A Baby's First Year, The Age of Independence

A Baby’s First Year,
The Age of Independence

 
Baby is One Year Old!
When the baby turns one year old, he or she is completely different from the fragile and defenseless baby you gave birth to twelve months ago. Now your child is able to communicate with the world around him, he is probably already walking and you already know his likes and dislikes. At this age you will need to pay double attention to safety as at this age children are intrepid, curious and have more energy than athletes do: they go up, down, climb, crawl, walk, put things in their mouths, get bored, frustrated, impatient etc, and because of this you need to be imaginative to keep an equilibrium between the states of stimulation and the relaxed ones.

Independence is a long process and a continuous one that begins in the moment the baby is born and culminates at around three years of age, although this does not mean that all children reach this goal at the same time. Becoming independent means that the child becomes conscious of his or her own identity, being able to differentiate between “me” and “not me”.

Motor Skill (12 Months)

  • At this age babies constantly use their hands and have good coordination and skill to put objects away and take them out, grab small things, impulse themselves to get up, protect themselves from falls, etc especially if the child crawled.
  • Coordinate well their eyesight with movement, which allows them to for example, put a top on a can for example.
  • The child can concentrate on something for several minutes that interests him or in something that is uncomfortable: for example, untying his or her shoes, taking off the bib etc.
  • The baby stands alone flexing his or her knees or will squat down to sit if he is standing.
  • Plays sitting, standing or crawling. As the baby goes feeling more confident, his or her sense of independence will become stronger.
  • Extends his hand towards an object in movement and adapts his hand with precision to the size of distance of the object.
  • Uses both hands to play and places blocks one over the other.
  • Uses the index finger to push on buttons or interrupters.
  • Continues exploring objects with his or her eyes, sense of touch and mouth. Be very careful with small pieces because the baby can swallow them.
  • As the months go by the baby will not want people feeding him but will want to hold the spoon of cup himself.

 
Feeding Babies and Infants How to Feed a Baby The Education of the Parents  at Meals Times Child Diarrhea and  Digestive Problems The Difficult Task of Eating,  Babies First Meals General Feeding Suggestions Recipes for Children Food Premature Babies *** The Ages of a Baby *** Why Stimulate At Such a Young Age What to Eat Before Delivery and  What to Take to the Clinic In the Delivery Room A Newborn Baby When the Baby Arrives Home The Health of a Newborn The First Twelve Months with Your Baby The Baby and His Environment Homemade Solutions for Basic Illnesses Feeding a Child in His First Year The Age of Exploring,  Twelve to Eighteen Months Most Frequent Questions about Children Aphrodisiac Recipes Cooking All You Need To Know About Pregnancy *** How to Stimulate your  Child's Intelligence