Parent-Infant Social Development

From the first days after birth and continuing on into the first weeks of life, the baby will be sensitive towards social stimuli, by preferring voices over non-vocal sounds and most importantly preferring the mother's voice. A few days after birth, the baby will be able to identify the mother by sight and will even imitate adult facial expressions, hand gestures and will even stick out his tongue.

Around the age of 2 months, the baby will interact with others in a more reliable manner. He will show excitement in the presence of others and will spend more time paying attention to them. If given the choice of playing with objects of engaging in social interaction, the baby will prefer social relations.

The baby will move into a new stage of development between the ages of 4-5 months as he becomes more interested in his environment. He will pay more attention to the objects around him and spend more time playing with them. His motor development at this age now allows him to grip many toys effectively.

Around the age of 10 months, the baby should be able to use social interaction to communicate about the objects in the world. The objects around him will acquire meaning when he integrates them into his interactions.

When the baby is almost one, he should begin to talk. Words are very limited at first but his vocabulary will expand dramatically. The use and comprehension of speech is the ultimate form of communication that the baby is moving towards.

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