It’s a joy to the parents’ eyes to watch their child grow. Time flies by, and their child soon reaches the verge of being an adult in a wink from infancy to adolescence. The path of physical development of a child may vary from child to child, but it is orderly and predictable.
Here are some of the distinct physical changes that a child goes through in their early childhood and how they affect them:-
The amazing facts about the child’s body :
- First of all, the height of the child evolves drastically. An average child measures 23 to 24 inches at four months of age, and soon it changes to 32 to 34 inches at two years old. At five years, the birth height has already doubled, and then it continues growing at a slow pace (3 inches per year) until puberty.
- Similarly, the mass of the baby also changes over time. In former years the mass of the child depends on the fat tissues and, later, it shifts its gear towards bones and muscle tissues. At just four months old, the baby doubles its birth weight, and it starts gaining 3-5 pounds annually by 2-3 years of age. Warning to the relatives, you may not guess it right while picking them up to show affection!
- Apart from the vital changes, children’s body proportion, bones, muscle, fat, and teeth also grow at their own pace through their developmental courses.
The amazing facts about a child’s Mind:
During these growth years, the development of neurons is one of the main reasons for their effective physical and cognitive development. Due to both the genetically programmed events and experiential factors, children learn new things every day and make more synaptic connections.
In the first few years of brain development, a child’s brain remains highly plastic, especially in the Cerebral Cortex areas where many areas are not fully engaged in specific functions. It helps children learn rapidly, and it can take over other parts of the brain if it gets damaged. Different brain regions start to develop. The child starts getting better motor coordination, and other skills, like problem-solving, critical thinking, language acquisition & processing, memory, emotional experience & recognition, balance, and homeostasis. Consequently, your child is becoming more competitive as each day passes by, developing essential skills to function as an efficient person.
Things to Keep in Mind:
Physical development is dazzling to experience and watch as it unfolds in your child. However, there are few things that we must keep in mind. Factors like malnutrition, illness, injury, genetic conditions, hormonal imbalance, and accidents can cause severe damage to it. So as parents, we have to give proper attention to their health and diet medical and professional attention whenever needed.
Those Who Are Special:
Due to the reasons mentioned above, there are and will always be some ‘special’ kids whose physical and psychological development patterns are different. They do often suffer from bullying at school, neighbors, and even in their houses. It can cause severe psychological trauma to those children, resulting in low self-esteem, personality disturbance, anxiety, lack of social interactions, heightened emotionality, and withdrawal from study and other activities. It is essential that we create a safe space for them, understand, recognize, and appropriately tend to their unique needs.
An Open Letter To The Caretakers:
We, the caretakers, have the most crucial role. We must remember that without proper support and encouragement from us, a child can not develop fully. We should not judge their physical appearance or development and help each child according to their specific needs. Nurturing, guiding, and giving each child support helps foster a healthier, secure learning environment for the child.
