Physical Development in Infancy - Essay Example

Infants grow and learn incredibly during their first five years. Parents and caretakers must be ready to provide active and intended care and attention to infants’ preschools years. Early learning at this stage must be considered to be of utmost importance since it forms the basis for future learning. In order for caregivers to provide proper and useful teachings to their young ones, it is imperative to understand child development. Every human being is unique developmentally and this makes development change a very basic truth in human growth.

Universal principles of human development do exist but the fact remains that there are no two completely alike children. Differences among children are exhibited in the physical, social, emotional and cognitive patterns of growth. Children also show differences in their ways of interacting with the environment surrounding them, how they play, and their affection towards different things among many other factors. This means that some will show signs of happiness and energy most times while others may exhibit a personality of calmness all the time.

Activity and quietness may also differ among different children. It is therefore important for caregivers to understand the patterns of development so as to be equipped to assist and offer attention to their children. This paper looks at the development of infancy from the physical point of view. Physical development refers to physical changes in the body. This entails changes in bone thickness, size, weight, gross motor, fine motor, vision, hearing, and perceptual development (Ruffin, 2009).

According to Ruffin (2009), development means growth that happens in a child from the time of birth to adolescence. These changes happen in a sequence that is orderly in nature. This sequence involves emotional, physical and cognitive development. These changes occur in patterns that can be predicted depending with the age of the individual. They differ in timing