The first year of every baby's life is eventfula huge number of different events. The baby is born, meets his parents. The mother feeds him, learns to take care of the child, guesses his slightest needs. And the baby actively learns about the world around him: the first conscious look, smile, babble and word. And at the end of the first year, an important event occurs: the child has the first awareness of himself as an independent person. A certain stage of growing up has its own characteristics, which every parent should know about, because forewarned is forearmed. It is necessary to support the baby in his endeavors, correctly respond to his needs, be able to recognize them, and in order to learn this, you need to understand how a child develops up to a year by month.
First month
Parents are obliged to have at least the slightestan idea of how a child develops up to one year. This will make it much easier to understand your child and navigate his or her achievements. However, it should be taken into account that all children are different, that each of them is a bright individual. Therefore, the baby can be one or two months behind or ahead of the generally accepted development calendar, and this is not considered a deviation from the norm. So, let's follow together how the baby changes, gradually turning from a small helpless creature into an independent person. Newborns have a rather difficult time adapting to the surrounding reality, because their body works under enormous stress. Therefore, they spend 70% of their time sleeping, and the rare minutes of wakefulness are quickly replaced by fatigue, and the baby falls into a doze. When calm, the baby usually bends his or her legs and arms at the joints and presses them to the body, and when the child is awake, his or her limbs move randomly. In the first month of life, children have trouble focusing their gaze, but this does not mean that they do not react to the world around them - they hear everything, blink and flinch at sharp sounds. Over time, vision improves, and by about the third week of life, the baby begins to hold his gaze on stationary bright objects, on the faces of adults. The muscles become stronger - soon you will notice how your child tries to lift his head, lying on his stomach. Of course, the child will not be able to hold it for a long time - just a few seconds - but he will gradually turn his head in different directions. All children have certain reflexes that help them adapt to an unknown and new environment. During the first months after the baby is born, many of them disappear (grasping, searching, swimming, sucking and others), but some - sneezing, yawning, blinking, flinching - remain for life. The reflex activity of the newborn must be monitored very carefully, and regularly visit a pediatrician who will be able to determine how correctly the child and his nervous system are developing. During this period, children need special care, affection and love. It is in the first month of life that the basic attitude and trust in the outside world is laid and it is built, first of all, on the psychological and emotional connection with the mother. Hearing the beating of her heart, feeling the familiar smell, receiving food, warmth and safety from her, the baby gradually adapts to an unfamiliar environment and learns to respond to it adequately.
Second month
Around the second month of life, childrena daily rhythm of life is formed - they sleep during the day and are awake at night. The child begins to recognize your touch, voice, and reacts emotionally when you talk to him. By this time, the mother already understands why her child is capricious or what he wants to say by performing certain actions. Therefore, it becomes a little easier for parents. If the newborn mainly sleeps for the first few weeks, then later he is awake almost all the time, waving his legs and arms in different directions, since he does not yet know how to control them. However, having tried to lay him on his side, you will see that the baby is able to turn over on his own. In addition, closer to the third month, he already holds his head quite well, lying on his stomach and leaning on his forearms. Gradually, children learn to control their hands: by the end of the eighth week, they suck their thumb, pull their palms to their mouths, a little later they will be able to rub their eyes and hold toys. Over time, the child focuses his gaze on objects, interest appears: he follows with his gaze people moving away from his crib and approaching it. If the baby cries constantly in the first days and weeks, then by the second month he begins to smile not only in his sleep, but also watching his parents. A positive emotional reaction to mom and dad appears, a need for communication arises (revitalization complex). This is the most pleasant time for parents, because the baby, seeing you from afar, begins to make joyful sounds, stretch out his arms and smile radiantly. In order for your child to grow up as an independent and confident person, in the first months of his life, help the baby adapt to new living conditions for him. To do this, constantly be near the baby, because your presence has a very positive effect on his psycho-emotional state. As strange as it may sound, but the best way to teach the baby to self-organization is to constantly be near him. The constant presence of parents inevitably leads to the fact that the child will begin to correlate all his actions with what they do. And thus the child begins to feel that he is also a full participant in all the events happening around him. Child psychologists say that this feeling arises in a child very early - about two or three months. A baby with a pacifier in his mouth is a completely familiar picture. Many parents, preparing things for their baby, without thinking, buy beautiful pacifiers. And as soon as the child is born, he is immediately given a pacifier. Of course, sucking soothes the baby. But in no case forget that many situations that cause discontent in the baby are actually a powerful stimulating tool for his development. A simple example: the baby is unhappy because his rattle is too far away. He begins to grunt and show discontent, and the mother quickly gives him a pacifier, without really understanding what exactly the problem is. However, this is far from the best option, because with this approach, the child's desire to achieve his own very quickly disappears. Try to guess the child's needs and desires and stimulate his independence.
The third and fourth months
By the third month, children are already consciouslyfocus their gaze on the face of the person talking to them, listen to voices and recognize them. In response to conversations, the baby shows joy: animatedly moves his legs and arms, smiles, makes different sounds - mostly quiet vowels (a-o-u, e-a-o and others). Lying on his stomach and leaning on his forearms, the baby holds his head up much longer than before - up to several minutes. Try to pick him up, supporting him under the arms, and you will see how firmly he rests his feet on a hard surface. Experts recommend hanging a musical carousel with bright toys over the crib: the baby reacts positively to sounds, tries to reach for objects nearby. This period of time is the most emotional and joyful for parents. After all, children are already beginning to laugh loudly if they like something, are much more often in a good mood, sing-songly and talk for quite a long time in their baby language. They already hold their head well and are actively exploring the world around them. Now the baby is getting cramped in the crib, gets tired of lying down for a long time, the first attempts to sit up appear - the child tenses the press, stretches forward, constantly asks to be picked up. By the 16th week, children's vision is gradually approaching the level of an adult: they acquire the ability to examine objects from a close distance, gradually begin to distinguish shapes and primary colors. The baby carefully watches important objects and items for him, both moving and stationary: parents, toys. You can notice how consciously and unmistakably the baby turns towards this or that source of sound. So, let's summarize what, according to the development calendar, a four-month-old baby should do:
- Most of the time the child is awake, moves quite a lot, while often smiling and making joyful sounds.
- Listening, he unmistakably determines where the source of sound is and turns his head toward him.
- Carefully examines the objects hanging over him, focuses on them, looks, touches and captures toys.
- During feeding, the baby tries to hold on to the bottle or the mother's breast.
- By the end of the fourth and the beginning of the fifth month the child learns parents who are from him at a distance of two to three meters.
Fifth and Sixth Months
By five months, babies begin to try for the first time.pronounce syllables consisting of labial consonants: m, p, b. And they do it quite well, but if you hear the long-awaited word "mama", then most likely the baby will say it unconsciously. Continue talking to your child, because in the process of communication he remembers, and then learns to pronounce what you said. At this age, children develop the first grasping movements of the hands: they can pull objects towards themselves and push them away, grab toys, the colors and shapes of which they can clearly distinguish. The fifth month is considered a transitional one in the life of a child - his body adapts to a vertical position. This is a period of new discoveries and achievements, when the baby is actively involved in "research" work:
- Turns himself from belly to back;
- Distinguishes relatives and parents from strangers;
- Actively moves around the arena, moving his hands forward and creeping slightly forward;
- At 24 weeks, your baby can sit propped up by pillows without falling to the side, and soon he will be able to do this without any support.
- He accurately recognizes the tone in which he is spoken to, and reacts accordingly, cheerfully or, on the contrary, frowns;
- The baby already pronounces individual syllables, and also eats well from a spoon;
- Exactly stands on your feet, if you support it under your arms.
- Plays with rattles for a long time, intercepting and holding them with his hands.
Seventh-ninth month
A child's character is formed from a young age, andIt is the parents who are responsible for how the child will grow up. Children who were constantly scolded and never praised in childhood become insecure and indecisive people. Therefore, when your baby begins to actively explore the world around him, and this will happen at seven months, help him, and do not resist:
- The crumb is already confidently crawling and penetrating into all corners and places, so try to stay close by. Note that some children miss this stage and immediately start walking.
- Another achievement is the ability to independently take rattles and other toys from any position.
- The kid reacts to the question "where?"And looks for the object you are talking about. By the eighth month, he not only understands what he is being asked about, but also points to this thing. In addition, the crumb performs previously learned movements, for example: "ladushki", "for now" and so on.
- Speaks a variety of syllables, a long time engaged with toys: he throws, pulls, intercepts his hands.
- At eight months, the crumb tries to take on an independent vertical position. If there is a barrier or other support next to you, then sticking to her hands, the kid himself gets up.
- By this time the child is able to perform "reverse" and "direct" actions with various objects. For example, to collect cubes, add toys scattered on the floor in a box and so on.
By the ninth month, the baby's musculoskeletal systembecomes stronger, and the digestive and cardiovascular systems adapt to the force of gravity acting along the axis of its body. The baby is already prepared for active movement on two legs, so there are frequent attempts to walk, at first uncertain. For this, it needs support - a wall, furniture, the side of the playpen - the baby will hold on to it, otherwise the baby just crawls. At nine months, children respond to their name, drink well from a cup that an adult holds for them.
Tenth-twelfth months
The ten month old baby is constantly moving,plays, carefully watches adults and imitates their actions. It is this ability that helps him master such skills as drinking from a cup, using a spoon, sleeping on a pillow. At this time, fine motor skills are actively developing: the child takes and holds objects with two fingers, collects and throws toys. By this time, parents will probably already hear from their child "mama", "papa", "baba". Gradually, the baby's vocabulary increases, and by the age of one year it is about ten words. Starting from eleven months, the child shows increasing activity and independence. He is awake for up to five hours a day, eats mainly without the help of adults, periodically falls when walking, but by the age of one year this will pass and the baby will have mastered this skill perfectly. Some mothers and fathers buy walkers, but experts do not recommend doing this. Of course, it is worth giving credit to this thing - walkers make life much easier for parents. However, there is another downside to the coin - both orthopedists and child psychologists have a very ambiguous attitude towards walkers. The design of the walker implies fixing the child in a suspended state. This has an extremely negative effect on the development of the musculoskeletal system. In addition, when using walkers, the normal formation of independent walking skills slows down. The child gets used to the fact that he does not have to make much effort to move. At home - a walker, outside - a stroller. And why should the baby try? Therefore, it is much wiser to buy a ride-on toy for your child instead of the usual walkers. Such toys are designed in such a way as to give the baby reliable support while walking, but, at the same time, stimulate his independent walking. The development of a child up to a year is very active - before you have time to look back, the baby will become quite an adult and independent. At twelve months, the vocabulary increases - from this age, the little one understands five times more than he is able to pronounce. Therefore, at this time, special attention should be paid to classes, reading books and talking with the baby. We recommend reading:
