The first year of a child's life - how to get through difficult times. Why is the first year in a child's life so important?

When it comes to a child's development, it is said that the most important milestones in their life occur before the age of 7. In fact, the great Greek philosopher Aristotle once said: "Give me a child until he is 7 years old and I will show you a man."

Are the first seven years of life so important?

Parenting styles, child development theories can be outdated and refuted. For example, in the 1940s and 1950s, pediatricians believed that baby food was better than breast milk. Several years ago, doctors agreed that parents harm their babies when they carry them in their arms for too long. Today, both theories are considered to be wrong.

Given these facts, we need to ask the question: Does any recent research support Aristotle's hypothesis? In other words, are there tips for parents to help ensure success and happiness for children?

As with many aspects of parenting, the answer is not straightforward. While creating a safe environment for our children is important, certain conditions and factors, such as illness, trauma, or trauma, do not necessarily affect a child's well-being. Thus, the first seven years of life are not 100% decisive, at least it is an important, but not the final stage of development. While research results show that these seven years of life are important for your child, social skills develop during this time.

In the early years of life, the brain rapidly develops its display system.

Data from Harvard University show that the brain develops rapidly in the early years of life. Before a child turns 3, 1 million neural connections are formed every minute. These connections turn into a well-coordinated display system, formed thanks to natural factors and upbringing. The give-take scheme begins to work.

In the first year of a child's life, screams are a kind of signals for parents. Giving and taking here is when the parent reacts to the crying of the baby, feeds him, changes his diaper, or shakes him so that he falls asleep faster.

However, as the baby grows up, the give-and-take interaction can be expressed in a playful way. These interactions tell the children that you pay attention to them and do whatever they are trying to show you. This can form the basis for a child to understand social norms, communication skills and the intricacies of interconnection.

The attention we pay to children

“We know from neuroscience that neurons that work together connect to perform subsequent tasks,” says Hilary Jacobs Hendel, a psychotherapist who specializes in childhood trauma. According to Hilary, neural connections are like the roots of a tree. This is the base from which all growth begins.

This gives the impression that stressful situations in life, such as financial worries, family quarrels and illness, will seriously affect your child's development, especially if they interrupt the give-and-take interaction. Are you worried that fear, an overly busy work schedule, or the fact that you are often distracted by your phone, tablet, TV, can cause negative effects and anxiety? Don't worry, that doesn't make anyone a bad parent.

Skipping give-and-take interactions occasionally will not stop your child's brain development. This is due to the fact that if such moments do not occur often, they do not cause the formation of any negative behavior patterns. But for parents who have ongoing stressors in their lives, it is important not to neglect interactions with children in these early years. Learning tools such as mindfulness and love can help parents become more “real” with their children.

What are attachment styles and what can they affect?

Affection is another important part of a child's development. In 1969, Mary Ainsworth conducted her research known as the Strange Situation. She watched the reaction of the children when their mother left the room, and after a while she returned.

Based on her observations, she came to the conclusion that children have four attachment styles:

• reliable;
• anxiously ambivalent;
• avoiding;
• disorganized.

Ainsworth found that children who have a secure attachment style get upset when their parent leaves, but are happy when their parent is back. On the other hand, anxiously ambivalent children get upset when mom leaves, and upon her return they literally cling to her, but soon push away.

Children with an avoidant style do not get upset about the absence of a parent or rejoice when they return to the room. Children with disorganized attachment styles are children who are physically or emotionally abused. It is difficult for them to show any feelings and emotions towards their parents.

How do attachment styles affect the way future relationships develop?

According to psychologists, if parents take good care of their children, in 30% of cases the child develops a reliable attachment, and this, in turn, the ability to withstand life's challenges. And secure attachment is the perfect style.

These children may feel sad when their parents leave, but when a caregiver is left with them, they calm down. They are also happy when their parents return, showing that they understand how trustworthy the relationship is. As they get older, securely attached children rely on relationships with parents, teachers, and friends. They view these interactions as safe when their needs are being met.

Attachment styles are established early in life and can affect any person's relationship in adulthood.

But having a particular style of attachment isn't the end of the story.

By age 7, children put all the pieces together.

While the first seven years do not determine a child's happiness for life, a rapidly growing brain lays a solid foundation for how a child communicates and interacts with the world, processes information about how they react to it.

By the time kids start first or second grade, they start to separate a little from their parents and look for friends at school. They also begin to rely on peer recognition and are better equipped to talk about their feelings.

Seven-year-olds can also gain a deeper understanding of the information that surrounds them. They can speak in metaphors and think broader.

Is “ordinary” upbringing enough?

This may not sound as inspiring, but “conventional” parenting methods — that is, meeting the physical and emotional needs of our children (cooking, putting them to bed every day, responding to setbacks and achievements) can help children develop healthy neural connections.

And it helps to create a secure attachment style, allows children to better cope with developmental stages.

Conclusion

As parents, we cannot control every aspect of our child's well-being. But what we can do is set them up for success through our interactions with them as a trustworthy adult. We can show them how to manage their feelings so that when they go through bad stages in life, such as divorce or stress, they can remember how their mom reacted when she was young.

We hope this information helps you!

AGE FEATURES OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN OF THE FIRST YEARS OF LIFE

The period of early childhood (from birth to 3 years) has a number of psychophysiological features that distinguish it from subsequent age stages and require the creation of special environmental conditions for children, the whole way of life, and upbringing. They are as follows:

The most intensive pace of development- the main feature of the early childhood period. The fast pace of the formation of leading skills is important both in this age period and in its “zone of proximal development”. In no other period has there been such a rapid increase in body weight and length, the development of all brain functions. At this time, all functions of the body are actively developing and improving: motor skills, cognitive activity, speech. By the age of 3, the child has mastered all basic motor skills and differentiated finger movements. He acquires a lot of knowledge and ideas about the environment, is guided by the color, shape and size of objects. Over the course of three years, the child develops all the functions of speech. Speech becomes a means of communication with others and a means of cognition. If by one year old a child uses about 10 words, by the age of two his vocabulary contains 100 words, and by the age of three it contains 1,200 words. At an early age, children develop thinking: they compare, establish similarities, generalize, make elementary conclusions. Mental processes such as attention and memory also develop rapidly.

A characteristic feature of infancy and young age ishigh plasticitythe whole organism (and primarily the plasticity of higher nervous and mental activity),easy learning.Any systematic impact quickly affects the development and behavior of the child.

The child possessesgreat potential, compensatory development opportunities.By means of a specially directed psychological and pedagogical influence, it is possible to achieve a very high level of child development and an earlier formation of a particular function. Applying various special measures, one can obtain a significantly higher level of one or another line of development. The task of upbringing is to make fuller use of the rich natural capabilities of the child and to correctly select the most essential, meaningful for a given age.

The development process is spasmodic and uneven. At the same time, periods of slow accumulation are distinguished, when there is a slowdown in the formation of certain functions of the body, and the so-called critical periods (jumps) alternating with them, when the appearance of the child changes for a short time. Critical periods in the first years of life - 1 year, 2 years, 3 years. It was at this time that sharp changes take place, giving a new quality in the development of children: 1 year - mastering walking; 2 years - the formation of visual-effective thinking, a turning point in the development of speech; 3 years is a period when the connection between the behavior and development of the child with the second signal system is especially clear, the child is aware of himself as a person. Abruptly, abruptly at the age of 1 year and 6 months, the working capacity, the period of wakefulness is lengthened, the number of words in this period also abruptly increases. Abruptness reflects the normal, natural process of development of the organism. Therefore, it is so important during the period of the child's accumulation of experience to create optimal conditions for the timely maturation of a new quality in the development of a particular function.

Unevenness in the development of a child in the first years of life is determined by the maturation of various functions at certain times. Observing this pattern in development, periods of special sensitivity of the baby to certain types of influence and leading lines in his development are distinguished. The pace and significance of different lines of development in different periods of a child's life are not the same. Each age stage has its own "leading" (that is, the most significant) lines of development: cognitive, social, speech, physical development. They are of the greatest importance for a given age, their timely development ensures the transition to a qualitatively new stage. So, for example, at the age of 7-8 months, the leading movement is crawling, since it is useful for general physical development and expands orientation in the environment. At the age of 1 year 6 months - 1 year 9 months, it is very important to master the ability to generalize objects according to essential features, as this will contribute to the further development of thinking, the formation of concepts. In the period from 10 months to 1 year - 1 year 6 months, there is a rapid development of understanding of speech, but a slower increase in the active vocabulary. Having learned a new thing, having acquired a new skill, action, for a certain period of time it becomes dominant in the child's behavior. So, having learned to walk independently, the child plays less and walks "uncontrollably". Having uttered a word for the first time, he repeats it many times during the day.

In the presence of appropriate pedagogical conditions, certain mental processes and qualities develop most easily, which are very difficult to form at later age stages. It is these corresponding mental processes that are of paramount importance not only for the present, but also for the future.

The rapid pace of development of the child is due to the rapid establishment of connections with the outside world and at the same time, the slow consolidation of reactions. Infants and young children are characterized by instability and incompleteness of emerging skills and abilities. Taking this into account, it provides for repetition in learning, providing a connection between the influence of adults around the child and his independent activity. A three-year-old child is capable of sufficient stability of attention, but at the same time he is easily distracted for the most insignificant reasons (for example, the arrival of a stranger during an interesting lesson).

In the first three years of life, there is a great physical and mental vulnerability of the child, the lability of his condition. Children at this age easily fall ill, often (even from minor reasons) their emotional state and the excitability of the nervous system change. Although over the course of three years, the duration of the period of continuous active wakefulness increases significantly and reaches 5.5-6 hours by three years; however, the young child needs more frequent rest during the same waking period in the form of more frequent changes in different activities. The periods of continuous productive activity in these children are shorter, they are longer and get tired more easily. Frequent morbidity and increased excitability of the nervous system are especially observed in stressful conditions (for example, during the adaptation period when children enter a preschool educational institution).

One of the features of the development of a young child is the instability of the state and behavior of the baby, which depends on many factors (well-being, mood).

The high mobility of a baby (especially up to two years old) requires play aids in a preschool educational institution that satisfy his need for a variety of movements (slides, arenas, soft modules, etc.).

How did children study in Russia before the time of Peter the Great? Did the occupations of the royal children differ from the lessons of ordinary mortals, did they receive knowledge that was inaccessible to the rest? After all, they were not supposed to then serve in the army or earn a living. But they were trained for the most important and difficult profession - government... In addition, the life expectancy of a person in the Middle Ages was much shorter, therefore, its main events (adulthood, the beginning of military service or a court career, marriage) usually took place much earlier than today. Teaching children to read also began at an earlier age.

The princes and princesses from the first years of their lives were surrounded by care and luxury.

When the kids were just learning to walk, they sewed clothes from the most expensive fabrics. In those days, special dresses for children were not yet known in any country. In Western Europe, there was a tradition of dressing little boys (up to the age of five) as girls.

/ Image of a child of the 17th century.
Engraving from the book: A. Meyerberg. Collection of drawings for the journey. SPb, 1827

Such customs were unknown in Russia. Items of the royal wardrobe served as a model for the attire of the little princes. As for girls, in Western countries in the dress of young representatives of even the most noble families, details of the clothes of ordinary people were often present - caps, aprons. After all, a woman had to take care of the house and run the household. In Russia, it never occurred to anyone to dress little princesses like maids. From the first days of their lives, their dresses were the same as those worn by queens and boyars.

In addition, from an early age, the royal children had to study the genealogy of their dynasty, so they ordered the "Book of the Degree of the noble and pious family of the Romanovs."

In 1674, for Princess Natalya Alekseevna, who was born in August 1673, the book "The Beginnings of the Creation of Light" was written. Plots related to the creation of the world were widely known to people of that time and were often present
in the murals of the palace premises. The most famous example is the Palace of Facets in the royal palace. The upper part of its vaults was painted at the end of the 16th century with scenes illustrating the beginning of the biblical book of Genesis - a story about the creation of the world. Similar images as seen by people of that time
carried in themselves both a pious and a cognitive meaning, corresponding to the level of knowledge of that era.

"The Tale of Bove the King's son" "in faces", that is, with illustrations, was among the amusing books of the juvenile Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich: on December 3, 1603, from his chorus, "the clerk Kirila Tikhonov took down a funny book in faces about Bove the King's son, many sheets were torn out and damaged, but ordered that book to be repaired anew. " This means that the prince, who did not yet know how to read himself, flipped through the pictures with such enthusiasm that the book was pretty worn out.

Among the works that were fond of in Russia in the XVII century, one of the least known to the modern reader is the novel "Peter the Golden Keys". The unusual nickname of the hero is due to the fact that the noble prince Peter hid his name for a long time, believing that he could only reveal himself when he became famous for his exploits; "And they called him the Knight of the Golden Keys, because two keys of gold were attached to the helmet hanging."

The love story of the novel was found to be quite suitable for the amusing book of a three-year-old prince, who himself did not yet know how to read. “In October 1693 on the 2nd day in the mansion to the great sovereign, the right-believing Tsarevich and Grand Duke Alexei Petrovich of All Great and Small and White Russia, the okolnichy Ivan Yuryevich Leontyev ordered to write in a notebook for a dozen in persons the amusing book Peter the Golden Keys, without leaving a trace, and sign the speeches ... And on the same date, the book was ordered to be celebrated and written by the icon painter Ivan Afanasyev. "

The comic book ordered for the tsarevich had a sufficient volume, it was written in several notebooks "in quire", that is, in a whole sheet, the pictures were colored (they were first "signified", that is, they drew outlines, and then painted). The pictures had signatures, written in the clearest handwriting of the time - a charter that could be available to a small child. From this we can conclude that the book was intended not only for reading aloud by someone close to him, but could also be used for the initial training of the prince.

LIFE OF THE STATE YARD
M.G. Rakitina. What and how the tsar's children were taught in the 16th-17th centuries.

The book for family reading from the series "The Life of the Tsar's Court" tells about how little princes and princesses studied in the 16th-17th centuries, who their teachers were, from which books the royal children learned to read and write, which was a classroom and a school desk for them.

The author describes editions of "funny books" - collections of bright multi-colored pictures, which the court artists painted by special order in a single copy; plot books, where pictures were connected by a certain content, both secular, purely entertaining, and religiously instructive, - for example, the manuscript book "The Life of Iosaph the Tsarevich."

Children were taught by teachers - "schoolmates", that is, people who were constantly involved in their upbringing.

First they studied the alphabet, then the Book of Hours, the Psalter and the Acts of the Apostles, the elders - the Bible and theological writings. At the final stage of training, in "high school", much attention was paid to such subjects as history, geography, and for boys - and military affairs.

The book is richly illustrated, supplied with a dictionary of old words. The publication is intended for young and middle-aged students.

Introduction

About 11 million children die every year in the world, mainly from treatable diseases. The level of morbidity among children, according to the data on the number of people visiting medical and preventive institutions (over the past 5 years), tends to increase significantly and amounts to: among children 1829.8 cases per 1000 population. The growth of indicators of chronic morbidity is observed in almost all classes of diseases. The main place, according to various epidemiological studies, in the children's structure of pathological conditions is occupied by diseases: 1) respiratory organs (50%); 2) diseases of the musculoskeletal system (22.2%); 3) diseases of the digestive system (15.3%); 4) diseases of the nervous system and sensory organs (11.4%).

For some classes of pathology, there is an intensive growth of 3 or more times. So, we can state that the number of children with chronic somatic pathology is steadily growing.

The first 2-3 years of a child's life are critical to normal physical and mental development. Babies - especially those who are low birthweight or otherwise vulnerable - are at increased risk of morbidity and mortality during the first two years of life and especially after 6 months of age.

It was these questions that determined the choice of the topic for writing an essay: "The health of children in the first years of life."

1 Physical development

The term "physical development of a child" is understood as a dynamic process of growth (increase in length, mass, individual body parts) in different periods of childhood. The physical development of children is influenced by many factors, which sometimes makes it extremely difficult to identify the causes of its violation. The main criteria for physical development include body weight and length, the circumference of the ready and chest, body proportions (physique, posture).

In the first three years of life, the child's physical development and progress are obvious and clearly visible. In the first year, physical development is very intensive: weight in comparison with birth weight triples, height increases by 25-30 cm, that is, by about 50%, a child from a helpless creature that does not even know how to roll over onto its stomach from the back turns into a bipedal independent being.

Children under 1 year old

To assess the physical development of children under 1 year old, it is better to use the following indicators: height, body weight, proportionality of development (head circumference; chest circumference, some anthropometric indices); static functions (motor skills of the child); timely eruption of milk teeth (in children under 2 years of age).

The most stable indicator of physical development is the growth of a child. It determines the absolute length of the body and, accordingly, the increase in body size, development, maturation of its organs and systems, the formation of functions in a particular period of time. For the first year, the child gains an average of 25 cm in height, so that by the year his growth is on average 75-76 cm.With the child's development, the monthly increase in height can fluctuate within ± 1 cm, however, by 6 months and by the year these growth fluctuations should not exceed 1 cm.

Unlike height, body weight is a rather labile indicator that reacts relatively quickly and changes under the influence of a variety of reasons. Weight gain is especially intense in the first quarter of the year. The body weight of full-term newborns ranges from 2600g to 4000g and is on average 3-3.5 kg.

The dynamics of body weight is characterized by a greater increase in the first 6 months of life and less by the end of the first year. The body weight of a child doubles by 4.5 months, triples by the year, despite the fact that this indicator can change and depends on nutrition, past diseases, etc. The energy of the increase in body weight gradually weakens with each month of life. On average, by one year, the child's body weight is 10-10.5 kg. The increase in body weight in infants does not always differ in this pattern. It depends on the individual characteristics of the child and a number of external factors.

When assessing the physical development of a child, it is necessary to know the correct ratio between body weight and height. The mass-growth index (MCI) is understood as the ratio of mass to height, i.e. what is the mass per 1 cm of body length. Normally, in newborns (MCI) is 60-75 g.

In addition to height and body weight, correct body proportions are important for assessing physical development. It is known that the circumference of the chest in full-term is less than the circumference of the head at birth. Head circumference in full-term babies fluctuates within a fairly wide range - from 33.5 to 37.5 cm, on average 35 cm.When analyzing these digital indicators, one should take into account the child's height and body weight, as well as the ratio of the head circumference to the chest circumference ... When comparing, it should be borne in mind that at birth the head should not exceed the chest circumference by more than 2 cm. In the future, it is necessary to focus on the growth rate of the head circumference. In the first 3-5 months, the monthly increase is 1.0-1.5 cm, and then 0.5 -0.7 cm. By one year, the head circumference increases by 10-12 cm and reaches an average of 47 cm.

Static functions are assessed taking into account the rate of the child's motor development. These are the various motor skills of the child. It is necessary to take into account the ability of a child at a certain age to hold his head, make movements with his hands (feeling an object, grabbing, holding a toy in one hand, performing various actions), the appearance of dynamic functions (turning from back to stomach and from stomach to back, pulling up, crawling, sitting down , get up, walk, run).

The teeth are laid around the 40th day of embryonic life. A child is born, as a rule, without teeth. Teething is a physiological act, the first teeth erupt at the age of 6 months. First, 2 lower middle incisors appear, by 8 months 2 upper middle incisors appear, by 10 months 2 upper lateral incisors appear. By the year, 2 lateral lower incisors erupt. Thus, at 1 year of age, a child should have 8 teeth - 4/4. By the age of 2, the eruption of the remaining 12 milk teeth ends. The skeletal system and the musculo-ligamentous apparatus in children, especially young children, are characterized by physiological weakness and require strict dosed physical activity.

After the child is one year old, the pace of his physical development slows down somewhat.

Children 2 years old

For the 2nd year of life, the head circumference increases by 2 cm. To assess whether the child is developing correctly, along with the weight and length of the body, its proportionality is also determined. For example, it is believed that the chest circumference of a well-built child is larger than the head circumference by as many centimeters as the age of the baby. The younger the child, the larger his head and the shorter the limbs.

At the end of the 1st - the beginning of the 2nd year, the child masters independent walking. Some kids, being able to walk, continue to crawl after a year, and sometimes they prefer walking on all fours. Crawling techniques evolve and vary. However, each of them contains the following components: straightening the head, neck, back and arms; simultaneous rotation in opposite directions of the trunk and shoulders, trunk and pelvis; differentiated movements of the shoulders and arms, trunk, legs and pelvis. These components of crawling have already been partially mastered by the child at the 1st year of life, later they are improved and combined into new motor skills. For some time the baby continues to walk sideways. A child of 12 - 15 months, when walking, may not hold on to the support, but he is not yet able to turn back from this position in order to get the toy. This will become possible only by one and a half years. In an upright position, the baby is not able to fully straighten his hips, which is why he stands "belly forward", and his legs are slightly turned. When the baby is 1.5 years old, he begins to move in a new way - bending his arms at the elbows and pressing them to the body. As the movements of the arms and the shoulder girdle become more and more differentiated, coordinated (reciprocal) movements of the arms are formed when walking: the right hand moves forward simultaneously with the left leg, and vice versa. An increase in trunk stability in an upright position promotes the development of leg movements. The hips and knees are free to bend, plantar flexion is formed in the feet (lowering the forefoot down), due to which a heel-toe form of a step appears with an initial support on the heel, then on the toes - the so-called roll. From one and a half years old, the baby begins to easily get up without support from a position on his stomach and on his back. Then he gradually masters various combined movements. For example, learning to go up and down stairs. The method of walking becomes more perfect: he no longer spreads his legs wide, his arms are lowered along the body, and not laid aside, as was the case at the initial stage of mastering walking. At the end of the 2nd year, the child is already able to walk backwards, trying to run. This progressive development of motor skills is made possible by the improvement of the balance function.

A uniform step rhythm is formed. When walking, the child no longer raises his knees high, as he did at the beginning of the 2nd year of life. The kid can still fall, but mainly due to insufficiently developed visual-foot coordination when pushing objects. However, falls associated with loss of balance are becoming less common. By the end of the 2nd year of life, the baby is already running and jumping, lifting both legs off the ground at the same time. Holding the hand of an adult, he climbs the steps. But the baby is not yet capable of coordinated alternating movements of the legs, so a 2-year-old child first puts one foot on a step, then puts the other to it. Later, he will use the same method while descending the stairs.

While playing, a child of the 2nd year of life easily changes different ways of movement: he can kneel or one knee, lie on the floor. He still prefers to use one hand, but the other hand, which previously only passively held the object, begins to actively act. For example, a toddler might hold a cup with both hands.

At the age of one and a half to 2 years, manual actions that require supination of the forearm continue to improve, and the child learns to turn the door handle, empty objects from boxes.

The development of coordinated voluntary extension of the fingers and the active use of the thumb form the basis for the improvement of manipulative activity. A child at this age can already build a tower of 3-4 cubes, pick up and lift 2 small objects with one hand, throw and shift toys.

Due to the fact that the baby now walks independently, he can more actively interact with the world around him: his ability to navigate in space develops, muscle feeling becomes a measure of distance, determining the spatial arrangement of objects. The kid now combines walking methods, changes the direction of movement rather quickly.

Children of the 3rd year of life

In the 3rd year of life, further differentiation of leg movements continues, the calcaneal-digital walking skill is being improved. As this skill acquires the features of automatism, the child no longer needs to spread his legs wide to maintain balance, and he can use a rather narrow "base" for stride. This, in turn, leads to improved coordination of movements when walking. However, the baby is still experiencing some difficulties with quick turns of the body, because his weight is still unevenly distributed to different parts of the feet. At the same time, the child already maintains stability when transferring body weight from one leg to another, due to which the ascent and descent from the stairs become more and more perfect. Equilibrium develops and the child is initially able to stand on one leg for a short time. Quite a little time will pass - and now he is already able to kick the ball, even if he was not shown this movement beforehand. The ability to move the center of gravity and maintain stability at the same time gives the child the opportunity to master a new way of movement - stepping over low objects. Developing mobility and balance creates the foundation for perfect running. Closer to the age of 3, the child more and more likes games in which you need to quickly run away from the pursuer, look at him and dodge his hands. But the baby still cannot jump off the steps, since he has not yet developed bilateral coordination of leg movements, when both legs must perform the same movement at the same time. A child of this age can only jump by holding onto the railing and throwing one leg forward.

The fact is that a child's attitude is constantly changing. Literally every month the baby goes through crises caused by growth spurts. Be sure to read what it is in my article. In just a year, the life of the crumbs will radically change four times, and with it your lifestyle. Therefore, the most important thing that you need to be able to is be patient, flexible and knowledgeable in order to timely and adequately respond to the changes that have arisen. Many mothers continue to live in the past for a long time, not accepting new circumstances. This leads to the whims of the child, who cannot otherwise reach out to the mother, and to damage to the nerves of the mother herself, who cannot or does not want to adapt to the baby's new life ...

Periods of the first year of a child's life

What are the periods? In the first year, I outline the following stages:

1. From birth to 3 months.
2. 3 to 6 months.
3. 6 to 9 months.
4. From 9 months to a year.

Below I will tell you how these periods differ and how to spend this time most effectively and pleasantly;)

0 to 3 months

The most difficult stage in the life of both the child and the mother. The change came so suddenly, and everyone still needs to get used to each other. Mom often does not understand, even if he is not the first. Colic, lactostasis, chronic lack of sleep ... All this can be difficult to survive if you do not know some of the points that can make life a lot easier!

First, be sure to read my article to avoid the common mistakes that make motherhood hell.

Second, get the most out of your helpers. Now I really regret that I tried not to strain my relatives and walked with the stroller mostly by myself. Newborns sleep well on the street for 2-3 hours, and I advise you to give this responsibility to dad, grandmother or grandfather, and to be distracted - resume self-care, do what you love, or sleep, eventually. There is nothing difficult about taking a stroller around the park - anyone can handle it. And you will receive a precious watch alone with yourself and return to the baby as a renewed, loving mother.

Third, remember that this period will end. And it also has undeniable advantages, just not all of them immediately notice! For example, in the first three months of life, a child sleeps more than 70% of the time, which means you can go about your business. Yes, as a rule, these things happen with the baby in a sling or under the breast, or on the street during a walk. I was so bored the first time that I created this blog. 😄 Now I remember with longing those times when I could read a book or write articles for hours - by the time my daughter was one year old, my free time became several times less, and I only have enough for a couple of lines a day! Reading books has also almost disappeared ... So, despite all the difficulties of the first three months of a child's life, it is also a time of opportunities for relaxation, albeit with a phone in hand. Get a functional smartphone and read, communicate, learn new, watch movies while the baby is dreaming. A completely different stage is coming soon!

3 to 6 months

After life is getting better, and motherhood seems like a fairy tale! The child still sleeps a lot, but already pleases with the first laughter, babbling, attention. Mom during this period feels both relative freedom and return. Family members are finally getting enough sleep! Enjoy the easiest stage in the first year of your child's life and build up your strength for the future. In the meantime, I advise you to relax, remember your hobbies, walk more, eat and sleep more... Our daughter turned three months old in the spring, so I was able to do my favorite handicrafts outdoors, and at home I wrote articles for this blog. If you are getting an education or have wanted to try something new for a long time - now is the time!

6 to 9 months

At 6.5 months, my daughter suddenly stopped sleeping on the street. For some it happens earlier, for some later ... And then there is a crisis of 6 months - as it seemed to me, the most difficult of all. Now the child refuses to lie where he was put, and demands to be constantly carried in his arms. The kid wants to see the world! He learns to sit, crawl, eat new food, and his mother needs to help him literally every minute. So during this period you will have to push some of your affairs on the back burner. After the lightness of 3-6 months of a child's life, everyday life with a 6-9 month old child may seem difficult, sometimes even unbearable ... What to do? You need to be distracted by your business! Read my article It was this method that helped me not to go crazy, but to learn to take time for myself, even in the crazy rhythm of life with a baby. Again, remember that good times are coming soon!

9 to 12 months

Usually by 9 months the child becomes a little more independent- he already moves around the house, crawling or even on his own two feet, opens all kinds of cabinets and drawers and pulls out their contents, which means that now there is always something to do! At first, mom may even fall into a stupor - what to do with the free time? It's not that there is so much of it, it's just that we got used to cook dinner in 20 minutes, and tidy up, and go to the shower, and then the kid occupied himself for half an hour, and there were as many as 10 minutes left. :))

I know from myself that by the 10th month of the child's life, the mother can finally relax a little and calmly drink the tea she poured when the baby was 5 months old. 😄 Well, but seriously, after all the household chores, I even manage to do some handicrafts while my daughter plays herself. A few weeks ago I could only dream about it!

Some kids are even too independent! :)

Many mothers complain that a child at one and a half year still requires ALL attention, and some do not get off their hands, even if they already know how to walk ... Well, this only means that from just 9 months just child care ends and upbringing begins... And bringing up is really much more difficult than wiping up the ass. You will need all your will, sometimes rigor and firmness, to raise an independent, balanced person. Yes, you will have to make an effort on yourself many times a day, so as not to indulge the whims of the baby every time. It's time for the honor to know! Right now, upbringing is being laid, and you'd better if you teach a new family member to adjust to your routine. After all, he is no longer a newborn, and can be patient and obey somewhere.

At 9 months, children already understand a lot, and if they do not understand, then they feel. Explain that Mom cannot now and will have to wait. If you see that the child is simply showing his "want", try to ignore it (if the explanations did not help). You will see, the baby will take care of himself, and each time it will happen more and more often and for a longer time! By doing this, you are rendering a service, first of all, to a child whose wishes cannot and should not be fulfilled this minute.

The complexity of the periods of the first year of a child's life in my opinion

That is why I put the ease of this period in second, and not in first place. As for the rest, it is finally becoming interesting, entertaining, fun with the baby! He already says "mom" and "dad", plays, laughs, stomps his chubby legs, hugs, tries to kiss. And all this is incredibly cute, my heart breaks with emotion :)

By 11-12 months the child goes to one daytime nap. When I thought about it six months ago, I was horrified. But everything turned out to be not so scary! As a rule, it is very comfortable with a child, and time flies by - then you are even surprised that the hour of sleep has come. It was by this moment that I felt that life had finally improved - you just live, do household chores, meet friends, even work, you just have a child with you. :)

These are the periods of the first year of a baby's life, and each of them is good in its own way. First - a lot of free time, but also a difficult restructuring, then - the usual rhythm and ease, after - a series of crises and new skills, and at the end of the year - next to you "your own board" little man, without whom you can no longer imagine life. Therefore, if you and your baby are overtaken by a difficult stage, remember that the game is worth the candle, and very soon life will sparkle with new colors! Every day will be a joy! No wonder they say that the first year is the most difficult. As you can see, difficulties arise at different periods of a baby's life. And now I understand why the year is celebrated on such a grand scale - there is something to celebrate! I think it will be even better further :)

Health to you and your families, and the rest will follow 😉