Between the Pampers and the Pablum

New parents often feel overwhelmed by the needs of their newly born infant. Advertising and advice abounds to help them meet their baby’s physical needs, such as having a good supply of pampers and pablum on hand. However, they are often unaware of the important socialization role they must play to develop trust, competence, and a sense of security in their young child to carry him through life.

Not until years after my children past infancy and I returned to college to study Early Childhood Education did I learn to understand child development. It was too late for my children but not for my grandchildren. I found it fascinating and encourage new parents and grandparents to educate themselves in this area.

We don’t have to be the parents of the century to raise happy, self-confident children but it is our responsibility to provide appropriate stimulation through personal interaction and by providing a stimulating environment. Take for instance the opportunities to generate happiness. The feeling of happiness indicates a child feels good about himself. Situations that prevent happiness from occurring include poor physical health, conditions of fatigue or boredom, harsh treatment, neglect, conditions of poverty, which can limit a child from reaching his potential, and especially the lack of joy on the part of caregivers. We can work to avoid these circumstances or to correct them. As parents we can’t teach our offspring to be happy, but we can influence the occurrence of being happy by creating a friendly environment and by responding positively when baby’s eyes light up or when he smiles and laughs. Playing games like patty cake and tickling stimulate laughter. It doesn’t take a lot of time or effort to hug or kiss baby often or give him a back rub but the good feeling it creates colors the child’s actions and responses for hours.

Research on infant competency has documented that an infant is ready to learn and interact. Even though a very young infant can’t control his hands for grasping or his legs for crawling he is still very sensitive to what goes on around him. Tickle baby’s right leg and he moves his left foot trying to get rid of what is touching his right leg. Offer him a choice of milk or sugar water and he most likely chooses the sweet drink. Observe him the next time you burn the toast or some other foodstuff. Don’t be surprised if he turns his head to the other side away from the smell. Drop an item on the linoleum floor beside him and watch his eyes turn in the direction of the sound.

Just as baby is competent in relating to objects around him using his senses of sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch, he is able to respond to and interact with his caregivers. To build a secure parent-infant attachment a parent must recognize, accurately interpret, and respond promptly and effectively to baby’s distress signals. In this way baby learns to expect positive experiences. Tender and gentle holding and feeding patterns reacting promptly to baby’s crying and even organizing the environment and schedules in a way to minimize any need to interrupt or control baby make him feel safe, loved and worthwhile. Compliance in later years has been shown to be the result of a parent’s loving interaction starting in baby’s first year.

Children are born with the basic competencies needed to put their senses to work in order to learn about their world but infant research shows that environmental variables affect learning. Preterm infants may be developmentally delayed in their sensory growth so they need a longer time to become familiar with their environment and to process information. Socioeconomic status and parental behavior toward the child may affect his level of sensory competence. Even physical appearance affects development, since it may influence the caregiver’s assessment of the baby’s competence. More attractive infants receive more attention, thus more stimulation, causing them to develop faster and to a greater extent than less attractive infant. Research also shows that parents who feel confident about themselves have more competent infants. All of these factors should encourage parents to become knowledgeable about child development so they can meet their child’s needs in all areas of life.

Ruth Willms is co-owner of WAHM-Articles.com and author of the Christian children's novel, The Lion Tree. Visit www.RuthWillms.com for stories with a Message.

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