Baby’s First Year

Physical Development (03:21)
Babies grow rapidly and develop many new skills in the first 12 months, developing from head to foot, and from near to far.

Brain Development (02:34)
Babies are born with all the brain cells they need but must work to develop the synapses in the brain. Environmental stimulation plays an important role in the development of the infant's brain.

Ideal Environments for Infant Development (01:43)
Safety and stimulation are two major considerations in creating a healthy environment for infant development. Infants also need to be kept warm, dry, well-fed, and well-rested.

Emotional/Social Development (02:32)
Emotional and social development refers to the process of learning to recognize and express feelings, establishing identity, and learning to interact with, associate with, and express oneself with others.

Building Trust and Expression of Emotions (02:13)
A baby's needs should be met on the baby's schedule rather than that of the adult, in order to build trust. Babies who grow normally--physically, emotionally and socially--learn to express a wide range of emotions.

Intellectual Development (03:45)
Brain development and trust-building contribute to intellectual development. In the first year baby learns to remember, make associations, understand cause and effect, and pay attention.

Interaction and Stimulation in the Environment (03:05)
To encourage intellectual development, the child's environment needs to be stimulating. Piaget identified object permanence as a developmental milestone. He also documented how children build on previous experiences.