Life of

Baby
Motor Milestones
Postural Control
o 2 months ~Head
upright and stable
o 6 months ~ Sitting
without support
o 11 months ~ Stands
alone
Locomotion
o 3 months ~ Rolls over

Reflexes

o 7 months ~ Crawls or
creeps

Reflexes are triggered by

specific stimuli

o 12 months ~ Walks
alone

Some have survival

implications such as
rooting (turns head, opens
mouth, tries to suck)

Others appear to be
precursors for later
voluntary motor behavior
such as stepping (making
rhythmic stepping
movements)

o 17 months ~ Walks up
steps
o 4-5 yrs ~ Walks down
stairs, alternating
Manual Control
o 4 months ~ Grasps
object
o 9 months ~ Pincer
grasp
o 15 months ~ Attempts
to use spoon and fork

They are replaced by

voluntary movements

!"
Lily Chin-Martin
And Maggie Price

Vision
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Infant Perceptual Development

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Audition
o Hearing is the most mature sense at
birth
o The fetus most likely heard sounds in
the womb during the last trimester that
triggered reflexes without conscious
perception
o Sudden sounds startle babies and can
make them cry and some rhythmic
sounds, like a heartbeat/lullaby can put
a baby to sleep
o Infants in first days of life, turn their
head toward sounds and they can
distinguish voices, language, and
rhythm

Taste and Smell

o Babies prefer their mothers scent
o Their taste develops prenatally
o Taste preferences develop early
(Amniotic fluid has different tastes and
breast milk carries flavors)
Touch

o Pain develops at birth and prenatally

o Mouth, palms, and feet are the most
sensitive

o Sensitive to hot and cold

o

Most poorly developed sense

at birth
Newborns can detect
brightness and movement
They can visually track an
object
They cannot perceive whole
forms
Improves rapidly- have adult
acuity between 6 and 12
months
Limited color vision
At birth, infants have the
greatest sensitivity to yellow
and green and less to others
Most color distinctions are
made after 3 months
Depth perception is not
developed at birth they rely
on depth and distance cues
available to each eye
independently until 3-5
months when eye
coordination develops
Babies have preferences for
faces- eyes and internal
features get more attention
One-year-olds prefer
attractive over unattractive
faces and masks
Prefer mothers face over
others