Development is an integral part of everyone’s life. It occurs during pregnancy, when the baby prepares for birth in the womb, and then continues for the next months. The change in a child’s body is known as a developmental leap.
What exactly is a development leap?
During the first year of life, the nervous system develops most intensively. Most of the nerve cells are formed then. Thanks to this, the child is able to practice many new skills at a very fast pace. These include: lifting the head, grasping objects, making the first attempts to sit down or take steps. However, everyone developmental leap it is sometimes preceded by a visible change in the toddler’s behavior. This may show as a bad mood, frequent crying, or difficulty falling asleep. All the problems that, it should be emphasized, may or may not occur are caused by the fact that the child needs time to get used to the new conditions of life. For example, in the first month, it adapts to life in the ectopic environment. For changes in temperature and new ways of breathing, eating and expelling food waste. Over the course of twelve months, 7 such stages can be observed.
The first one takes place around the 5th week of life and is called «a period of impressions«. During this time, the baby comes out of the neonatal phase – it becomes an infant. He is more attentive and begins to be interested in his immediate surroundings. He perceives sounds more intensely – music and parents’ voices, which he begins to recognize. It responds better to touch and smells. She smiles for the first time or more than before. He tries to grab objects and examines them curiously.
The second developmental leap – called the period «patterns and differences»- it falls between the 7th and 9th week of the baby’s life. Then he discovers that playing with his own hands can be fascinating – he puts them in his mouth. He grasps objects he touches and tries to imitate the behavior of his loved ones – he experiments with making short sounds. It also becomes a bit more mobile. Despite the fact that she still spends most of her time lying flat, she can turn over on her stomach and raise her head.
Third developmental leap – about 11 weeks, called «a period of nuances»- when the baby notices slight differences in the appearance or tone of the voice of the people taking care of him, he follows the source of the sound he is hearing, tries to sit down.
Another, fourth developmental leap is referred to as a breakthrough stage. «Period of events«When a child can pronounce collections of consonants, he responds to his name and knows how to express dissatisfaction or playfulness, so he deliberately reaches for toys. It occurs at 4-5 months of age.
Fifth developmental leap between 6 and 7 months, anxiety is the most common symptom. There are problems with sleep, night awakenings, and increased tearfulness. The child does not like to part with their guardians.
The next one appears around the 8th month of the baby’s life, when intelligence develops dynamically. It moves agile on the floor – it is crawling or crawling.
The last of them in the initial stages development it is noticeable just before the first birthday. Then the child begins to understand the patterns of everyday life. She knows that after dinner it is time for a bath and then for sleep. He likes to play with blocks and adjust their shapes to each other, he can say simple words like “no”, and soon he begins to take his first independent steps.
Development leap – how to deal?
Every kid develops at its own pace and reacts to changes in different ways. It happens that the next stages go unnoticed, but it also happens that the child’s “rebellion” becomes a considerable challenge for the parents. Behavioral difficulties will gradually decrease with age, but there is no definite answer to how to fully manage them. This is mainly due to the individuality of each person. It is certain that in such situations you need to show your baby a lot of encouragement, understanding, love and, above all, patience in order to better prepare it for life, learn to set boundaries and discover the secrets hidden by the world in an appropriate way.