1. STAGES OF
DEVELOPMENT:
CHARACTERISTICS
, NEEDS,
PROBLEMS, AND
TASKS DURING
DEVELOPMENTAL
STAGES OF
INFANCY
Dr. Purshottam
Assistant Professor (Guest Faculty)
Department of Social Work,
KUK

3. INFANCY…
 An infant as a child in the first period of life.
 The word infant suggests extreme
helplessness.
 The term “infant” derives from the Latin word
in- fans, meaning “unable to speak”. There is
no exact definition for infancy.

4. WHAT IS INFANCY?
 The period of the newborn.
 The early period of existence as an individual.
 The first period of life.
Infant
• An individual under infancy.

5. CHARACTERISTICS OF INFANCY
1. Infancy is the Shortest of all
Developmental Periods
 Time when the fetus must adjust to life outside
the uterine walls of the mother where it has
lived for approximately 9 months.
According to:
 Medical criteria - adjustment is completed with
the fall of the umbilical cord from the navel.
 Physiological criteria - completed when the
infant has regained the weight loss after birth.
 Psychological criteria - completed when the
infant begins to show signs of developmental
progress in behavior.

6. PERIODS OF INFANCY
 Period of
Partunate
 from birth to 15 to
30 minutes after
birth
 when the fetal
body has
emerged from the
mother’s body
and last until the
umbilical cord
has been cut and
tied
 Period of
Neonate
 from the cutting
& tying of the
umbilical cord to
approximately
the end of the
2nd week of
postnatal life.

7. NEW BORN….

8. 2. INFANCY IS A TIME OF BASIC
ADJUSTMENTS
Birth is merely an interruption of the
developmental pattern that started at the
moment of conception
Graduation from internal to an external
environment. Like all graduations, it requires
adjustment or the individuals part
Temperature changes
Breathing
Sucking and swallowing
Elimination

9. 3. INFANCY IS PLATEAU OF
DEVELOPMENT
Growth and development
suddenly stops at birth
Slight regression, such as loss
of weight, tendency to be less
strong & healthy than at birth
Due to necessity for making
radical adjustments

10. 4. INFANCY IS A PREVIEW
OF LATER DEVELOPMENT
Like a preface of a book
A rough draft
undergoing rapid
revision

11. 5. INFANCY IS HAZARDOUS
PERIOD
Physically
Psychologically

12.  It is the time when children first learn they can
trust an adult or parent to take care of all their
needs, keep them safe, and give them love.
 Language acquisition
 This is the period for the infant to develop brain
function and body coordination.
Why is this period considered a
sensitive period?

13. NEEDS DURING DEVELOPMENTAL STAGE
OF INFANCY:
Children need love. Your care and support will give your
child a secure base from which to explore the world.
 Primary prevention
 Newborn care
 Routine immunization
 Feeding of infants

14. PRIMARY PREVENTION
 Nutrition
 Immunizations
 Hand washing
 Parenting education
 Improvement of the environment

15. NEWBORN CARE
 Physical examination within 24 hr after birth
 Single intramuscular dose of vitamin k
preparation
 10-15 ml of cord blood should be collected at
birth and saved in the refrigerator, for 7 days
for Coombs testing, and other tests if
needed.

17. ROUTINE IMMUNIZATION:
 Routine Immunization during infancy is most
important for the protection of children from
infectious diseases.
 Hepatitis –B
 BCG (Bacillus Calmette–Guerin)
 Oral polio

18. FEEDINGS OF INFANTS:
 Successful infant feeding requires
cooperative functioning between mother and
her baby.
 Prompt establishment of comfortable,
satisfying feeding practices contributes
greatly to the infant’s and mother’s emotional
well being.
 Feeding time should be pleasurable to both
mother and child.

19. What are the Issues, Concerns,
Problems Encountered during this
period?

20. DIFFICULTY AND COMPLICATED BIRTH
 Can result in temporary and permanent brain
damage.
 Severe and persistent brain damage adverse to
the effects on all adjustments during infancy
and even during other periods of
development.
 This effect was frequently shown in
uncoordinated behaviour, hyperactivity,
learning difficulties and emotional problems.

21. UNFAVOURABLE PRENATAL ENVIRONMENT
 Infants may have difficulty adjusting to
postnatal life.
 Difficult and complicated birth frequently
results in temporary or permanent brain
damage.
 Multiple birth
 Post maturity
 Prematurity
 Infant mortality

22.  Adjustment is the most difficult task during
infancy.
 Sensory capacities of infants
 Vision
 Hearing
 Smell
 Taste

23. NEW – PARENT BLUES (SADNESS)
 State of depression to new parents.
 More to mothers than to fathers.
 Physical changes, fatigue and labour, care to
the infant, added expenses and changes to the
pattern of life.
 Infants can sense tensions of the parents
which contribute to the infant to be nervous
and prone to crying.

24.  The only way your baby knows to
communicate is by crying, but you can
communicate with him through your voice
and your touch.
 Jaundice is a condition that causes a
yellowish discoloration of the skin and the
whites of the eyes. The most common type of
jaundice develops on the second or third day
of life — about when the baby is being
discharged from the hospital — which is why
it's important to know about it and keep an
eye out for it. Most of these cases, called
physiologic jaundice, disappear on their own

25. UNFAVOURABLE ATTITUDES ON THE PART
OF SIGNIFICANT PEOPLE
 Happens when the birth draws nearer and
increase of awareness for the new
responsibilities they will have to face.
 Disappointment about the infant’s sex and
appearance.
 The infant’s behaviour influences the mother’s
behaviour.