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In the beginning stages of a child's life they are able to begin to function with their senses. The average new born baby can see a few inches in front of them and they have functional ears. In the first month the amount of growing is at an all time high. A newborn is able to mimic sounds and facial expressions. While a newborn will be able to hear the pronunciation of a word, the syllables will be easier to grasp at their age, hints the mimicking of sounds. Babies around this age are also able to learn to calm themselves down by actions like sucking their thumb or hand. As mentioned, babies are able to communicate by cooing as and crying. Crying is a primary communication for infants as they are unable to repeat words, they will cry if hungry, tired, hurt, etc.

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During this period of time the baby will sleep for longer periods of time as well as be awake for longer periods. These months are crucial for the baby to rest as well as gain more sensory abilities such as beginning to see color as opposed to hues of black and white. The baby will begin to mimic other persons gestures as well as trying to sound out sounds. Its proven that reading to a baby around this age promotes growth, social development and sensory with pointing again. Singing lullaby's to a baby also can help with cognitive development and reflexive motor activity. The reflexive movement phase is prominent in the first year of life, 0-12 months.

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This time period will fairly be almost identicle to 1-2 months. Around this time the baby will continue to coo attempting to express their feelings. They will also have more of a visual sense. They will be able to follow objects or people closely and be able to begin copy or mimic facial expressions. The baby will also be able to start using their hands to express if they want attention, food, etc. During this time it is important to continue to speak generally easier words to the infant for them to be able to coo as an atempt of repeating it. It is also important to continue to make facial expressions for the baby to begin to correspond facial expressions with emotions. From 1-4 months continuing the same learning processes is important.

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Unfortunately, as a new parent to a baby, there are many issues that arise before birth and after that can result in a SIDS case, along with issues that have not been proven to be associated with this diagnosis. 90 percent of SIDS cases occur within the first 6 months of age. The pre-birth factors contributing to this diagnosis is lack of prenatal vitamins and care, smoking or drinking during pregnancy, and age can contribute to this. After birth favors include placing the child on its stomach to sleep, soft bedding, exposure or inhalation to smoke, temperature, etc. To avoid this diagnosis as much as possible you must ensure to continuously take the baby in for check ups, ensure the mothers body is being taken care of, avoid bedsharing with an infant, and breastfeed to assist with the babies nutritional intake.

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By working on SIDS research at Children's, I have the opportunity to make a direct contribution to human health care - the reason I wanted to be a research scientist in the first place.

~ David Paterson, PhD, instructor in Pathology, Boston Children's Hospital ~

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Sudden Infant Death Syndrome SIDS | Boston Children's Hospital

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By working on SIDS research at Children's, I have the opportunity to make a direct contribution to human health care - the reason I wanted to be a research scientist in the first place. ~ David Paterson, PhD, instructor in Pathology, Boston Children's Hospital ~

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In the first few months, the baby begins to gain weight at a rapid speed resulting in the babies weighing doubling what it was at birth. In these months the infant will become more voluntarily functional and will begin to relate the sound of a word with an action. The baby will attempt to mimic the exact words spoken to them but will only be able to utter their response back. Along this time in their life it is important to create different tasks for the baby which will assist in developing more motor skills and will all around develop the brain. These tasks can include, matching shapes, counting, large puzzles etc. It is important to encourage creativity when they are developing and to show positive reinforcement. It is also crucial to not discourage their growth. The babies are beginning to function as people and it is important they get the proper care to grow.

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Around this time, the growth rate will begin to halt. There is an increase chance they will begin to walk or at minimum attempt to. They will be able to complete tasks according to simple directions. In this age, we need to continue the positive reinforcement, ensure the baby is able to trust the persons and follow their directions. We also want to be able to show the baby we are able to do the tasks as well to encourage them. The babies motor and sensory functions should be fairly developed by this age. This is the age where they will experiment with things like standing, walking, crawling, problem solving etc. Their verbal reactions will increase, their physical senses are excellent, and their vision is mostly developed. Stranger Anxiety will begin to show during these ages. Stranger Anxiety around this age gives the baby a sense of distress as they are in a place or with unfamiliar people. At this point they are developing a sense for the world and being in the hands of unknown people, will cause as mentioned before, distress.

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The nutritional affect of breast feeding is very beneficial. When breast feeding the baby is able to obtain nutrients in a far healthy way than in processed formula. Breast feeding also helps the emotional bond between the mother and baby. Although with this bond, it might discourage any other parent involved as they do not feel they have been able to play a roll in the babies feeding. Along with this the mother would have to be available as much as the baby needs which can further exhaust her. The benefits of breast feeding are great but they do have their faults, as does bottle feeding. In formula feeding there is less affective antibodies to increase the babies immune system health. Formula feeding does allow everyone to become involved and does allow the mother more freedom with other tasks which would benefit her mental health. The negative side to both of these options is still the possibility of baby bottle tooth decay (BBTD). BBTD is a condition caused by a child intaking too much sugar which causes their teeth to decay. Whether breast feeding or formula feeding, the sugar is still present as is the risk to develop the decay. To avoid BBTD it is recommended to feed the infant when hungry only, rinse their mouth after feeding, and avoid allowing them to fall asleep with a bottle in their mouth filled with things containing sugar.