The developmental milestones of a toddler Essay Example for Free

The developmental milestones of a toddler Essay This is a case study presenting the developmental milestones of a three-year old American boy named Kevin (not his real name).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Kevin was the first-born child of Sam and Joan. After a full term of nine months, his mother gave birth to him via normal delivery on the 4th of December in 2003. He weighed 7.7 lbs and was 21 inches in length. As an infant, he was healthy and breastfed by his mother who attended to his care full-time. His father, who is a real estate agent, also gave him proper care and attention. Despite his hectic work schedule, he made sure that he spent enough time with Kevin at night and on non-working days. Kevin took his first solid food at five months old but was still being breastfed by his mother. Occasionally, he would have stomach upsets that would result to loose bowel movement, though not severe. At six months old, he started to fixate on baby toys and other objects but still did not have object permanence. For his social progress, he would smile when cuddled and touched on the chin. Also at this stage, his sleeping time decreased from 16 hours to 13 hours, as he was awake most time of the day. For his developmental milestones, Kevin started to crawl at seven months old. Nearly a month after that, he spoke his first word (mama). He started walking when he was one year old. As months passed, he eventually learned to communicate with others using â€Å"baby talk† (more milk, want toy, where ball?, touch doggie). He also started showing resilience to strangers and visitors in the house. When he was nearly two years old, he had an accident in their backyard. He tried to climb a slide but fell. Fortunately, he only had bumps and bruises. His x-ray results did not show any bone fracture or dislocation. For his social development, Kevin started having playmates at two years old. His favorite toys were building blocks, ball, and toy cars. He was also fond of scribbling and would even ask for paper and crayons. It was also at this stage when he was constantly showing tantrums whenever he did not get what he wanted. He would cry, whine and throw himself on the floor. Sometimes he would also throw things and try to attack his playmates, parents or baby-sitter. Moreover, he frequently sought attention by being affectionate and impressing people through his baby antics (beautiful eyes, flying kiss, moonwalk). When he was two years and five months old, his mother decided to go back to work and get a baby-sitter to watch over him while they were out. At first they had difficulty adjusting to this set-up since Kevin would cry every time his mother left the house. It seemed that he was overly attached to his mother that he could not trust anyone other than his parents. This might be due to the principle of separation anxiety (Santrock, 2002). Eventually, he got used to this set-up and was able to establish a good relationship with his nanny. His toilet training began at this stage, though he was not yet able to urinate and/or defecate on his own. He would just tell his nanny that she needed to change his diaper. He was also taught how to eat and drink on his own despite spillages, which was typical for his age. Last December of 2006, Kevin turned three. At this point, he has been showing great progress in his physical, cognitive, and socio-emotional development. His parents are very caring and they make sure that they give Kevin the proper love and attention that he needs. References: Santrock, J.W. (2002). Life-Span Development 8th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill