Socio emotional development of infants and toddlers

2. Simply put, socio-emotional
development has something to do with
the development of a person’s ability to
master one’s emotions and the ability to
relate to others. It necessarily includes
temperament, attachments and social
skills.

3. Much has been said about the
importance of the first three years in
human development. They are so-called
the formative years that is why, parents
and other caregivers at this stage of
human development play a significant
role in the development of infants and
toddlers.

4.  For healthy socio-emotional development,
the infant needs to establish an enduring
emotional bond characterized by a
tendency to seek and maintain closeness to a
specific figure, particularly during stressful
situation. This is the social phenomenon of
attachment.
 According to Dr. John Bowly, the father of
attachment theory, the beginnings, of
attachment occur within the first 6 months of
a baby’s life with a variety of built-in signals
that baby uses to keep her caregiver
engaged.

5.  The baby cries, gazed into her mother’s eyes,
smiles, etc. In the next few moths , the baby
develops in her degree of attachment to her
parents. She smiles more freely at them than
at any stranger whom she seldom sees.
 The key to a good start in the social
development of the baby is a lot of
responsive interaction with the baby. Babies
thrive on social interaction when it is in
response to their social bids. Babies seem to
let us know when they want to interact or not.
The timing of the caregiver’s response to the
baby is important.

6.  Infants attach to more than one caregiver
and they are developing emotional
relationships with multiple caregivers at once.
 Even when a children are in child care for
more than 30 hours per week, the family
contributes more to child’s social and
cognitive well-being than does the child care
arrangement. Parents matter and children
are attached to a parents even when
children are in child care.
 Parents and caregivers help children regulate
their emotions by working with them and by
serving as their models.

7. 1. Another factor to the infant’s socio-
emotional development is temperament.
Temperament is a word that “ captures the
ways that people differ, even at birth, in such
things as their emotional reactions, activity
level, attention span, persistence, and ability
to regulate their emotions” (K. Pasek and R.
Golinkoff, 2003). Every baby expresses
personality traits we call temperament. How a
child responds emotionally to objects, events,
and people is a reflection of his individual
temperament.

8. 2. Researchers Thomas, Chess, and Birch described
nine different temperament categories: Nurturing
Infant- Toddler Attachments in Early Care Setting.
These Include:
*Activity level
*Mood
*Threshold for distress
*Rhythmicity
*Intensity of response
*Approach-Withdrawal
*Distractibility
*Adaptability
*Persistence

9. To determine a child’s temperament, make the
following observations:
Activity level. Some babies are placid or
inactive. Other babies thrash about a lot and, as
toddlers, are always on the move. At this stage,
they must be watches carefully.
The mood. Some babies are very smiley
and cheerful. Although securely attached
emotionally to their teachers, others have a low-
key mood and look more solemn or unhappy.
Child’s threshold for distress. Some babies
are very sensitive. They become upset very
easily when stressed. Other babies can more
comfortably wait when they need a feeding or
some attention.

10. The rhythmicity of children. Some babies get
hungry or sleepy on a fairly regular and
predictable basis. Other babies sleep at varying
times, urinate or have bowel movements at
unpredictable times, and get hungry at different
times. They are hard to put on a “schedule”
The intensity of response in each baby. When
a baby’s threshold for distress has been reached,
some babies act restless. Other act cranky or fret
just a little.
Approach to new situations. Some infants are
very cautious. They wary and fearful of new
teachers, being placed in a different crib, or
being taken to visit a new setting. Other infants
approach new persons, new activities, or new
play possibilities with zest and enjoyment.

11. Distraction. Some children can
concentrate on a toy regardless of
surrounding bustle or noise in a room. Others
are easily destructed.
Adaptability of each child. Some children
react to strange or difficult situations with
distress, but recover fairly rapidly. Others
adjust to new situations with difficulty or after
a very long period.
Child’s attention span. Some children have
a long attention span. They continue with an
activity for fairly long time. Others flit from one
activity to another.

12.  Based on these temperament traits,
psychiatrist Alexander Thomas and Stella
chess studied babies’ temperament and
clustered temperaments into 3 basic
types: 1) the easy child; 2) the difficult
child: and 3) the slow-to-warm –up child
and those that did not fall under any of
the 3 basic types.

13.  It is not then surprising why some babies
show their parents they have done
something wrong sometimes even with
laughter or at other times with no
particular emotion. It is not because they
are bad babies. It is simply because they
are not yet able to hold a standard in
mind and evaluate situations in terms of
these standards.

14. Early infancy (birth-six months)
 It is not clear whether infants actually
experience emotion’s, or if adults, using adult
facial expressions as the standard, simply
superimpose their own understanding of the
meaning of infant facial expressions.
 Between six and ten weeks, a social smiles
emerges, usually accompanied by other
pleasure –indicative actions and sounds,
including cooing and mouthing. This social
smiles occurs in response to adult smiles and
interaction.

15. As infants become more aware of their
environment, smiling occurs in response to a
wider variety of contexts. They may smile
when they see a toy they have previously
enjoyed. Laughter, which begins at around
three or four months, requires a level of
cognitive development because it
demonstrates that the child can recognize
incongruity. That is, laughter is usually elicited
by actions that deviate from the norm, such
as being kissed on the abdomen or a
caregiver playing peek-a-boo. Because it
fosters reciprocal interactions with others,
laughter promotes social development.

16. Later infancy months (7-12)
 During the last half of the first year, infants
begin expressing fear, disgust and anger
because of the maturation of cognitive
abilities. Anger, often expressed by crying, is a
frequent emotion expressed by infants.
Although some infants respond to distressing
events with sadness, anger is more common.
 Fear also emerge during this stage as children
become able to compare an unfamiliar
event with what they know. Unfamiliar
situations or objects often elicit fear responses
in infants. One of the most common is the
presence of an adult stranger, a fear that
begins to appear at about seven months.

17.  A second fear of this stage called separation
anxiety. Infants seven to twelve months old
may cry in fear if the mother or caregiver
leaves them in an unfamiliar place.
 Socialization of emotion begins in infancy. It is
thought that this process is significant in the
infant’s acquisition of cultural and social
codes for emotional display, teaching them
how to express their emotions, and the
degree of acceptability associated with
different types of emotional behaviors.

18. If a child lives with criticism, he learns to
condemn…
If a child lives with hostility, he learns to fight…
If a child lives with fear, he learns to be
apprehensive…
If a child lives with pity, he learns to feel sorry
for himself…
If a child lives with ridicule, he learns to be
shy…
If a child lives with jealousy, he learns to feel
guilt…
But…

19. If a child lives with tolerance, he learns to be
patient…
If a child lives with encouragement, he learns
to be confident…
If a child lives with praise, he learns to be
appreciative…
If a child lives with acceptance, he learns to
love…
If a child lives with honesty, he learns what
truth is…
If a child lives with fairness, he learns justice…
If a child lives with security, he learns to have
faith in himself and in those about him…
If a child lives with friendliness, he learns the
world is a nice place in which to live.

20. What Infants and Toddlers can do socio-
emotionally?
Domain: Social and Emotional Development
SUB-DOMAIN: EMOTIONAL (EMOTIONAL
EXPRESSION)
Standards 1.1: The child expresses different basic
emotions.
Based on your experience, are these indicators
generally observed on and/or performed by a
child on the specified age?

21. 0-6 months
 Cries in different ways to express different needs
(e.g., hungry, sleepy, wet)
 Show excitement or pleasure by moving arms,
kicking, moving the entire body and the face
lighting up
 Smiles or laughs response to a pleasant
experience (e.g., caregiver singing to him/her)
 Amuses self simple repetitive muscle
movements without objects (e.g., rolling back
and forth)
 Amuses self simple repetitive muscle
movements with objects (e.g., shaking, rattle)
 Likes playing with water
 Enjoys going to the park
 Shows fear and hesitation towards unfamiliar
person

22. 7-12 months
 Has a favorite toy
13-18 months
 Smiles/laughs when happy or amused
 Cries when sad, angry or scared
 Shows varying degrees or intensities of various
emotions
Standards 1.2: The child demonstrates ability to self-regulate feelings/emotions
and follows schedules as well as rules and regulations.
0-6 months
 Stops crying almost immediately when need
is met
 Eventually gets used to an irritating
experience (e.g., honking horn) and calms
down

23. 13-18 months
 Able to stop an undesirable behavior or activity
when instructed to do so (e.g., going out to
street)
 Can calm down or stop tantrum with help from
adults
 Can follow simple rules
19-24 months
 Can wait his/her turn
 Shows ability to contain his/ her expression of
anger or frustration when source is removed
 Shows ability to contain one’s expression of
anger or frustration in a public place when asked
by parent/caregiver
 Tries to control his tears when in pain or scared

24. standards 1.3: The child comprehends and displays
self-appraisal emotions (shame, pride, guilt).
7-12 months
 Smiles or claps his/her hands when he/she displays a
learned behavior (e.g., close-open)
13-18 months
 Recognizes and is able to label self-appraisal emotions
such as shame, pride, envy, jealously
 Will do something that gets him/her praised (e.g.,
doing a task properly, singing etc.)
19-24 months
 Shows interest in doing things that are his/her own
creation
 Says “sorry” when he/she has made a mistake or has
hurt someone

26. From Birth to 3 Months
 During the first three months, babies are actively
learning about themselves and the people around
them. Part of this skill-building involves:
 Looking at their own hands and sucking on fingers
 Looking at the part of their body that a parents or
caregiver is touching
 Understanding how the legs and arms are
attached
 Realizing that they are separate beings from those
around them
 Learning to be comforted and soothed by adults
 Enjoying social stimulation and smiling at people
 Responding to touch

27. From 3 to 6 Months
 Social interaction becomes increasingly
important. During this period of
development, most babies begin to:
 Respond when their name is said
 Smile
 Laugh
 Play peek-a-boo

28. From 6 to 9 Months
 As babies get older, they may begin to
show a preference for familiar people.
Between the ages of six to nine months,
most children can:
 Express a number of emotions including
happiness, sadness, fear, and anger
 Distinguish between familiar family and
friends and strangers
 Show frustration when a toy is taken
away
 Respond to spoken words and gestures


29. From 9 to 12 Months
 As children become more social, they
often begin to mimic the actions of others.
Self-regulation also becomes increasingly
important at the child approaches one
year of age. Most kids can:
 Hold a cup and drink with help
 Imitate simple actions
 Feed themselves small bites of food
 Express anxiety when separated from
parents or caregivers

30. From 1 to 2 Years
 From the age of one to two years, kids often
spend more time interacting with a wider range
of people. They also start to gain a greater sense
of self-awareness. At this stage, most can:
 Recognize their own image in the mirror
 Initiate play activities
 Play independently, often imitating adult actions
 Act pleased when the accomplish something
 Start trying to help, often by putting toys away
 Express negative emotions including anger and
frustration
 Become more self-assertive and may try to direct
the actions of others

31.  From 2 to 3 Years
 During the toddler years, kids become more and
more creative and confident. At two years old,
most kids begin to:
 Become aware that they are a boy or girl
 Begin to dress and undress themselves
 Demonstrate personal preferences about toys,
food, and activities
 Start saying "No" to adults
 Enjoy watching and playing with other children
 Become defensive about their own possessions
 Use objects symbolically during play
 Often have rapid changes in mood

32.  From 3 to 4 Years
 Because three-year-olds are becoming
increasingly able to perform physical actions,
their sense of confidence and independence
becomes more pronounced at this age.
During the third year, most children begin to:
 Follow directions
 Perform some tasks with little or no assistance
 Share toys with other kids
 Make up games and ask other children to join
in
 Begin engaging in pretend play