three the baby will be less susceptible to infections. Lastly, throughout the last four months the baby's organs mature and gain weight.
Here is a picture of the baby's growth month by month.
Intellectual Well-being.
The mother of the child may be getting ready to have a baby. She might be thinking about how her life will change once the baby arrives. She may be accepting the fact that she will be taking care of another life. As for the baby by the fifth month his /her senses are developed which are: hearing, touch, taste, smell and sight. The baby can also recognise her/his mother’s voice by the seventh month!
Emotional Well-being
Emotionally, she may either be happy that she is expecting a baby or she will be worried or even unhappy for various reasons. It may be possible that her partner has left so she will have to bring up the child on her own.
Social well-being.
She may be relieved that she is going to give birth soon and that she will be able to take her child home and take care of him/her properly. On the other hand, she may be really upset which then can sometimes lead to depression.
Birth-Infancy (0-3 years).
At this stage infants grow and it is vital for young children to develop their basic movement skills which will support physical action's later in life.
Physical well-being.
A new-born baby is not fully developed and needs to eat easily digestible food like a mother's breast milk in order to help the baby grow. The baby's brain will not be properly developed at this time. However, can hear sounds and tell the difference between the taste of things and the smell his/her own mother. Infants are grown with reflexes. A reflex is a rapid automatic response to a stimulus. For example, when someone is about to punch you, you duck or move quickly without doing it yourself.
Infants usually have two main reflexes which are:
- Grasp reflex- when you put your finger in the palm of a baby's hand, they will grasp it tightly.
- Startle reflex- when the baby hears a loud noise, they will throw their arms outwards, arching their back and straightening their legs.
- Walking reflex- when held upright with their feet touching the ground, they will make movements as if their trying to walk.
From the ages 0-3 years, infants can get from hardly being able to roll around to being able to run around, climb tables, chairs and stairs (specifically around the age of three)
Intellectual well-being
Infants can usually mumble and say simple words such as 'ma-ma' and 'da-da'. They also can understand simple commands and gestures for example 'give it to mummy' or 'come to daddy'. The child is learning to listen to instructions given by people. As they grow older, they can answer simple questions like 'what's that you have in your hands?’ They themselves will be constantly questioning you. Infants, at this stage, are also rather ego-centric. This means that the child is, in a way selfish and is thinking about themselves, they see everything from one point, which is their own point of view. For example, a child may not share their toys because it's theirs.
As babies start to grow, they like stimulation; they like to play with people as well as toys. They also like watching children’s television programmes (the most common channel that is watched) these programmes usually contain educational content which influences children to learn from like the alphabet's and number up to 10.
Emotional well-being
At this stage of an infant’s life, an infant won’t really have control over their emotions for example, infants may cry when they are hungry. As they grow older their emotions continue to develop and have much better control over their emotions, like they usually have little tantrums when they are frustrated also they would bond with their carer and look for love and protection from them.
As for Erik Erikson’s emotional development:
Social well-being
Infants usually recognise people by their smell, touch and faces. When they don't recognise someone they either get scared or shy. As they get older they would try to play with their siblings or family members although they do not know what they’re doing. When they get a little older they can play without having their parent or guardian around them for up to several hours.
As Infants start to grow older they develop routines, meet people as well as playing with other children their age
Childhood (4-9 years)
At this life stage children continue to grow all rounds, physically, intellectually, emotionally and socially. For example, children's communication skills develop further and their emotions become a lot more complex.
Language development
This was developed by Naom Chomsky and Steven Pinker. They believed that the ability to develop a signed or spoken language is genetically programmed into us.
(Resource:Aldworth,C Et Al, 2010, EDEXCEL BTEC Level 3 Health and Social Care, Book 1,Pearson Education Limited)
Physical well-being
As a compulsory subject in primary school, physical education ensures children to stay fit and healthy. This enables them to improve their hand-eye coordination skills. They can also do simple sports movements like kicking a ball, hitting a ball with a bat, running, jumping and catching.
Intellectual well-being
Intellectually, children at this stage can talk quite well. They know right from wrong, colours and numbers. As children can pick up on things rather easily no matter what their doing, they may benefit from watching educational television programmes such as 'Mickey Mouse In The Club House' and 'Handy Manny'. However, unlike adults children need to see and touch things to understand something more clearly. Children also need role models in their life. This is because they need someone to look up to and follow. For example how many teenage girls follow Cheryl Cole and try to dress like her, similarly a child may need someone to look up to or even follow.
Emotional Well-being
Social well-being
When a child starts school/nursery, they understand other people's feelings as they are taught about fairness and taking turns. This way, children will only take something from someone when they have their permission. Children can stay from their parents or guardians for a whole school day without any hardships. When they start school they go without being guided by parents, so they choose who they are friends with and usually their friends are of the same sex as the
Adolescence (10-19 years)
This is the age when people reach the age of puberty. Their intellectual well-being develops even further; they also want more privacy and independence. 'The normal range of onset is ages 8 to 14 in females and ages 9 to 15 in males, with girls generally experiencing physiological growth characteristic of the onset of puberty two years before boys'.
Physical well-being
People at this age have growth spurts because of the production of hormones. 'Pubertal maturation is controlled largely by complex interactions among the brain, the pituitary gland, and the gonads'.
Girls usually develop earlier than boys. Their breasts develop, they grow pubic hair, and their hips widen and start to menstruate. While boys too start to grow pubic hair as well as facial hair. Their penis and testes grow, muscles develop and their bodies broaden and their larynx may grow causing boys to have deeper voices. Boys will also have wet dreams; this is a sign of boys when they can ejaculate.
Around this age, adolescents start to think in abstract ways as they have the ability to mix ideas and think about more complicated situations, with their new way of thinking, this would lead to them disagreeing with parents or even starting arguments between other adolescents.
Emotional well-being
Adolescents are very 'emotional', as they may have heavy mood swings due to the hormones. Adolescents may also feel insecure about them and may have low self-esteem. This can happen because of many reasons, these include: bad parenting, abuse, not being popular in school etc. Due to peer pressure they can end up smoking, taking drugs or even drinking alcohol, while others may be finding 'who they are' they may want to learn more about their religion or things such as politics.
Social well-being
'Teens' tend to rebel against their parents or guardians and would think that their peer's opinions are much more important compared to their parents/guardians. They would always want to fit in and gain their approval. They try to achieve this by dressing a certain way or even listening to a specific type of music. As they become more sexually mature they may even end up dating someone or experiment with sexual relationships.
Adulthood (20-65 years)
At this point, people will have achieved 'physical maturity' and have or are about to finish their education, they may be looking for work or just settling in to a new career. Majority of people tend to settle down with a partner, have children and some people may leave home.
Physical well-being
At this stage adults grow very little as they are fully mature, instead they tend to gain weight when they age. Around the age of 45-55 women go through a stage called menopause (When their period's stop which would mean that they no longer can have children). Adults are most active around the age of 24 and older, this is because adults are finishing up their degree and looking for a job.
Intellectual well-being
Adult’s minds are still developed at this stage as they learn new skills or are trained for a job; they may even have to learn how to cook if they decide to leave home. Even having children can teach adults, as they will have to deal with younger children, they would need techniques to keep their children under control. Things like word-search’s and puzzles may be played in their spare time.
Emotional well-being
As an adult, they would know how to keep our emotions under control, when we are being criticised or if something may have been said about them. They even have to stay emotionally strong if they live with their partners, when they get in an argument things won’t break down what they have built so far. Even having children, needs a lot of emotional maturity. For example, children may feel neglected or abused when their parents can't control their emotions and become angry or frustrated.
Social well-being
Getting married is one of the biggest achievements of an adult. They find new types of relationships such as room-mates or a long-term relationship and they start to relate to their parents as equals instead of inferior when it comes to their opinions. Even starting work involves working relationships which are formal relationships.
Later adulthood (65+ years)
This is the stage that starts with pension; an adult eases away from responsibilities as their children may be married and busy with their own family and life.
Physical well-being
There are many obvious physical changes in a person at the stage of later adulthood, some of these may include:
People usually become shorter as their posture becomes less upright and their spine begins to curve.
Their skin wrinkles and the skin loses its elasticity, hair thins and becomes grey, bones become brittle, body organs are less efficient, eyesight gets worse and hearing gets worse.
Intellectual well-being
People tend to forget more quickly especially when under pressure also their reaction times become slower for example driving a car, their reactions will be a lot slower compared to a young adult. However, due to their experiences they are more likely to make a better decision compared to anyone else.
Emotional well-being
People may be upset and lonely as they may be living alone as their children have moved out and have married or are busy with work and their own family, so they may not have company. Another factor can be that their partner has passed away so they are completely alone at home.
Social well-being
People might feel isolated and not needed as they will have a lot more spare time in their hands due to retirement, some people enjoy the extra time by pursuing their hobbies and interests while others miss their work-mates and socialising with friends. However, as a grandparent they might enjoy the company of their grandchildren without taking responsibility for them.
by
omzie (student)
